Associate Director Meetings and Congresses

Intellia • Cambridge, MA

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Associate Director, Meetings & Congresses, provides strategic and operational leadership for the company’s Commercial meetings and congress portfolio. The role establishes the governance, processes, infrastructure, technology, and external partnerships needed to deliver compliant, efficient, and high-impact events in support of commercialization and organizational growth.

As the central subject matter expert for meetings and congresses, this position partners with Marketing, Sales, Field Training, Medical Affairs, Finance, Procurement, Legal, Compliance, Corporate Communications, and other stakeholders to translate business objectives into integrated strategies. Responsibilities span portfolio planning, congress strategy, meeting management, budget stewardship, agency and supplier management, technology enablement, governance, attendee management, onsite execution, and post-event evaluation. The Associate Director also represents Marketing Operations as a cross-functional collaborator, driving process improvements, sharing best practices, and enabling scalable Commercial execution.

The position leads planning and execution for major congresses and Commercial meetings, develops operating standards and infrastructure, oversees financial and supplier performance, and provides onsite leadership for priority events. It requires strategic thinking, executive communication, problem-solving, and the ability to lead complex initiatives and cross-functional planning teams in a fast-paced, growing Commercial organization.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or relevant industry experience.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in meetings, congresses, events, Commercial Operations, or related disciplines; biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or life sciences experience preferred.
• Significant experience leading complex, high-visibility Commercial meetings and congresses in a highly regulated environment.
• Commercial event-planning experience, including coordination of cross-functional partners and management of external vendors.
• Demonstrated ability to influence and lead cross-functional teams without direct authority.
• Strong strategic thinking and ability to translate business objectives into actionable meeting and congress strategies.
• Exceptional organizational, planning, and project-management skills, including the ability to manage multiple complex initiatives simultaneously.
• Strong communication, presentation, negotiation, and stakeholder-management skills.
• High attention to detail and commitment to operational excellence and follow-through.
• Demonstrated problem-solving ability, including anticipating risks, navigating ambiguity, and adapting to evolving business priorities.
• Ability to balance strategic leadership with hands-on execution in a fast-paced, growing organization.
• Strong financial and business acumen, including experience managing significant program budgets.
• Ability to build productive relationships across functions, organizational levels, agencies, and external suppliers.
• Ability to travel as required, including overnight travel and onsite leadership for priority meetings and congresses.
• Proven experience leading cross-functional planning teams and managing complex programs with multiple stakeholders and dependencies.
• Demonstrated experience building governance frameworks, SOPs, operating processes, planning frameworks, and scalable operational infrastructure.
• Strong experience with agency and supplier strategy, RFPs, contracting, budget management, forecasting, and financial reconciliation.
• Experience implementing and/or optimizing meeting-management technologies such as Cvent and collaboration platforms such as SharePoint and Microsoft Teams.
• Strong understanding of pharmaceutical and biotechnology compliance considerations related to meetings and congresses.

Nice To Haves

• Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) or similar meeting/event industry certification.
• Experience supporting pre-launch, launch, and/or growing Commercial organizations.
• Experience in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or life sciences organizations.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategy, planning, and operational oversight of the Commercial meetings and congress portfolio, including sales, launch, training, leadership, cross-functional meetings, major medical congresses, and related activities.
• Develop annual and long-range meeting and congress plans aligned with organizational priorities, commercialization milestones, field readiness, and business objectives.
• Partner with Commercial and Medical stakeholders on integrated strategies for priority congresses while maintaining clear functional ownership and decision rights.
• Serve as the primary Meetings & Congresses subject matter expert and strategic advisor to functional and senior leadership.
• Lead end-to-end operational planning for national, regional, and local congresses, including exhibits, sponsorships, meeting rooms, ancillary events, hospitality, attendee management, and related activities.
• Facilitate cross-functional congress planning and readiness, ensuring alignment on objectives, deliverables, timelines, responsibilities, dependencies, decisions, and execution.
• Oversee registration, housing, travel-related processes, attendee communications, schedules, meeting requests, and onsite operational requirements.
• Develop processes and resources enabling field teams to execute local congress activities consistently and in accordance with company standards.
• Lead planning and execution of significant Commercial meetings, including national sales meetings, launch meetings, field and new-hire training, leadership meetings, and other strategic internal meetings.
• Translate business, strategic, and learning objectives into meeting strategies, formats, agendas, and attendee experiences in partnership with meeting owners and functional leaders.
• Lead venue sourcing, contracting, registration, housing, food and beverage, transportation, production coordination, attendee communications, onsite logistics, event materials, and financial reconciliation.
• Establish consistent planning standards and best practices for company-sponsored Commercial meetings.
• Provide onsite leadership for priority meetings and congresses, act as the primary operational escalation point, and proactively manage risks.
• Lead agency and supplier sourcing, including RFP development, evaluation, selection, contracting, onboarding, and implementation.
• Develop scopes of work with Procurement and stakeholders, defining supplier responsibilities, deliverables, service expectations, performance measures, and commercially responsible solutions.
• Manage agency and supplier performance through service expectations, business reviews, and performance metrics.
• Establish standardized budget tracking, forecasting, reconciliation, and financial closeout processes across meetings and congress programs.
• Partner with Finance, Procurement, agencies, and budget owners on purchase orders, contracts, accruals, invoicing, reconciliation, and financial reporting.
• Provide leadership with timely visibility into spend, commitments, forecast expenses, variances, and potential financial risks.
• Lead business processes associated with Cvent, including meeting intake, registration, attendee management, communications, reporting, and user adoption.
• Develop and maintain centralized meeting and congress resources and collaboration environments, including SharePoint and Microsoft Teams tools, repositories, training, documentation, and process standards.
• Establish reporting and dashboards covering meeting and congress activity, attendance, spend, operational performance, and portfolio metrics.
• Evaluate technologies, capabilities, and industry practices to improve efficiency, attendee experience, planning effectiveness, and organizational visibility.
• Partner with Legal, Compliance, Finance, Procurement, and other stakeholders to ensure activities meet company policies, industry regulations, compliance requirements, transparency standards, and organizational controls.
• Design, implement, and continuously enhance the Meetings & Congresses operating model, including governance frameworks, policies, processes, tools, and approval pathways.
• Establish standardized planning, execution, attendance, and recordkeeping practices that promote visibility, consistency, accountability, scalability, and risk management.
• Establish KPIs and post-event evaluation processes for operational performance, attendee experience, financial performance, supplier performance, and business objectives.
• Monitor industry trends, technologies, and best practices; identify opportunities to improve processes, governance, tools, and supplier models as the organization grows.
• Travel as required, including overnight travel and onsite leadership for priority meetings and congresses.

Benefits

• Performance-based annual cash bonus.
• New hire equity grant.
• Eligibility to be considered for annual equity awards, with value determined annually at the company’s discretion.
• Company benefits are referenced, but specific benefits are not listed in the job description.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior