Event Business Manager

Fullsight•Troy, MI

25d•Hybrid

About The Position

SAE Industry Technologies Consortia (ITC), Performance Review Institute (PRI), and SAE International (SAE) deliver shared solutions to industry's common challenges. SAE International's Engineering Events bring together mobility professionals to explore new ideas and address industry challenges. Events include WCX, COMVEC, AeroTech, and other conferences and expos. The Event Business Manager works with conference production, marketing, and sales teams to elevate key events and shape their future growth. The role owns the financial and commercial performance of assigned events or portfolios, including budgets, revenue targets, and profit margins. It develops event go-to-market strategies, grows attendance and sponsorship, shapes content and programming, manages important industry relationships, oversees marketing priorities, and coordinates onsite delivery. The manager uses market research and post-event feedback to identify opportunities and inform future event strategies.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, communications, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
At least 6 years of experience in event production or management with direct revenue accountability.
Demonstrated success growing event attendance and revenue.
Strong commercial instincts and the ability to consider audience experience and long-term brand health.
Experience managing budgets, forecasts, and margin analysis.
Ability to build trust with sponsors, partners, speakers, and internal teams.
Ability to drive change and continuous improvement without always having direct authority over every involved function.

Nice To Haves

Experience with engineering- or technology-focused events.

Responsibilities

Own the P&L for an assigned event or portfolio of events, including budgets, revenue targets, and profit margins.
Work with sales and marketing managers to set attendance and revenue targets, develop promotion and sales strategies, and manage relationships with key accounts and speakers.
Research and develop each event's plan and go-to-market strategy, evaluating opportunities such as new tracks, co-located events, industry partnerships, geographic expansion, and format changes.
Partner with content developers and advisory groups to develop keynotes and panels that keep events differentiated and relevant to their target industries.
Establish session topics and themes, recruit key speakers, and write sales and marketing briefs to support sponsorship and paid-attendance sales, in accordance with the production schedule.
Track competitor events, industry trends, and attendee and exhibitor feedback to identify portfolio risks and opportunities.
Set attendee acquisition and retention goals and priorities with the marketing team, monitor registration pacing, and adjust tactics as needed.
Serve as the primary relationship owner for industry stakeholders, advisory committees, tentpole speakers, and key exhibitors and sponsors.
Coordinate with operations teams to deliver an onsite experience aligned with the event's strategic vision and manage VIP relationships onsite.
Use onsite focus-group feedback, post-event survey data, and advisory-group recommendations to inform the following year's strategy.