Sr. Manager, Events and Hospitality - The Friedkin Group

LIVING OUR VALUES

All associates are guided by Our Values.  Our Values are the unifying foundation of our companies.  We strive to ensure that every decision we make and every action we take demonstrates Our Values.  We believe that putting Our Values into practice creates lasting benefits for all our associates, shareholders, and the communities in which we live.

JOB SUMMARY  

The Senior Manager, Events & Hospitality will manage the Events, Travel, and Hospitality teams overseeing a comprehensive range of services from corporate event production to managing travel and onsite hospitality and catering services for The Friedkin Group and other affiliated companies.  This role involves leading a team of event planners and hospitality professionals, through the complexities of small to large-scale event planning, including site selection, budget management, and production. You will ensure the seamless execution of internal and external events, both onsite and hybrid, as well as manage destination incentive trips. As a dynamic leader, your responsibilities extend to financial oversight, project forecasting, vendor management, and maintaining high service standards for key stakeholders and executives across The Friedkin Group and its affiliates.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Provide leadership and guidance to the Travel and Events team, overseeing the innovative and engaging execution of events, ensuring alignment with brand identity and strategic objectives, and collaborating with internal stakeholders and external partners for seamless integration. Understands the strategic and creative requirements and objectives of the event through collaboration with department leads to ensure execution is on point.
• Drive and track cost management and efficiencies procedures through negotiation and strategic buying, cost saving and cost avoidance.
• Drive internal continuous improvement in best practice processes and procedures & event production to streamline our Travel & Events department.
• Administer financial activities including budgets, expense approvals, reconciliations, and audits, ensuring events are delivered on time and within budget.
• Oversee Hospitality team members who serve the corporate campus with onsite meetings, catering, reception and phone coverage.
• Manage team performance by coaching and identifying development opportunities, ensuring collaboration and exceptional service delivery to stakeholders.
• Drive continuous improvement in event production processes and workflows, implementing best practices and technology solutions to optimize efficiency and quality.
• Perform business unit needs analysis and serve a diverse executive network, balancing team resources, assignments, process improvement and a year-round workload. Serve as the lead planner for special projects, top tier in-person events, dealer meetings and incentive trips in the U.S. and Caribbean
• Establish and maintain strategic relationships with key industry vendors, production companies, and creative agencies to leverage resources and expertise for successful event execution, optimizing event quality and cost-efficiency. .
• Stay abreast of industry trends and emerging technologies in event production and experiential marketing, integrating innovative approaches to enhance event experiences and differentiate the brand.
• Serve as a liaison to key departments including risk, security, facilities and SS&P.
• Handle VIP arrangements as needed for air, hotel, ground transportation and security.
• Communicate and report on event progress and outcomes, delivering upon overall objectives and providing updates to organization, sales, and business leaders.
• Lead the onsite culinary team and contributed to a positive associate café experience through high standards and offerings with the in-house food vendor ensuring a positive return on investment.
• Other duties as assigned.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

Directly supervises one or more associates.  Carries out responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws.  Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, training, and developing associates, planning, assigning, and directing work, appraising performance, rewarding and disciplining associates, addressing complaints and resolving problems.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Requires a bachelor's degree with over 10 years of experience in event production, live events or in a related area or has an equivalent combination of education and experience.
•  Strong leadership skills with a proven track record of mentoring and developing creative teams to deliver exceptional results in the event management space.
• Experience in executive event production, including leading the production of corporate events attracting over 5,000 attendees and managing substantial budgets.
• Strong understanding of event logistics, technical production, and venue management, with the ability to troubleshoot issues and adapt to changing circumstances.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across departments and influence stakeholders at all levels of the organization.
• Microsoft Office experience required.  CVENT, Canva, and Concur experience preferred.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.  (For optimum performance, the jobholder in this position would be expected to demonstrate appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities in the listed areas.)

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS*

Certified Meeting Planner is preferred, but not required.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

The physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met by an associate to successfully perform the essential functions of the job.  While performing the duties of the job, the associate is required on a daily basis to analyze and interpret data, communicate, and remain in a stationary position for a significant amount of the workday; and frequently operate, access, input, and retrieve information from the computer and other office devices.  The associate is regularly required to move about the office and around the corporate campus.  The associate is frequently required to travel to other sites, including out-of-state, where applicable, for business purposes.  A large amount of this travel involves driving a company vehicle and may involve travel via airplane and other methods of transportation.  The associate must frequently move up to 10 pounds and occasionally move up to 25 pounds.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those associate encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.  As a result, the duties for this position occur in various places including, but not limited to an office environment, affiliated worksites, and third-party venues.  The associate will be exposed to various weather conditions, depending on location, and may be exposed to areas in which moving mechanical parts, fumes, toxic or caustic chemicals are present.  The noise level for this position will vary and the associate may be exposed to loud noise levels.

TRAVEL REQUIRED

The job requires significant domestic travel (up to 30% of the time). 

The Friedkin Group and its affiliates are equal opportunity employers and maintain drug-free workplaces by conducting pre-employment drug testing.

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TOTAL REWARDS

Our Total Rewards package is an integral part of how we recognize our associates’ contributions as well as attract, retain and reward the most qualified employees. We are committed to providing a fair and competitive compensation structure that includes base pay and performance based rewards, where applicable. Compensation is based on various factors including, but not limited to, skill set, experience, qualifications and job-related requirements. Our benefits include medical, dental, and vision along with wellness programs, retirement plans, paid leave and much more! To learn more about these programs and many more, take a tour of our Benefits Page

We are seeking candidates who are legally authorized to work in the United States, without Sponsorship.