Director of Events & Community

The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies•Chicago, IL

6d•$140,000 - $160,000•Remote

About The Position

Director of Events & Community This is not an event logistics job. It's a build-the-vision, create-the-program, drive-the-industry role. A prominent association in the consumer-packaged goods space is for a senior, high-visibility leader to own the vision, content, and community strategy for our conferences and small events business, with a flagship event multiple new formats to launch in the years ahead. If you can spot where an industry is headed, craft a must-attend program around it, recruit speakers that make people sit up and listen, and rally internal teams around a clear plan - this role was built for you. If you mainly thrive in venue negotiations, timelines, and vendor coordination... this is not that job. What You'll Own You will be the "conductor of the orchestra," shaping the strategic direction and program that makes our events essential to the consumer packaged goods community - and ensuring they grow. 1) Event Strategy & Vision Build a deep understanding of what's happening in packaging right now - trends, challenges, opportunities, and what senior industry leaders care about. Define (and refine) the positioning, themes, and overall "why attend" narrative. Identify and experiment with new formats : summits, VIP dinners, trade show add-ons, councils, awards programs, webinars, and more. Set and drive multi-year goals for growth, profitability, and brand impact. 2) Content & Program Development Architect event programs that feel world-class , urgent, and valuable - not generic or "me too". Build tracks, themes, and session formats that deliver tangible outcomes and high engagement. Ensure events are built around what attendees actually need , not what's easiest to produce. 3) Speaker Strategy & Curation Own the end-to-end speaker strategy: targeting, outreach, vetting, and building a roster that makes people register. Attract speakers with real credibility - seniority, influence, strong storytelling ability, industry presence, and reach. Source experts and support speaker preparation so sessions land. 4) Community & Industry Leadership Be a visible thought leader and trusted voice in the packaging ecosystem. Engage regularly with senior brand-owner professionals to validate needs and concepts. Collect and translate audience insight into event decisions and potential community-based products (councils, paid communities, virtual series, awards, etc.). Who This Role Is For You're a great fit if you're someone who: ✅ can read an industry like a strategist and turn it into a program people pay attention to ✅ knows what great speakers and stories look like - and can recruit them ✅ can synthesize complex trends into compelling narratives ✅ is comfortable with high visibility and high accountability ✅ can work shoulder-to-shoulder with sales, marketing, editorial, and ops teams ✅ enjoys being "out in the ecosystem" and building real relationships Experience in the packaging ecosystem is a plus - brand owner, CPG, private label, contract manufacturing, OEM, supplier, or adjacent industries. Experience building membership communities, councils, or professional networks is a big plus. What This Role Is Not This role is not for someone who: 🚫 wants to focus mainly on logistics, vendor management, or event execution 🚫 doesn't like outreach, networking, and speaker recruitment 🚫 prefers to be behind the scenes rather than in a visible leadership role 🚫 is in a marketing or sales role in packaging who wants to move into events 🚫 needs tight direction rather than owning a charter Why This Is an Exceptional Opportunity You'll own a flagship event with a strong platform and industry reach You'll have real freedom to build new event formats and community products You'll work directly with the President in a high-trust role You'll shape a cornerstone of company's long-term growth strategy You'll build a personal reputation in an industry that values leaders who can convene people How to Stand Out If you apply, we'd love to see evidence that you've: built or shaped a B2B event program with strong attendance and engagement recruited high-impact speakers (and can show examples) created themes and tracks that reflect deep industry insight contributed to community-building initiatives (councils, memberships, networks, etc.) collaborated with sales/marketing on sponsorship stories and go-to-market narratives C ompetitive compensation and industry-leading benefits PMMI pays competitively and offers industry-leading benefits including health insurance, 401(k) matching plus a lucrative retirement plan that includes a generous profit share, and more! Take home your full earnings potential - no need for costly benefit deductions at PMMI! Apply now and see for yourself. Chicago-area candidates preferred although this is largely a remote position. Travel required up to 25% of the time. Ready to build the most compelling events in packaging? Please click here to apply. Please include in your cover letter the answers to the following questions: 1. What B2B event are you most proud of building or leading, and why? 2. What can we learn from communities springing up around podcasts and YouTube series that we can apply to creating/expanding real professional communities with B2B events at the heart? 3. In your first 90 days, how would you come up to speed on our industry apart from reading trade publications or industry newsletters? Compensation range: $140K to $160K Looking for an exciting opportunity to join a leading global resource for packaging and processing technologies? Look no further than PMMI Media Group! Our organization has been recognized as one of the "Best Manufacturing Associations to Work For" and is dedicated to connecting makers of goods with the packaging and processing suppliers they rely on. At PMG, we are committed to providing people around the world with innovative, safe, convenient, and cost-effective products that touch lives every day. As part of our team, you will be able to advance a variety of industries and make a real impact on the world. This link leads to the machine-readable files that are made available in response to the federal Transparency in Coverage Rule and includes negotiated service rates and out-of-network allowed amounts between health plans and healthcare providers. The machine-readable files are formatted to allow researchers, regulators, and application developers to access and analyze data more easily.

Requirements

can read an industry like a strategist and turn it into a program people pay attention to
knows what great speakers and stories look like - and can recruit them
can synthesize complex trends into compelling narratives
is comfortable with high visibility and high accountability
can work shoulder-to-shoulder with sales, marketing, editorial, and ops teams
enjoys being "out in the ecosystem" and building real relationships
built or shaped a B2B event program with strong attendance and engagement
recruited high-impact speakers (and can show examples)
created themes and tracks that reflect deep industry insight
contributed to community-building initiatives (councils, memberships, networks, etc.)
collaborated with sales/marketing on sponsorship stories and go-to-market narratives

Nice To Haves

Experience in the packaging ecosystem is a plus - brand owner, CPG, private label, contract manufacturing, OEM, supplier, or adjacent industries.
Experience building membership communities, councils, or professional networks is a big plus.

Responsibilities

Event Strategy & Vision Build a deep understanding of what's happening in packaging right now - trends, challenges, opportunities, and what senior industry leaders care about.
Define (and refine) the positioning, themes, and overall "why attend" narrative.
Identify and experiment with new formats : summits, VIP dinners, trade show add-ons, councils, awards programs, webinars, and more.
Set and drive multi-year goals for growth, profitability, and brand impact.
Content & Program Development Architect event programs that feel world-class , urgent, and valuable - not generic or "me too".
Build tracks, themes, and session formats that deliver tangible outcomes and high engagement.
Ensure events are built around what attendees actually need , not what's easiest to produce.
Speaker Strategy & Curation Own the end-to-end speaker strategy: targeting, outreach, vetting, and building a roster that makes people register.
Attract speakers with real credibility - seniority, influence, strong storytelling ability, industry presence, and reach.
Source experts and support speaker preparation so sessions land.
Community & Industry Leadership Be a visible thought leader and trusted voice in the packaging ecosystem.
Engage regularly with senior brand-owner professionals to validate needs and concepts.
Collect and translate audience insight into event decisions and potential community-based products (councils, paid communities, virtual series, awards, etc.)