Sr. Event Associate, Community & Conference Affairs - Start Early

Start Early (formerly known as the Ounce) is an energized, future-focused organization devoted to providing quality early learning and care across the country.

Our desire to close the opportunity gap and build more equitable early learning experiences for our youngest learners guides everything we do. As a leader in early learning and care, we scale our deep expertise across program, policy and research through partnerships across the country.

We are recruiting individuals who want to join us in this mission and share a commitment to our core values of appreciation & respect, empowerment, diversity, excellence, learning and communication.

Become part of our rewarding, mission-driven culture! We want our employees to feel empowered, motivated, energized, and passionate about the work they do!

The Community and Conference Affairs (CCA) Senior Event Associate will provide full-time support for the planning and execution of high-quality programmatic events, webinars, and professional learning communities at Start Early. As a member of the Conference and Community Team, the Associate will work within a shared service model partnering with different internal teams and external consultants/vendors to provide expertise and capacity building to execute a portfolio of professional learning experiences across the organization.

Reporting to the Sr. Manager, Community & Conference Affairs, you will:

• Lead the daily operations for the National Home Visiting Summit and external webinars for Start Early. Will partner and lead extneral consultants, partners and internal partners to promote, execute, and amplify each webinars. Areas of focus include, but are not limited to; build and manage the registration process, monthly communications, meeting scheduling, expense tracking, webinar strategy and engagement, Zoom technical support for monthly webinars, support data collection efforts in Salesforce and with internal team members in Research.
• Be responsible for individually assigned events and will be matrixed into work plans for larger conferences and events. Will lead aspects of the event planning process specifically, but not limited to; attendee and speaker support, data integrity and maintenance in Cvent/Salesforce/Zoom, maintain and update participant data, registration and participation/attendance records at training and learning events w/Salesforce, maintain participant payment records, mobile app management, audiovisual support, and material production.
• Provide high-quality customer service and operational leadership during the execution of all assigned live and virtual events. Manages and provides timely responses to Salesforce cases (customer support). Maintain a high degree of professionalism during events and when multi-tasking. Independently manages payment reconilation in collaboration w/external attendees and internal partners. Leads monthly revenue forecasting for National Home Visiting Summit.
• Work with internal and external partners, vendors, speakers, and attendees to implement events and inform strategy for deploying resources. Specifically, manage scheduling and meeting logistics for all internal and external meetings, travel reimbursement, vendor payments, budgeting, reconcile and process attendee conference fees, customer support, source supplies, manage account for shipping packages, maintains internal team resources.
• Maintain records and process vendor payments and purchasing for CCA events in accordance with Start Early policy. Will use Concur and additional programs as determined. Pre and post-event there will be a high volume of payments/reimbursements. The Associate is responsible for reimbursement and travel related reconciliation. Will track and process consultant invoices.
• Work and at times lead cross-divisional teams to strategize, plan and execute events. Specifically; project planning, external communications to attendees and vendors, budgeting, day of event operations and event closeout.
• Lead the development of webinars and execution of the zoom webinars. Will lead registration development in Zoom/Cvent, Salesforce integrations and live Zoom administration.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communication, Non-profit management, hospitality, or another relevant field or equivalent years of job experience.
• 2-5 years of experience with event planning, administrative professional, marketing, or similar industries.
• Advanced/working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, primarily Word and excel, is required.
• Experience working with Zoom is required.
• Event planning experience is required.
• Experience working with Salesforce and Cvent is preferred.
• Experience working in a diverse setting.
• Strong customer service skills are required.
• Strong organizational skills to efficiently manage multiple tasks and associated documentation.
• Strong attention to detail when performing all aspects of role.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a team environment
• Ability to exercise independent judgment and problem-solving.
• Ability to promote and maintain effective internal and external communication between internal staff, partners, and attendees.
• Ability to be creative in assessing and managing multiple tasks and addressing shifting priorities. Exercise independent judgment and accomplish assignments in a timely manner.
• Effective decision-making skills; knowing when to act, defer or seek guidance.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills are required with strong attention to detail.
• Experience with computer applications, specifically Learning Management Systems, Constituent Relationship Management systems (knowledge of Salesforce preferred), virtual meeting software (Zoom) and Microsoft Office/Teams with the ability to learn new technology and support others in learning and adopting these systems for their own use. Experience with Salesforce and Cvent is preferred.
• Ability to carry out and manage multiple work assignments and follow through on assigned tasks with consistent accuracy and close attention to detail.
• Ability to process, protect and exercise discretion in handling confidential information and materials.
• Ability to travel as necessary to provide onsite logistical support at events (1-3+ weeks per year).
• Ability to work in fast-paced environment and embrace ambiguity and change.
• Ability to work outside of normal business hours is required. On occasion, in-person and virtual events will take place after normal business hours (M-F, 9-5:30pm) and on weekends.

We recognize that few candidates might meet every single piece of knowledge, experience, or education listed here. Research shows that women and people of color, among many other historically excluded groups, are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. Start Early is dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your qualifications don’t perfectly align with everything in the job description, we still encourage you to apply!

Base Annual Salary: $65,000-$71,000

We believe that all employees should be paid fairly and equitably. As of the time of this posting, this is the expected base annual salary range. The base annual salary will be based on a wide range of factors, including skills, qualifications, experience, as well as business needs and limitations.

Our generous benefits plan includes:

Comprehensive Health Plans, Commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, Holistic Wellness Program, Professional Development Program, 401k Contribution, Paid Volunteer Days, 6 months paid parental leave, and much more.

Start Early is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to our core values by creating an inclusive environment for all staff.