Senior Manager – Event and Venue Operations

Senior Manager – Event and Venue Operations

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent experience, and a minimum of 6 years of experience with event management, production, logistics and venue coordination.
• Demonstrated experience planning complex events and projects, building new systems and efficiencies, and leading teams to manage and scale large projects.
• Proven entrepreneurial, innovative, and collaborative self-starter with strong project management skills.
• High degree of emotional intelligence to partner and engage effectively with different clients, audiences, and stakeholders, including across foundation departments and with vendors and other external relationships.
• Ability to identify and communicate problems, offer constructive and thoughtful solutions, including leading efforts to integrate newly aligned approaches.
• Ability to work with minimal direct supervision and manage multiple events/projects.
• Committed team player who can mentor and coach junior members of the team.
• Ability to contribute to a positive, productive, supportive, and motivating environment.
• Brings resourcefulness, flexibility and strong organizational skills.
• Ability to problem-solve, exercise discretion, escalate issues with manager as appropriate, and follow up appropriately on process and procedural issues.
• Willingness to work flexible hours regularly, including early mornings and late evenings.

Responsibilities

• Lead the day-to-day event and venue operations of the Center for Social Justice.
• Partner with peer internal colleagues to build, interrogate, refine, overhaul, and operationalize new systems, tools, and processes.
• Manage and refine the application review process to more efficiently and effectively respond to a high volume of event requests and inquiries.
• Direct and communicate with expert knowledge of the various event spaces, setups, capacities, and services to guide internal and external stakeholders.
• Review, audit, and operationalize event guidelines and procedures to ensure that all Center engagements remain in alignment with foundation policies.
• Lead and report on regular event analytics, reporting, and tracking, ensuring data integrity and accuracy, and make strategic recommendations around venue usage.
• Partner with the Office of Communications to create and publish event and venue resources and collateral.
• Lead the management, coordination, and logistics of external events at the Center for Social Justice.
• Project-manage and produce complex, high-level engagements, including serving as event lead in the foundation’s work to support events related to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and other thematic weeks.
• Manage events from agenda to execution, leading kickoff and check-in calls with clients, and coordinate necessary production elements.
• Manage, coach, and mentor temporary staff, providing leadership, input, and advice when needed, addressing challenges, and giving feedback to ensure event expectations and deliverables are met; supervise contractors and vendors, as required.
• Lead weekly event operations meetings across teams (A/V, catering, facility, property management, and security) to coordinate logistics, troubleshoot issues, promote best practices, and ensure cross-team alignment.
• Manage entering all event services and details, tracking event progress, conducting walk-throughs, ensuring venue agreements, verifying certificates of insurance, and finalizing room setups, A/V, catering, and security needs.
• Develop standard templates for timelines, BEOs, client communications, staffing plans, etc.
• Act as event producer and strategist to produce internal (Ford) events as necessary.

Preferred Qualifications

No preferred qualifications provided.