EVENT MANAGER

About the role

The Event Manager is the primary event operational authority for all events on the Fairgrounds. This position is responsible for the end-to-end execution of large-scale events that carry significant financial, public safety, and legal liability for the agency. The role involves full independent decision-making authority over department budgets, high-value contract negotiations, and emergency protocols. The Event Manager works alongside the Programming Manager to develop long-term event scheduling strategies designed to generate revenue and manages event staff, including guest services, parking, operations/facilities, and box office.

This position may offer the ability to work remotely within Arizona, based on department business needs and performance expectations. The State of Arizona strives for a work culture that affords employees flexibility, autonomy, and trust.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the lead operational authority on the floor with venue clients, promoters, and agency leadership; autonomously negotiate real-time layout adjustments, resolve production rider conflicts, and handle escalated structural, technical, or venue challenges.
• Formulate, implement, and enforce live site standard operating procedures, crowd management protocols, and safety rules across all event footprints, holding venue staff, promoters, and production crews accountable to agency execution standards during loading, show run, and strike.
• Direct, supervise, and evaluate permanent event coordinators, technical stage crews, floor managers, and third-party contractors during live operations; exercise direct tactical authority on the event floor to resolve workforce bottlenecks, manage shift changes, and enforce performance standards.
• Oversee, evaluate, and enforce operational parameters for specialized technical production contractors and labor crews—including audio/visual engineers, lighting designers, pyrotechnicians, and union/non-union labor—authorizing the use of high-risk show elements (e.g., hazmat handling, indoor pyrotechnics, drone displays, and high-voltage power ties) to ensure compliance with artist technical riders, state safety codes, and federal regulations.
• Exercise final technical authority to halt or modify production setups, stage builds, or pyrotechnic/laser effects that exceed facility structural load limits, breach state fire codes, or pose life-safety hazards to the public or crew.
• Direct event fiscal planning alongside the Booking Manager, negotiating and refining facility contract parameters to maximize venue profitability and protect agency operational interests.

Requirements

• Comprehensive knowledge of large-scale concert and event production methodologies, including touring production riders, heavy rigging load capacities, multi-tier audio/visual/lighting setups, staging mechanics, artist load-in/strike dynamics, indoor/outdoor acoustic dynamics, pyrotechnic/special effects safety codes, complex crowd management psychology, and site logistics for high-occupancy touring artists and music venues.
• Advanced skill in negotiating and aligning operational deliverables with vendors, security providers, and labor groups to ensure precise delivery windows, optimal loading and load-out schedules.
• Mastery in managing end-to-end event logistics under compressed turnarounds; expert skill in directing spatial layout plans, site traffic flows, freight staging, equipment loading, and the dynamic positioning of heavy physical assets across multi-acre grounds.
• Exceptional skill in resolving high-pressure logistical bottlenecks with clients, de-escalating disputes, managing crowd flow congestions, and executing rapid contingency plans during live event disruptions.
• Ability to operate autonomously with minimal administrative direction and make critical, time-sensitive safety and financial decisions in fast-paced environments.
• Ability to direct, motivate, and mentor a diverse workforce of permanent professional staff, technical specialists, and large numbers of temporary or contract personnel.
• Ability to present complex event concepts, public safety initiatives, and operational blueprints clearly and persuasively both internally and externally.
• Ability to conceptually reengineer failing event processes, manage abrupt resource changes, and design contingency operational models under stressful public conditions.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in large-scale event production (10,000+ attendees).
• Valid Arizona State Driver’s License (required if driving is an essential function of the job).

Benefits

• Sick leave
• Vacation with 10 paid holidays per year
• Health and dental insurance
• Retirement plan through the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS), with enrollment eligibility after 27 weeks of employment
• Life insurance and long-term disability insurance
• Optional employee benefits, including short-term disability insurance, deferred compensation plans, and supplemental life insurance
• Paid Parental Leave program
• Flexible remote work options (full-time or part-time, based on business needs and performance)

Pay

$70,000.00 - $79,000.00 annually

Posting closes on August 23, 2026. For questions, contact Rose Ibe at rose.ibe@azdoa.gov.