Associate Director, Meeting Planning and Event Technology

FINRA•Rockville, MD

35d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Associate Director, Meeting Planning and Event Technology is a leadership role responsible for overseeing corporate meetings, event technology, and the FINRA Strategic Meeting Management Program (SMMP). This position manages a team and is accountable for complex, multifaceted meetings. The role involves overseeing cross-departmental integrations into Cvent technology systems, facilitating efficient operations through various system sources, and developing best practices for fiscal transparency and standards. It leads the implementation and efficiency measures for FINRA’s meeting planning technology software, tools, and resources, and develops the meeting technology roadmap. The role serves as the Virtual Technology Specialist for revenue-generating conferences, acting as a project manager between FINRA groups and platform vendors, initiating APIs, and serving as a virtual producer. It also involves identifying and reviewing new software products, evaluating business impact, and partnering with FINRA cyber security and data privacy teams to ensure compliance. The role manages and supports the team in their day-to-day responsibilities, promotes daily prioritization, supports registration, manages and develops training for meeting technology users, and integrates FINRA spending codes and workday feeds for budget planning and reporting. Additionally, it manages the supplier network and leverages strategic vendor and technology contracts. In-person work is required for the week of the FINRA annual conference.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Communications, Technology, or other related field plus a minimum of eight (8) years of meetings management, event management, project management, hospitality experience and/or IT-related roles, or equivalent combination of education and relevant work experience.
Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) required.
Cvent Certification required.
Expertise in technologies and software, including Microsoft Office Suite and Cvent, with proven aptitude for learning new technologies.
Advance Verbal and Written Communication Skills.
Previous experience using Cvent to manage a strategic meetings management program of similar scale of up to 3,000 person events and exhibits.
Must have experience in negotiating 3rd party vendor contracts and legal addenda.
In-depth knowledge of Virtual Event Production, Audio Visual industry, equipment, webcasting and multi casting.
Must maintain professionalism in a high-pressure, fast-paced environment.
Must be flexible, creative, and capable of trouble shooting and developing alternative plans on the go.
Strong leadership and mentoring skills.
FINRA employees are required to disclose to FINRA all brokerage accounts that they maintain, and those in which they control trading or have a financial interest (including any trust account of which they are a trustee or beneficiary and all accounts of a spouse, domestic partner or minor child who lives with the employee) and to authorize their broker-dealers to provide FINRA with duplicate statements for all of those accounts.
All of those accounts are subject to the Code’s investment and securities account restrictions, and new employees must comply with those investment restrictions—including disposing of any security issued by a company on FINRA’s Prohibited Company List or obtaining a written waiver from their Executive Vice President—by the date they begin employment with FINRA.
Employees may only maintain securities accounts that must be disclosed to FINRA at one or more securities firms that provide an electronic feed (e-feed) of data to FINRA, and must move securities accounts from other securities firms to a firm that provides an e-feed within three months of beginning employment.
Employees must also execute FINRA’s Employee Confidentiality and Invention Assignment Agreement without qualification or modification and comply with the company’s policy on nepotism.

Nice To Haves

Experience managing or leading a team preferred.

Responsibilities

Oversee and manage all cross departmental integrations into the Cvent technology system(s).
Facilitate productive operations to share information and processes efficiency through multiple system sources such as: Single Sign On, Workday, Deem Travel, Conference Virtual Platforms, mobile apps, HTTP Post, and URL Branding.
Develop and maintain best practices to improve fiscal transparency, standards, and practices.
Lead the implementation, productivity, and efficiency measures for FINRA’s meeting planning technology software, tools, and resources.
Provide the direction necessary to continue the development and growth of SMMP.
Develop and implement the meeting technology roadmap to initiate new processes, create efficiencies, and collaborate across FINRA lines of business.
Serve as the Virtual Technology Specialist for revenue generating conferences that use virtual and mobile applications.
Act as project manager between FINRA groups and platform vendor, initiates APIs between FINRA and virtual system to provide secure transfer of information, serves as virtual producer for live stream sessions.
Maintain best practices to improve fiscal transparency, standards, and practices.
Lead key stakeholders in identification and review of new software products that enhance department efficiencies and effectiveness.
Evaluate business impact and present options to leadership that best fit business needs.
Partner with the FINRA cyber security and data privacy teams to ensure meeting technology vendors, as well as departmental processes, are in compliance with FINRA policy and procedures.
Implement the development of metrics and standards for the department of technology.
Manage and support team in their day-to-day responsibilities to execute the goals and priorities of the program.
Promote daily prioritization of workload, coordinate program intake.
Support registration using on-demand badge printing and attendance tracking system.
Manage and develop ongoing training and materials for key users of meetings technology.
Integrate FINRA spending codes, workday feed, within meeting technology platform for budget planning to provide reporting and accruals in coordination with financial management team.
Manage the supplier network.
Leverage strategic vendor and technology contracts to drive higher cost/benefit ratios and positive financial results for FINRA.
Supervise and lead the meeting planning team in providing day-to-day oversight, guidance, and support to ensure efficient operations and high-quality event delivery.
Assign and distribute meetings, events, and project responsibilities.
Act as Project Manager responsible for handling complex meetings, events, and conferences from conception to completion.
Oversee the planning and organization of all meeting aspects, including facilitation of program structure, cross department collaboration with liaisons, site selection, contract negotiation, hotel rooming list, food & beverage, vendor management, onsite management, event design and signage, registration, technology solutions, and post conference financial and attendee reporting.
Develop and manage multi-faceted budgets for revenue generating meetings, ensuring cost-effective planning and execution.
Independently negotiate numerous vendor contracts including hospitality services (which incorporates FINRA Legal addendum), technology systems, and exhibitor contract management.
Select and manage conference virtual platform and mobile application to enhance attendee engagement, interaction, and provide high-quality experiences for conference attendees.
Oversee the entire exhibitor management process for revenue-producing conferences which includes creating policies and guidelines with OGC for exhibiting companies to adhere to onsite, manage floor plans, logistics, and signage alongside the exhibitor manager, and payment collection prior to event.
Responsible for coordination of external speaker/committee travel guidelines and approval of expenses.
Adapt and scale program objectives to meeting and venue requirements.
Manage the execution of marketing materials to support meetings, including presentations, customized signage, session collateral, and media scripts.
Strategic development of meeting goals, objectives, and program with key stakeholders.
Interact with internal key stakeholders, invited guests and management committee during events.
Demonstration of FINRA’s values.
Collaboration, both in-person and virtually, in furtherance of FINRA’s mission of investor protection and market integrity.
Other duties as required.

Benefits

discretionary bonus
overtime pay
health insurance
dental insurance
vision insurance
basic life insurance
accidental death and dismemberment insurance
supplemental life insurance
spouse/domestic partner and dependent life insurance
spouse/domestic partner and dependent accidental death and dismemberment insurance
short-term disability insurance
long-term disability insurance
long-term care insurance
business travel accident insurance
legal insurance
401(k) plan with company match
FINRA-funded retirement contribution
tuition reimbursement
commuter benefits
adoption assistance
backup family care
surrogacy benefits
employee assistance program
wellness programs
15 days of paid time off
5 personal days
9 sick days
two volunteer service days
military leave
jury duty leave
bereavement leave
voting and election official leave
care of a family member leave
childbirth and parental leave
nine paid holidays