Specialist, Events and Travel

About the role

You will have opportunities to learn new skills from our team of experienced professionals. As support to the primary point of contact for National Support Center events, the Specialist, Events and Travel will be responsible for organizing travel for all events and working with departments on the pre-planning and coordination of the support center activities and events. The Specialist may also assist, on an ad-hoc basis, with collaborating on and organizing regional events.

Responsibilities

• Lead all aspects of travel services including management of reporting pertaining to expenses/travel.
• Complete all travel arrangements for international and domestic travel, including accommodation of special requests and problem triage resolution.
• Negotiate contracts with airlines to secure the best rates for PDS.
• Manage the travel system and triage system issues; ensure traveler profiles are accurate and maintained.
• Coordinate with the Finance team to ensure expense reports and invoices are appropriately processed.
• During events, supervise volunteer staff and vendors; make decisions regarding additional A/V, F&B, and staff overtime as necessary for successful events.
• Develop strategies and manage resources including materials, people, food & beverage to support events at local and national levels.
• Collaborate to support events at the regional level.
• Consult with internal clients to establish an event's strategic direction and execute goals such as event themes, locations, and agendas.
• Conduct cost-benefit analysis and make recommendations for resource management.
• Develop and execute plans for efficient task performance management, including generating project schedules; identify inefficiencies and make recommendations.
• Oversee budget for catering and supply orders for events, including identifying cost savings.
• Manage logistics for events to ensure the flow of events is maintained in a timely manner; lead project teams for national events.
• Secure and negotiate contracts for all vendors, including hotel, catering, and AV for onsite and offsite PDS events.
• Assist in creating work plans, timelines, and budgets for events.
• Compose and implement policies for event planning best practices.
• Manage and place catering and supply orders for events, responsible for adhering to budget and financial responsibility of expenses tied to events.
• Create and manage event registration sites with Cvent.
• Maintain strong internal and external communications with all event/project stakeholders.
• Other duties as assigned by Management.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college; in lieu of degree, minimum 4+ years of experience in event coordination and planning.
• 2+ years' related experience with conference and/or event planning.
• Valid Class C Driver's License.
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office programs such as PowerPoint, Word, and Excel.
• Flexibility to work early mornings, evenings, and weekends as necessary.

Preferred

• Prior experience in project management.
• Knowledge of various digital communication tools in a multi-faceted media environment.

Skills

• Excellent organizational skills in planning, managing, influencing, creating successful outcomes, and working collaboratively.
• Identify and solve problems in a timely and efficient manner by gathering and analyzing information skillfully.
• Adapt to changes, delays, unexpected situations, and effectively manage competing demands.
• Ability to maintain composure and professional behavior under stress of high-stake assignments.
• Ability to multi-task effectively without compromising the quality of the work.
• Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills.
• Detail-oriented, organized, process-focused, problem solver, proactive, ambitious, customer service-focused.
• Ability to draw conclusions and make independent decisions with limited information.
• Ability to respond to common inquiries from customers, staff, regulatory agencies, vendors, and other members of the business community.
• Self-motivated, reliable individual capable of working independently as well as part of a team.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Paid time off
• Tuition Reimbursement
• 401K
• Paid time to volunteer in your local community

Pay

$59,000.00 - $75,000.00 / Annually