Associate Director, Conferences Logistics

Gartner•Irving, TX

7d•Hybrid

About The Position

As an Associate Director, you will be responsible for leading a team of highly skilled operations professionals to flawlessly deliver a portfolio of complex, fast growing conferences which meet our financial goals. To be successful in this role you must learn and understand our corporate strategy and translate it into an operations strategy which delivers exceptional conference experiences for our customers. Your role is to guide the team’s decision making, delivering for today whilst planning for the future.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree, preferred
10+ years Event Management experience
Proven event operational skills including food & beverage, production schedules, budget management and event staffing
Project management experience on detailed programs with multiple variables and dependencies
Proven experience in managing agency and vendor partners
Proven people management experience
Strong interpersonal and relationship building skills especially with senior level professionals, cross-functionally and with agency partners
Creative, innovative and strategic thinker with a strong attention to detail
Strong financial management skills
Motivated team player with desire to learn and grow.
Excellent written/oral communication and presentations skills
Demonstrated ability to adapt, implement and manage change and strive for continuous improvement.
Ability to thrive in high pressure situations
Confident decision maker
Ability to travel up to 20%, domestically & internationally

Responsibilities

Lead operations strategy for regional conference portfolio in partnership with COEs.
Lead communication and collaboration across regional portfolio COE leaders.
Support conference teams to transition from the design and delivery of individual parts to intentionally crafting an end-to-end audience journey.
Drive consistency and innovation across the regional portfolio.
Actively participate in key milestone reviews to ensure the team recommendations align with corporate strategy and meet the needs of the customer.
Recruit, retain and coach a team of agile, customer focused, operational experts.
Inspire confidence and provide clear direction.
Provide subject matter / functional expertise and guidance.
Ensure that team is leading the development of an end-to-end conference experience.
Drive initiatives which enhance the portfolio, deliver results against priorities and improve processes in planning and execution in partnership with strategic initiatives leader.
Build team infrastructure to scale and operate efficiently.
Deliver for today while preparing for the future.
Develop detailed action plans to achieve growth including optimized space planning, capacity solutions, venue selection and transitions, and growth into new regions.
Lead strategy for conference growth solutions, direct and guide team to develop detailed plans for achieving growth and optimizing space
Build strong relationships with venues and vendors, ensure that they are meeting our expectations and equipped to scale as our business grows
Clearly understand and translate the needs of the audience.
Champion change and drive creative solutions.
Overall responsibility for regional portfolio budgets including preparation, negotiations, accurate and timely monthly forecasts.
Collaborate with COE leaders to identify trends and regional impacts.
Ensure team is accountable and responsible for the expenses they manage and understand the financial impact of the decisions they make
Lead the team through investment process ensuring recommendations align with the overall strategy for the conference.
Lead portfolio forecast reviews and participate in monthly forecast calls
Understand risk and deviations to plan and make recommendations for corrective actions.
Partner with COE’s to mitigate risk.