Manager, Events and Experience

UFCU Main•Austin, TX

20h•Onsite

About The Position

The Experience & Events Manager creates, coordinates, and executes experiences that strengthen UFCU’s relationships with strategic partners, community organizations, members, executive stakeholders, and community leaders. The role leads events, activations, sponsorships, programs, and engagement opportunities that elevate UFCU’s brand, deepen relationships, and advance organizational objectives. It serves as the operational and creative lead for partnership activations, community engagement events, executive experiences, and strategic stakeholder gatherings, collaborating with teams across the organization to deliver meaningful, memorable experiences that reflect UFCU’s purpose and values. The position reports to the Director, Partnership Success & Community Engagement and leads a team responsible for event planning, sponsorship activation, stakeholder engagement, community programming, and executive event support. It also maintains a dotted-line relationship to the Office of the CEO to support Board of Directors events, executive leadership engagements, strategic planning events, and key stakeholder experiences. The role oversees event planning and execution, including logistics, vendors, budgets, communications, hospitality, and post-event evaluation. It develops activation calendars, playbooks, standards, and processes; coordinates community and financial wellness programs; supports executive and board events; manages budgets and team performance; and collaborates across business units to advance member growth, community impact, brand visibility, and partnership success. The position requires frequent travel and may involve adjusted schedules, overtime, and evening or weekend work to support events and stakeholder commitments.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Communications, Hospitality/Event Management, Public Administration, Organizational Leadership, Community Development, or a related field; experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
At least five years of related experience in event planning, activation management, sponsorship execution, community engagement, stakeholder engagement, business development support, marketing, hospitality, financial services, or a related discipline.
At least three years leading complex projects, programs, events, or cross-functional initiatives.
At least one year of experience as a people leader.
Demonstrated experience planning and executing events, activations, programs, or stakeholder engagement initiatives.
Demonstrated experience managing vendors, budgets, communications, logistics, and post-event evaluation.
Must be bondable.
Expertise in event planning, activation management, sponsorship execution, hospitality, and stakeholder engagement.
Ability to conceptualize, organize, and execute large-scale events, executive programs, community events, and partnership activations.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple high-profile initiatives simultaneously while maintaining attention to detail and service quality.
Strong vendor management, budgeting, project management, logistics coordination, and post-event evaluation skills.
Ability to build relationships with community leaders, strategic partners, executive stakeholders, nonprofit organizations, vendors, and organizational leaders.
Strong communication, presentation, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills, and ability to represent an organization professionally in public-facing environments.
Strong understanding of community engagement, partnership support, experiential marketing, and relationship-building strategies.
Ability to work effectively with senior executives, board members, and influential external stakeholders; high professionalism, confidentiality, discretion, sound judgment, and attention to detail.
Ability to anticipate needs, manage complexity, and deliver exceptional experiences for executive audiences; comfort working in fast-moving environments where priorities and requirements may shift.
Proven track record of delivering measurable outcomes through events, activations, and engagement programs; ability to translate strategic objectives into actionable plans and drive accountability, follow-through, and results.
Strong service orientation and commitment to operational excellence.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a credit union, financial services organization, higher education, healthcare, nonprofit, hospitality, marketing, or community engagement environment.
Experience supporting executive leadership teams, board governance activities, strategic planning events, or high-profile stakeholder engagements.
Experience managing large-scale events, community programs, sponsorship portfolios, market launches, or executive retreats.
Experience developing event standards, activation playbooks, hospitality protocols, or stakeholder engagement processes.
Certified Meeting Professional (CMP), event management certification, project management certification, or related credentials.

Responsibilities

Lead planning, coordination, and execution of strategic partnership events, sponsorship activations, community events, and stakeholder engagement initiatives.
Develop and maintain an annual activation calendar aligned with partnership priorities, community development goals, and organizational objectives.
Create engagement opportunities that strengthen UFCU’s visibility and presence within higher education, healthcare, employer groups, and community organizations.
Oversee event planning, logistics, vendor management, budgets, communications, UFCU suite hospitality, and post-event evaluation.
Ensure events and activations reflect UFCU’s brand, values, and strategic priorities.
Develop activation playbooks, planning standards, run-of-show templates, vendor processes, and event execution practices.
Identify opportunities to increase attendance, engagement, brand awareness, relationship growth, and community impact through events and activations.
Coordinate financial wellness workshops, community outreach activities, SEG/partnership launches, and signature UFCU experiences; may assist with volunteer events.
Support planning and execution of Board of Directors meetings, retreats, strategy sessions, appreciation events, and governance-related activities.
Develop event standards and hospitality protocols for executive and board engagement activities.
Support VIP engagement strategies and special events that enhance UFCU’s reputation and influence in the communities it serves.
Partner with Partnerships, Business Development, and Community Engagement teams to deliver initiatives supporting UFCU’s strategic priorities.
Coordinate community development programs, financial wellness activities, and outreach efforts; support activation strategies for strategic partnerships and community relationships.
Represent UFCU at partner events, community programs, sponsorship activations, and stakeholder gatherings as appropriate.
Lead and develop a team responsible for event planning, activation management, sponsorship coordination, community events, and stakeholder experiences.
Establish annual goals, performance metrics, and accountability standards for activation and event outcomes.
Manage event and activation budgets and ensure effective use of organizational resources.
Develop processes, tools, and operational standards to improve consistency, efficiency, risk management, and execution quality.
Foster creativity, service excellence, collaboration, responsiveness, and accountability; coordinate internal resources and remove obstacles to deliver event commitments and activation plans.
Build relationships with leaders, peers, partners, and stakeholders across the organization.
Collaborate with BD, Retail, Marketing, Lending, Wealth Management, Commercial Services, Operations, Community Engagement, and other business units to maximize event and activation success.
Translate organizational priorities into actionable activation plans supporting member growth, community impact, brand visibility, and partnership success.
Support enterprise initiatives through event planning, activation execution, cross-functional coordination, and stakeholder engagement.
Perform other duties as assigned; adhere to organizational policies, procedures, business ethics codes, and applicable regulatory requirements and training, including requirements related to BSA, AML, USA Patriot Act, OFAC, and Fair Lending.