Senior Manager, Meetings and Travel

The Role

Reporting to the Director Travel, Meetings and Fleet, the Senior Manager, Meetings and Travel is responsible for the development, implementation, and management of Moderna’s strategic meetings management program. Working across the global enterprise, this role will partner with key stakeholders in the planning, coordination, and execution of company meetings, conferences, and events. The role ensures adherence to policy for both meetings and travel, and sources cost-effective locations and vendors. In addition to the primary responsibilities for meeting services, this position will support transient travel on an ad-hoc basis. This role is remote based in the United States. The Senior Manager, Meetings and Travel, Procurement is responsible for meetings management globally, managing time zones and local ways of working to build sourcing strategies that make it possible for Moderna to compete as a global company.

This role offers a unique opportunity to join the Indirect Procurement team, a global strategic team working in every market where Moderna has a direct presence or an indirect market relationship through a third party. Moderna is a company that is growing quickly and expanding across the globe. This role offers an opportunity to have a tremendous impact on Moderna’s growth, participating actively in building the commercial capabilities of the company, allowing Moderna to distribute lifesaving vaccines to patients in our current but expanding markets, as well as in new markets.

The role will work directly with internal stakeholders who require meeting/travel services in all time zones. The work will range from developing long-term strategy for meetings management, managing meetings technology, planning, and executing meetings, global RFPs for meeting services, developing relationships with third-party meeting planning agencies, as well as ensuring compliance with policies, legal requirements, and industry standards. The person in this role needs to be a self-starter, must independently seek out opportunities to interface with internal stakeholders to understand meeting and event needs, and to educate all parties on the policies, processes, and resources available from meeting services.

Here’s What You’ll Do

The Senior Manager, Meetings and Travel, will be responsible for managing an annual meeting and event spend of approximately $30M. This includes implementing and managing the following key activities:

• Stakeholder Engagement: Build and cultivate strategic stakeholder relationships to find the optimum balance between meeting company needs and delivering total value. Leverage internal tools to foster engagement throughout the organization.

• Strategic Meetings Management (SMM): In partnership with the Director Travel, Meetings and Fleet, design and develop a world-class strategic meetings management program for Moderna.

  • Serve as a subject matter expert within Moderna for meetings and events.

  • Ensure Cvent technology is being leveraged throughout the organization.

  • Train and educate stakeholders on SMM.

  • Develop best-in-class meetings standards, applicable to Moderna’s culture, values, and mindsets.

  • Promote innovation and efficiency in the meetings and travel management process.

  • Negotiate contracts with third-party venues and supporting suppliers.

  • Coordinate and liaise with external partners, consultants, speakers, and attendees to ensure seamless event logistics.

• Supplier Relationship Management: Nurture and develop key supplier relationships in the meeting and event space, including implementing key metrics, KPIs, and SLAs.

• Risk Management: Work in conjunction with Moderna’s Global Security and Employee Health and Safety departments to develop best-in-class standards for meetings and events.

• Savings Delivery: Deliver savings on a per-event and year-over-year basis, through policy adherence/enforcement and supplier negotiation without diminishing the attendee experience.

• Additional duties as may be assigned from time to time

Here’s What You’ll Need (Minimum Qualifications)

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in a relevant field (Business, Hospitality, Event Management, Corporate Travel, or a related discipline).

• 8 to 10 years of experience in meetings management, event planning, or the corporate travel industry, with strong knowledge of meeting planning, logistics, and industry best practices.

• Experience and certifications with Cvent, event meetings management software.

Here’s What You’ll Bring to the Table (Preferred Qualifications)

• Proficient-level skills in the following key competencies/skills: communications, project management, re