Senior Director, Conference Program Management

Gartner•Stamford, CT

18h•Hybrid

About The Position

This critical position is responsible for developing the content, programs, and experiences of several major Gartner conferences that serve C-level business executives and their teams, making them must-attend events for those leaders, and achieving the annual financial targets for the referenced conferences. The Senior Director, Program Management, owns several conferences and is tasked with 2 main missions: Develop the conference strategy and orchestrate cross-functional team collaboration to drive growth, profitability and customer retention. Create the most compelling attendee-driven conference agendas based on market needs and requirements, in close partnership with Gartner Research chair. To achieve desired results, the Senior Director, Program Management, collaborates with various stakeholders including: Gartner Business & Technology Insights (BTI) Audience Acquisition / Marketing Exhibitor/Sponsorship Sales Conference Operations / Logistics Gartner Sales and Services Delivery.

Requirements

Bachelors Degree; MBA preferred
8-12+ years’ experience in conference management, content-rich program planning, or content strategy, development and creation
Experience with large, complex multi-day/multi-track conference programs preferred
Proven ability to drive overall direction and development of conference programs: specifically content strategy and creation, agenda development, speaker management, etc.
Experience in driving or supporting audience and sponsorship acquisition
Proven track record creating and executing strategy, and identifying market and growth opportunities
Demonstrated ability to work in a highly collaborative matrix environment, with strong stakeholder management skills.
Excellent written and oral communication, and ability to influence
Global/multinational event experience strongly preferred
Strong multi-project management, prioritization, time management
Good AI, data and analytics familiarity
Ability to accommodate moderate travel, including international
Ability to engage effectively with C-level executives

Responsibilities

Creates client-focused programs that will deliver the highest results
Identifies and secures guest speakers (keynotes, panelists, case studies…)
Drives primary and secondary market research to understand client needs and behaviors, as well as market trends
Identifies target audience and defines positioning for assigned conferences
Works with Exhibitor Products team to define and deliver sponsorship opportunities and content
Identifies and evaluates competitive events, including attending competitive events
Creates the conference or portfolio strategy, in collaboration with other global colleagues & stakeholders
Evangelizes and promotes assigned conferences to internal and external constituents
Innovates conference experiences, content and formats
Works closely with Conferences Marketing to create compelling messaging and campaigns to drive growth and increase retention
Collaborates with Exhibits Sales to identify prospective exhibitors, articulate the conference value proposition, and accelerate sales growth and retention
Collaborates with Conference Operations to ensure we deliver a great attendee and sponsor experience in an efficient and cost-effective way
Partners with financial-planning teams on annual budget and investment processes