Events Manager

The College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) is CU Boulder's largest and most academically diverse college. Faculty, staff and students conduct internationally recognized research, scholarship, creative work and education in more than 60 fields across the natural sciences, social sciences and arts and humanities. Our work generates new knowledge, addressing some of the world's most urgent and crucial problems. A&S is a place that leans into your widest interests and gives you the tools, mentors and the space to discover what we call ANDing, or the unbounded exploration of your interests, identities and experiences.

A&S research generates new knowledge, solving some of the world's most critical problems. The college is comprised of three divisions (natural sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities) and is home to more than 800 tenured and tenure-track faculty, approximately 1,000 non-tenure-track teaching faculty, approximately 400 university and classified staff, and more than 17,000 undergraduates and 2,280 graduate students. Faculty in A&S include five Nobel laureates, 25 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, nine MacArthur "Genius Grant" winners, four National Medal of Science winners and one Pulitzer Prize winner.

A&S strives to be a community whose excellence is premised on diversity, equity and inclusion. We seek candidates who share this dedication and demonstrate understanding of the experiences of those historically underrepresented in higher education.

Lead Manager for A&S Signature Events

• Independently develops, implements, assesses and continually improves processes for event planning and execution, including event management, event execution, booking and space.
• Schedules rooms and manages associated fees for event locations.
• Sources vendors and caterers to secure competitive pricing; coordinates scheduling, estimates, billing and invoice management; routes contracts and invoices for timely payment.
• Tracks event budgets and purchases and tracks all materials associated with events, including decor, catering, gifts and rentals.
• Administers events with an expert proficiency in project management by developing thorough production timelines, budget benchmarks, key performance indicators, delegating tasks, scheduling recurring meetings, post-mortem debriefs, assessments and reporting.
• Directs planning and logistics for signature events/experiences, especially College Day, Parents Weekend and Homecoming.
• Ensures all events are accessible for attendees, including but not limited to coordination of closed captions, translation or interpretation (including ASL) services, ADA accommodations, etc.
• Organizes staff and/or student staff volunteers to work events, set up and clean up.
• Manages production logistics for virtual events to ensure Zoom hosting duties are outlined and captioning is available.
• Creates conference websites and registration using the university's official platforms (Cvent/Salesforce and/or Web Express/Drupal, Localist).
• Operates as the main point of contact for event logistics, including talent, catering and volunteer support.
• Manages travel arrangements for event speakers, including booking flights and lodging.
• For signature events, collaborates with the marketing and communications team to design feasible themes, experiential tones and design elements that foster emotions, feelings or other goals identified by partners.
• Guides partners through event planning standard methodologies, including run of show and event components that support an audience experience that is meaningful and/or achieves stated event outcomes.
• Serves as the college's event expert in and develops a network of university staff who manage campus safety protocols, license/insurance policies, space and other event-related logistics, including the Campus Alcohol Agent, Event Security and Emergency Management and Parking.
• Serves as A&S's main Alcohol Designee at events per university procurement rules.
• Conducts post-event debriefs to critically assess event effectiveness, manages and distributes post-event surveys to appropriate groups, critically examines findings and develops reports for senior college leadership, including recommendations for improving future events.
• Orders college-branded merchandise for events when appropriate.

New 9-month programming; position assists with Relationship Management & Event Guidance

• Advises and supports event organizers in divisions or other Dean's Office partners when possible.
• Works closely with event organizers across campus to understand planning, timeline, staffing and production needs for events; independently adapts event marketing strategy to align the event calendar and maximize each experience's effectiveness.
• Due to their grasp of CU Boulder's entire event landscape, serves as a campus thought partner for planning and provides support when possible.
• Establishes and maintains collaborative working relationships with A&S and university contacts to accomplish job assignments.
• Provides excellent customer service both to the departments served and to all event attendees.
• Collaborates with publicity and marketing to build public awareness and drive attendance.

Event Strategy Management

• Independently develops and implements A&S' event marketing strategy (e.g., develop and revise the annual event calendar and event tiers that classify levels of support) and partners with the director of marketing and content strategy to ensure alignment with the college's overall marketing plan.
• Consults with partners across the college to plan future events and find opportunities to centralize or share vendors, supplies and other event logistics and standard methodologies.
• Tracks metrics, benchmarks and analytics on event attendance, engagement and cost to drive data-informed event strategy and critically assess A&S' investment in events.
• Maintains documentation and communicates processes to ensure roles, responsibilities and expectations for planning and execution of events are understood by all partners.

Event Innovation

• Operate as the college's experiential design and event experience expert, researching event trends, joining events-related associations, attending professional development opportunities focused on progressive event experiences (e.g., Futurespaces), presenting at conferences and proposing new events strategies and/or feasible pilot experiences aligned with the college's marketing strategy.
• Independently pursues funding and manages budget for innovative, pilot events and experiences.
• Proposes scalable event innovations to college leadership, including alignment with signature events.
• Advise students, staff and faculty on University travel policies and procedures.
• Review and determine if travel requests are appropriate in accordance with University rules and regulations.
• Analyze and approve travel authorization requests by determining if travel is within scope/budget when using sponsored project funding.
• Oversee petty cash and gift card processes for department personnel.
• Stay current on the Oce of Cash Management policies and procedures.

• This position may work a hybrid format, with three days required in-person and two days remote.

The salary for this position is $71,000 - $75,000. Onboarding assistance may be available for this position.

• Bachelor's degree.
• Equivalent experience on a year-for-year basis may substitute for the degree requirement.
• 5 years of professional event planning/coordination experience.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite.
• Demonstrated strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work diplomatically with various constituencies with competing agendas.
• Ability to build strong relationships and serve as a liaison between multiple parties.
• Demonstrated ability to proactively anticipate user experience outcomes and take action to plan in advance to mitigate challenges.
• Demonstrated experience with event logistics coordination.
• Experience managing event budgets.
• Ability to track and interpret event metrics and data to help inform planning and strategy.
• Demonstrated interpersonal skills.
• Attention to detail and ability to simultaneously manage multiple projects.
• Demonstrated organizational skills.
• Sensitivity to and appreciation of cultural, political and geographical differences and the ability to work well with various constituencies with diverse lived experiences.