Senior Events Director

Key Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end production of events with 1,000+ attendees, from concept through post-event debrief, ensuring every event meets brand, budget, and safety standards.
• Source, evaluate, and negotiate agreements with major venues (convention centers, arenas, hotels, stadiums), securing favorable terms and clear liability, cancellation, and insurance language.
• Manage the full BEO process: build, review, and finalize Banquet Event Orders with venues and catering partners, and audit BEOs on-site against contracted deliverables.
• Cook up AV, electrical, and power vendors, including load calculations, generator/backup power planning, rigging, and staging, to prevent day-of production failures.
• Lead security planning and vendor coordination, including credentialing, crowd management, emergency response protocols, and coordination with venue and local authorities.
• Oversee internet and connectivity infrastructure (bandwidth planning, redundancy, vendor SLAs) to support registration, livestream, and production needs.
• Recruit, train, schedule, and lead event staff teams of 150+ (temporary, contract, and volunteer), including team leads, to ensure smooth check-in, floor operations, and guest experience.
• Build and manage event budgets ($500K–$5M+), track spend against forecast, and identify cost efficiencies without compromising quality.
• Negotiate all vendor contracts and agreements (AV, security, staffing, power, internet, catering) to protect the company from financial and legal exposure.
• Serve as the on-site senior decision-maker during events, resolving production, staffing, and vendor issues in real time.
• Partner with Legal, Finance, and Risk teams on contract review, certificates of insurance, and compliance requirements.
• Conduct post-event analysis and debriefs, capturing lessons learned, vendor performance scorecards, and recommendations for future events.
• Build scalable SOPs, staffing playbooks, and vendor-management frameworks that support company growth into larger and more frequent events.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in event production/management, with a proven track record of producing multiple events with 1,000+ attendees.
• Direct experience working in and negotiating with major venues (convention centers, arenas, large hotel/conference properties).
• Deep working knowledge of BEOs, AV production, electrical/power planning, security operations, and internet/connectivity infrastructure.
• Demonstrated success recruiting, training, and managing event staff team of five (5) and onsite event crews of 150+, including team-lead structures.
• Strong contract negotiation and vendor management skills, with an eye toward risk mitigation and protecting company interests.
• Proven budget ownership for large-scale events, including forecasting, reconciliation, and cost control.
• Exceptional composure and decision-making under pressure, particularly during live, on-site production.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder-management skills across executive, vendor, and staff audiences.
• Availability to travel as needed and work non-standard hours, including weekends, around event dates.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Hospitality, Event Management, Business, or related field (or equivalent experience) preferred.
• Experience in the conference/summit industry.
• Familiarity with event technology platforms (registration, credentialing, RFID/badge scanning, CRM integration).