Senior Manager, University Events

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:
 

Pay Range: $97,300.00 - $175,200.00

Job Description

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Lead and develop a team of event planners and event specialists capable of meeting program objectives for multiple event types, including at least one large, repeating event program such as commencements, alumni celebrations, school summits, partner summits, town halls, or employee “all hands” events.
• Help develop and refine the overall objectives and strategy for university event programs assigned to your team, set priorities in line with those objectives, and develop relevant policies.
• Continually assess the effectiveness and quality of current event types. Take the lead in developing new event types and improving existing ones.
• Set and manage team and program budgets. Ensure that event planners are operating within budget and accounting for all expenses.
• Manage and reconcile event calendars. Work with the Finance department and the Office of the President to develop a unified corporate calendar that minimizes scheduling conflicts.
• Coordinate and approve date and venue selection for your team’s event programs.
• Research, vet, and recommend keynote speakers who will resonate with audiences; negotiate fees and provide relevant content to help shape inspirational messages.
• Establish measurable objectives and success criteria, including post-event evaluations and ROI analysis.
• Approve marketing or branding content related to events and team services. Ensure that relevant websites or other messaging platforms are up to date. Oversee a consistent communication strategy for the team.
• Nurture deep relationships with key internal and external partners. Work across teams to support the success of your event planners and specialists. Meet regularly with key stakeholders to identify improvement opportunities.
• Resolve escalated issues and facilitate executive communications during large events, allowing your team to remain focused on core duties.
• Manage relationships with WGU Studios and third-party production service vendors who can augment team capabilities and operate at scale. Help negotiate vendor contracts to reduce costs, liability, and risks. Partner with the Procurement department to streamline the contracting process.
• Oversee a system to manage any in-house or freelance technicians and event-specific contractors. Ensure that adequate and appropriate technical support is provided in advance, during, and following events.
• Ensure that your department operates in line with regulations pertaining to the Premises License. Liaise with licensing, safety, and emergency services officials as required. Obtain special permissions where required (pyro’s, lasers, radio mic licenses etc.)
• Create a culture of operating excellence, continuous improvement, collaboration, and trust.
• Engage with your peers to identify and implement shared practices that can improve outcomes across our entire organization.
• Assign work across your team. Ensure that workloads and resources are equitably balanced.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

• Knowledge, Skill, and Abilities:

• Demonstrated success managing event production teams and planning, developing budgets, and meeting budget goals.
• Excellent project management skills and the ability to manage complex timelines and multiple projects.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and time management skills. Must