Meeting Planner - Senior

At Gensler, we design for people. We leverage our global perspective and local presence to innovate at every scale. We’re not just designers. We’re tinkerers, craftspeople, visionaries, innovators, and thought leaders. Fueled by passion and entrepreneurial spirit, our people bring new ideas to solve the world’s most challenging problems, like designing a more resilient, inclusive, and equitable future for our communities and cities.  

Our people-centered, “People First” culture and “One Firm-Firm” motto promotes integrated teams that unite to shape the future of cities. Gensler’s vision is to “Create a Better World through the Power of Design,” and we do that by our deep commitment to our clients and by fostering a collaborative, diverse, and inclusive environment that enables our people to create impactful solutions together. 

­­­Your Role

In this role, you will be responsible for the planning and coordination of logistics and communication related activities for Gensler’s major meetings, events, and retreats. You will play an instrumental role as a team member with a specific assignment (or function) on other major meetings and external events. The meetings size range from 25-750 participants. 

This role reports to the Global Business Operations leadership team. It is a non-supervisory role; however, strong leadership skills and the ability to organize large groups and connect teams in a "People First" way is important for success. This role requires that you work 5 days in either our beautiful San Francisco or Oakland offices.

What You Will Do

You will focus on the following responsibilities:

• Serves as the primary lead in planning, communications, logistics, event management and other related activities for key in-person internal meetings and events

• In-depth experience with CVENT (registration, development, reporting + management)

• Works closely with our executive communications team develop communications timelines and execute meeting-related communication via Cvent and email.

• Travel management, including tracking airfare to budget and coordination of ground transportation.

• Support meeting planners in post-event survey facilitation, distribution, and analyses of results to improve future meeting experiences

• Available to travel to meetings and make site visits throughout the year with primary meetings occurring in February, March, April, September and November.  

• Post Meeting Evaluations + Analysis

• Event budget creation, management, and reconciliation

Your Qualifications

• Ability to build and leverage relationships within a team and across Gensler’s global platform

• Exceptional interpersonal skills and ability to build trust and achieve results through relationships and influence

• Strong corporate meeting planning experience with 8+ years’ experience in event management supporting large corporate business meetings, retreats and events, or an equivalent combination of education and experience

• Internal corporate meeting planning experience preferred

• Skilled at assessing and delivering appropriate aesthetics for all aspects of the meeting experience

• Experience with virtual event technology platforms (Zoom, Teams, Livestream, Vimeo)

• Advanced knowledge of Cvent meeting/registration management software required

• Proficient with MS suite of products (Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, & PowerPoint)

• Knowledge of industry trends, pricing and prevailing contract terms in multiple service areas

• Proactive planning, critical thinking and problem-solving skills

• Deep experience forecasting hotel sleeping and meeting room requirements, managing attrition, and building room blocks

• Meticulous attention to detail while maintaining an overall view of the meeting goals, strategy and participant experience

• Experience with project planning and management-of people, schedules, logistics, and budgets

• Solid understanding of event production, AV elements and usage

• Advanced understanding of event catering and current F&B trends, understanding the balance of prioritizing the attendee experience while staying within a defined budget, and knowledge of participants’ dietary restrictions

• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects in a fast-paced, dynamic environment

• Experience with meeting / conference travel (i.e. agencies, policies and management)

• Demonstrated communication acumen including verbal and written communication skills