Director, Events

Division Overview

The mission of ACS is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people. The strategic objectives of the Department of Meetings and Expositions reflect the responsiveness of the Division in fulfilling the vision, mission, and values of ACS and meeting the needs of the changing chemistry enterprise.

Job Title: Director, Events

This position reports to the Senior Director, Meetings and Events and is responsible for high-level project management, strategy, and effectiveness in the planning and execution of meeting and event shared services, department initiatives, and other ACS events as assigned. The Director manages short, medium, and long-range goals for meeting activities, and manages the direction, operations and logistics for these events, and has expertise in global event planning and operations. The incumbent should be an experienced project manager and shared services event operations professional who can manage and analyze data, develop proposals, presentations, and business plans for strategic changes, is knowledgeable about meeting trends, services, and products; has experience managing registration and event operations; is an excellent negotiator and can identify top-noticed vendor partners to aid in the successful execution of events.

Essential Job Duties

• Develop, lead and manage strategy associated with ACS Events (shared services) and the appropriate systems, infrastructure and budget to support the events.
• Oversees and strengthens the effectiveness of ACS meetings by introducing enhancements to business practices as well as developing and implementing new event products and services
• Oversees project management and participates in overall successful delivery on departmental and organizational goals.
• Serves as a lead in helping to set international meeting strategies for society programs and manages co-society relationships as necessary. Conducts high-level strategic analysis of finances to assist with an effective budget development and management process. Develop and manage budget goals and forecasts. Analyze financial data, market trends, and forecast performance. Identify areas for improvement and cost-saving opportunities, and revenue generating ideas
• Oversee strategies, and successful implementation of event shared services and committee strategies. Areas include AV, systems, data analytics, registration, vendor management, sourcing and contracting. Collaborate with and act as a liaison to ACS departments including Scientific Advancement, Research, Membership, Communications and Marketing, Sales, Expo and Sponsorship, working groups, implementation teams, volunteers, and governance.
• Manage staff, conduct regular performance reviews, and provide professional development opportunities for team members.
• Delegate work assignment, allocate resources, and provide leadership to ensure that priorities and objectives are met.
• Other projects as assigned
• Travel up to 25% of the year
• Ability to lift 25 lbs. and work extended days during events.

Required Education and Experience

• College degree or equivalent experience; usually has an advanced degree or equivalent experience or certification; a minimum of 10 years of experience with at least 6 years managing a team.
• 7-10+ years demonstrated experience working in a not-for profit environment/scientific environment and producing international events
• PMP, CMP, CMM or other Meeting Industry Certifications Preferred
• Demonstrated experience managing meeting planning shared services
• Extensive knowledge of Cvent and building and implementing other custom registration systems
• Extensive knowledge of AV and production services
• Demonstrated international meetings experience
• Demonstrated meetings experience managing and producing large scale events
• Demonstrated Strategic Planning experience
• Strong financial management and business acumen
• Excellent communication skills, including grammar/spelling, moderate editing, generating original content, and effective oral presentation skills.
• Proficiency with MS Office applications (Teams/Sharepoint, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), Smartsheets, Adobe Acrobat, Zoom and databases.
• Proactive planning and scheduling
• Organizational and analytical skills with an attention to detail are highly desirable;
• Ability to prioritize tasks and projects
• Ability to work with all levels of management, governance/volunteers, clients, and vendors.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills with focus on collaboration and consensus building between teams
• Extensive knowledge of hospitality industry, specific to conference planning and execution
• Excellent knowledge of industry best practices, procedures, and principles.
• Solid working knowledge of conference and event management platforms and technology.
• Superior organizational skills with ability to multi-task and flawless attention to detail.
• Excellent leadership, consensus-building skills, and talented problem solver.
• Demonstrated program and project management experience required;
• Self-starter, strong work ethic and ability to work in a cross functional team-oriented environment.
• Excels at working in a fast paced, results oriented, community environment.
• Ability to move about to accomplish tasks for many hours a day during events
• Ability to work nights and weekends for successful execution of events.
• Ability to support onsite meetings-related activities

This role is based in our Washington, D.C. office. A reasonable rate of compensation for this position is between $160,000 - $180,000 per year.

ACS currently provides the following benefits for this position: paid vacation leave, paid sick leave, paid holidays, health insurance, flexible spending account or health care savings account, dental insurance, life insurance, vision insurance, retirement benefits, short- and long-term disability, and 4-week work from anywhere; each benefit is subject to the terms of the applicable program. Additional benefits may apply based on skills, experience, and location.

Any actual offer of employment, reflecting the total compensation package and benefits, will be made in the sole discretion of ACS. ACS reserves the right to amend or modify its employment benefits and compensation structure at any time.

Thought Provoking - Capable of making others think deeply on a subject
Detail Oriented - Capable of carrying out a given task with all details necessary to get the task done well
Team Player - Works well as a member of a group
Loyal - Shows firm and constant support to a cause
Leader - Inspires teammates to follow them
Innovative - Consistently introduces new ideas and demonstrates original thinking
Functional Expert - Considered a thought leader on a subject
Enthusiastic - Shows intense and eager enjoyment and interest
Dedicated - Devoted to a task or purpose with loyalty or integrity

Self-Starter - Inspired to perform without outside help
Peer Recognition - Inspired to perform well by the praise of coworkers
Growth Opportunities - Inspired to perform well by the chance to take on more responsibility
Goal Completion - Inspired to perform well by the completion of tasks
Entrepreneurial Spirit - Inspired to perform well by an ability to drive new ventures within the business
Ability to Make an Impact - Inspired to perform well by the ability to contribute to the success of a project or the organization