Senior Event Technology Specialist

NAFSA Association of International Educators•Washington DC, DC

11d•$75,000

About The Position

With more than 10,000 members, NAFSA: Association of International Educators is the largest and most comprehensive association of professionals committed to advancing international higher education. Based in the United States, we provide programs, products, services, and a physical and virtual meeting space for the worldwide community of international educators. The association provides leadership to its varied constituencies through establishing principles of good practice and providing professional development opportunities. NAFSA encourages networking among professionals, convenes conferences and collaborative dialogues, and promotes research and knowledge creation to strengthen and serve the field. We lead the way in advocating for a better world through international education. NAFSA believes that international education advances learning and scholarship, fosters under-standing and respect among people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives, is essential for developing globally competent individuals, and builds leadership for the global community. We believe that international education lies at the core of an interconnected world characterized by peace, security, and well-being for all. POSITION SUMMARY The Senior Event Technology Specialist manages NAFSA’s Conference registration and exhibit infrastructure supporting virtual, in-person and hybrid events. In this role, they work closely with the Senior Director of Technology, the Event Technology Specialist, internal stakeholders, and vendors to ensure the event technology platforms remain current, evolve with the organization, and effectively support NAFSA’s events from small, stand-alone events to major conferences.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent combination of education and experience
A minimum of four years successful experience working within project-based work structures, developing or leading programs or projects, and effectively managing tasks and timelines.
Proven ability to use, teach, and troubleshoot a variety of software applications.
Demonstrated experience in effectively supporting end users of web-based event applications, with a strong customer service orientation.
Proven ability to conduct research into and resolve product and service-related issues
Demonstrated experience managing multiple streams of work, prioritizing appropriately, and problem solving effectively in complex situations
The candidate is flexible, multi-task oriented, creative, and able to work in a fast-paced team environment as well as independently.
Highly organized and detail-oriented, with ability to effectively prioritize and execute tasks
Great work ethic and intellectual curiosity.
Ability to deal tactfully with and elicit cooperation from a wide variety of stakeholders and vendors; Persuasive, encouraging, and diplomatic.
Strong oral and written communication skills
Willing and able to quickly learn and master a range of business applications
Ability to master new systems quickly and to effectively research a wide range of issues when troubleshooting user issues
Superb interpersonal skills with the ability to assist users of various skill levels and backgrounds on technical systems and procedures.
Ability to present ideas with technical language in both a user-friendly and business-friendly manner
Effective team collaborator with excellent oral and written communication skills; at ease leading meetings and trainings, listening, and problem solving
Excellent ability to prioritize and execute tasks under pressure

Nice To Haves

Experience with nonprofit, education, or international education institutions
Technology system evaluation and procurement
Familiarity with CadmiumCD, Cvent, Zoom, Maritz or other association focused event technology solutions strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Manage and support the annual systems setup and the implementation cycles for NAFSA annual and regional conferences and other events.
Advise on recommendations or alternatives that address existing and potential trouble areas in event operations across the organization.
Ensure accurate system setup and new feature implementation in event technology stack. Currently these include Maritz event registration, CadmiumCD, Cvent, Zoom, and a variety of SaaS tools.
Work closely with vendors and NAFSA Annual and Regional event owners to create & execute implementation & testing timelines; Ensure timely implementation & smooth operations of registration and event technology systems for attendees and exhibitors.
Partner with Event Logistics, Accounting, Senior Director of Technology, Technology Operations and vendors to plan on-site registration desk, hardware and infrastructure setup and staffing.
Recommend modifications to process workflows, optimize user experience and backend data capture protocols in the iMIS AMS.
Consult staff on using Zoom features to create engaging virtual events.
Prepare and deliver reports, recommendations, or alternatives that address existing and potential trouble areas in event operations across the organization
Ensure compatibility and interoperability of event and in-house computing systems.
Support testing, including end-user reviews, for modified and new systems.
Provide post-implementation support.
Oversee active maintenance of system and business process documentation and training for effective knowledge transfer across NAFSA.
Use the Event Technology Toolkit to facilitate event planning, scope and budget discussions with event owners across the organization.
Partner with NAFSA event planning teams to plan event system implementations.
Lead sessions to review and revise event systems functionality to best meet NAFSA’s specific events requirement.
Consult decision makers, systems owners, and end users to define business, financial, and operations requirements and systems goals, and identify and resolve systems issues.
Review and analyze the effectiveness and efficiency of event systems and develop strategies for improving or further leveraging these systems.
Actively maintain the event technology team workplan for all NAFSA events.
Create and maintain realistic timelines in conjunction with event stakeholders for setup and implementation of event platforms.
Research and recommend best practices, standards, and policies for NAFSA enterprise platforms supporting NAFSA events.
Stay abreast of developments in virtual event technologies.
Actively research and recommend emerging technologies to support innovation in NAFSA’s events and member landscape.
Provide guidance to junior staff members.
Support and guide NAFSA cross-departmental teams in the implementation of Event Technology platforms and services.
Convey NAFSA’s strategic and operational needs to vendors; translate those needs into appropriate scopes of work, timelines, work plans, and budgets in consultation with the Senior Director, Technology.
Partner closely with external vendors to provide technology infrastructure support; ensure contracts and service level agreements are fulfilled
Work with the Senior Director of Technology to coordinate event technology contract formulation, review & renewals for final sign-off by internal business owners
Consult with supervisor on the strategies, problem-solving and accomplishments of the team.
Develop and maintain current documentation on all supported systems to support knowledge transfer across the team and the organization.
Assist team members in formulating and conducting training sessions and teaching materials for propagating enterprise software applications knowledge throughout the organization.
Develop and maintain training materials for regional team leaders.
Coordinate and perform in-depth testing, including end-user reviews, for modified and new systems, and provide post-implementation support.
Provide orientation and training to end users for all modified and new systems.
Provide guidance and/or instruction to new staff members and regional leaders.
Other projects, as assigned.