Marquee Events, Program Lead

WORK OPTION: Hybrid

 

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a global sports and media organization with the mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball.  Built around five professional sports leagues:  the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and Basketball Africa League, the NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming available in 214 countries and territories in 60 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 200 countries and territories on all seven continents.  NBA rosters at the start of the 2023-24 season featured a record 125 international players from 40 countries and territories.  NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass.  The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with more than 2.3 billion likes and followers globally across all leagues, team and player platforms.  NBA Cares, the NBA’s global social responsibility platform, partners with renowned community-based organizations around the world to address important social issues in the areas of education, inclusion, youth and family development, and health and wellness. 
 

Position Summary:
Reporting to the GM of Marquee Events, the Marquee Events, Program Lead supports the growth and effective production of some of the highest value media-driven NBA events including NBA All-Star, Emirates NBA Cup, and NBA Finals.

 

This role requires strong relationship management and a dedication to driving tangible performance metrics to grow the NBA’s live event businesses.  Responsible for identifying and delivering opportunities that maximize efficiencies on both sides of the P&L, this role must deliver scalable operational procedures, budgets, dashboards, formal stakeholder communications & orientations, and executive summaries. The optimal candidate will leverage a strong understanding of industry best practices and polished project management skills to guide relevant stakeholders from initial planning conversations through event execution. Simultaneously managing multiple events with meticulous attention to detail, this role will drive cross-functional collaboration, communicate priorities and deadlines to key stakeholders, and monitor progress against event deliverables.

 

The optimal candidate builds trust by setting new standards for excellence, delivering against tight deadlines, and being fanatically dedicated to the experience of key constituents (e.g., fans, teams, players, media, partners, and internal departments).  They will be able to navigate ambiguity by driving swiftly towards simple solutions that leverage insights to advance new initiatives. With a meticulous attention to detail and scalable project management, this leader will also demonstrate extraordinary organizational skills that only improve as the complexity of the project increases. Understanding in detail the costs, revenue, products, services, and systems for each event in their business line, the optimal candidate will use this knowledge to close competitiveness gaps and amplify existing strengths.  The Marquee Events, Program Lead will have a pulse on emerging trends, see opportunities where others remain stagnant, and remain obsessed with delivering polished executive-level work product.

 

Major Responsibilities:

• Support the management of all day-to-day business and logistical operations for NBA All-Star, Emirates NBA Cup, and NBA Finals in addition to other event roles as assigned 
• Document, implement, and train key processes, policies and procedures that deliver consistent global scale and facilitate growth of the business
• Deliver high-volume and results-oriented project and budget management across assigned events
• Along with the GM of Marquee Events, implement and execute against a business plan for profitability in each event –– creating ancillary revenue streams and efficiency measures that maximize OI and improve productivity
• Monitor progress of key initiatives and priorities by meeting regularly with cross-functional project team to track event planning, draw and share insights, and problem solve
• Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, to a broad range of internal and external constituents by taking complex problems and simplifying them for the audience
• Support the development and presentation of each event to internal departments – communicate key milestones, storylines, and activation plans 
• Spearhead post-event recaps that promote data-driven decision making and actionable next steps
• Cultivate relationships with all marquee event markets, emerging technologies, and industry-leading operators and formulate cost effective partnerships

 

Required Skills/Knowledge:

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