Director, Event Operations

Crain Communications•Detroit, MI

4d•$120,000 - $140,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Lead the operational planning and execution of Crain's event portfolio, establishing consistent processes, operational excellence and best practices across all brands. This role serves as the operational leader for the Events team, ensuring seamless execution while building scalable systems to support future growth.

Requirements

An experienced event operations leader with a proven track record producing conferences, executive events or large-scale business events.
Expertise in budgeting, venue management, production, logistics, vendor negotiations and onsite execution.
Strong leadership skills and the ability to build scalable operational processes across a growing portfolio.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Cvent and other event technology platforms is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Partner with Events leadership to develop and manage event budgets.
Lead venue sourcing and vendor negotiations while partnering with Events leadership on final recommendations and contract approvals.
Oversee food & beverage planning, production schedules, registration, signage, audiovisual coordination and all event logistics.
Partner with Events leadership to develop event timelines, operational plans and resource allocation.
Develop and maintain standardized run-of-show documents, timelines and operational playbooks.
Direct onsite event operations and proactively troubleshoot execution issues.
Manage relationships with production partners, venues and event vendors.
Lead, mentor and develop members of the event operations team.
Partner with internal stakeholders to align event objectives, operational priorities and execution strategies.
Manage multiple events simultaneously while maintaining exceptional execution standards.
Establish operational best practices that improve efficiency, scalability and the attendee experience.
Support Events leadership with post-event operational reviews and continuous process improvements.
Leverage event technology and registration platforms (Cvent preferred), along with project management tools, to improve planning, attendee experience and operational efficiency.