Director, Global Events Center of Excellence

Our Mission

At Palo Alto Networks®, we’re united by a shared mission—to protect our digital way of life. We thrive at the intersection of innovation and impact, solving real-world problems with cutting-edge technology and bold thinking. Here, everyone has a voice, and every idea counts. If you’re ready to do the most meaningful work of your career alongside people who are just as passionate as you are, you’re in the right place.

Who We Are

In order to be the cybersecurity partner of choice, we must trailblaze the path and shape the future of our industry. This is something our employees work at each day and is defined by our values: Disruption, Collaboration, Execution, Integrity, and Inclusion. We weave AI into the fabric of everything we do and use it to augment the impact every individual can have. If you are passionate about solving real-world problems and ideating beside the best and the brightest, we invite you to join us!

We believe collaboration thrives in person. That’s why most of our teams work from the office full time, with flexibility when it’s needed. This model supports real-time problem-solving, stronger relationships, and the kind of precision that drives great outcomes.

Job Summary

Palo Alto Networks is looking for a visionary Director, Center of Excellence (CoE) for Global Events to build and lead a centralized hub of operational excellence. You will design the blueprint for how events are executed globally. You will be responsible for standardizing our event technology stack, creating global playbooks, standardizing event content and establishing a rigorous data framework to measure ROI and pipeline impact.

This is a strategic leadership role that bridges the gap between Corporate Marketing, Regional Field Marketing, and Marketing Operations.

Your Impact

• Establish the CoE Blueprint: Build the foundational frameworks, governance models, and standardized "Playbooks" that allow our global teams to scale events with speed and quality.

• Global Event Tech Strategy: Own the event technology requirements (e.g., RainFocus, Cvent, ON24, Salesforce integration) in partnership with the Marketing Operations Team. Ensure seamless data flow from registration to CRM for hyper-accurate lead attribution.

• Operational Governance: Oversee global vendor management and strategic sourcing, ensuring we leverage our scale to drive cost efficiencies and world-class service-level agreements (SLAs).  

• Data-Driven Insights: Develop and manage a global "Event Dashboard" that tracks KPIs such as Cost-per-Attendee, Pipeline Acceleration, and Net Promoter Score (NPS).

• Regional Enablement: Act as a consultant to regional teams in EMEA, JAPAC, and LATAM, providing them with the tools and processes to execute local "Ignite on Tour" events while maintaining global brand consistency.

• Innovation & AI: Lead the integration of AI-driven tools into the event lifecycle—from personalized attendee journeys to automated post-event follow-up workflows.

• Asset Ownership: Own the complete lifecycle, maintenance, and development of all experiential assets, including event brand kits, standardized vendor RFPs, onsite "run-of-show" templates, and post-event reporting modules.

• Cross-Functional Integration: Partner with Product Marketing, Global Partner Marketing, Digital Marketing, and Sales teams to ensure experiential data (attendee behavior and intent) is seamlessly integrated into CRM workflows and the broader customer journey.

• Enablement: Develop and deliver advanced enablement programs and certification tracks that empower regional marketing teams to effectively implement, scale, and defend the global experiential standards.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of progressive experience in Global Integrated Marketing, Experiential Operations, or Marketing COE leadership within a high-growth B2B Tech or Enterprise environment.

• Proven track record of building a CoE: You have experience moving an organization from siloed event execution to a centralized, scalable model.

• Operational & Scale Mastery: Deep expertise in building scalable operational frameworks, managing complex global budgets, and driving brand consistency across diverse international markets.

• Framework Expert: Expert-level knowledge of Experiential Marketing best practices, including event lifecycle management, tiered sponsorship models, and multi-channel engagement strategies.

• Program Scaling: Proven track record of designing, documenting, and scaling global "Playbooks" and COE methodologies from the ground up in a complex, matrixed organization.

• Stakeholder Influence: Demonstrated ability to lead through infl