Strategic Events Manager

Job Description

Job Summary

The Strategic Events Manager is responsible for overseeing the planning, execution, and evaluation of high-impact internal and external events including Zendesk Relate, our annual flagship conference. This role involves managing relationships with agencies and vendors, coordinating program management activities, and designing exceptional event experiences. The ideal candidate will possess strong organizational skills, creativity, and the ability to work collaboratively across various teams.

What you’ll be doing 

• Develop and implement comprehensive event strategies for corporate events that align with company goals, budget, and timelines.

• Drive event organization, venue selection, agency management, on-site experience design and coordination for internal and external events.

• Program manage overall project with cross-functional teams, timelines, and schedules to ensure successful event delivery.

• Agency management including defining scope, budget oversight, weekly check-ins and flagging escalations as needed. 

• Collect and analyze data to create post-event reports, assessing the success of events and providing recommendations for improvement for the event planning process, event marketing, and overall event impact. 

• Manage core program budget, ensuring cost-effectiveness and optimization of resources, working closely with the Finance and Procurement teams. 

• Identify potential risks and develop contingency plans to mitigate any issues that may arise during events.

Qualification  

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in event management, with a focus on corporate events. Experience producing events with over 1,500 attendees is preferred.  

• A strategic thinker, strong communicator, and relationship builder with a proven track record of managing events of varying scales. 

• Experience planning global events in multiple regions is preferred.

• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, strong attention to detail, and the ability to manage complicated and tight timelines.

• A customer-oriented attitude, always thinking about the customer experience while planning and executing events. 

• Ability to think strategically and analytically, with strong problem-solving skills.

• A track record of managing and reporting on event metrics and ROI, and experience using data and metrics to measure impact and determine improvements.

• Ability to travel to global events as needed up to 20% of the time.

Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.

Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.

The US annualized base salary range for this position is $95,000.00-$143,000.00. This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.

The intelligent heart of customer experience
Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love. We advocate for digital first customer experiences—and we stick with it in our workplace. Over 5,000 employees worldwide are collaborating from kitchen tables, home offices, coworking spaces, and Zendesk workspaces to make one team.

Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the