Senior Director, Strategic Event Management & Experiential Design

Northwestern Mutual is seeking a Senior Director to lead its enterprise-wide meetings and events strategy. The role sets the multi-year vision for event management and experiential design, leads event and creative services teams, and oversees the delivery, measurement, branding, technology, vendor management, and financial performance of large-scale internal and external events.

Responsibilities:

• Sets an adoptable multi-year vision for the meetings and events teams that clearly ties back to the enterprise strategy, translating strategic priorities into executable annual plans
• Ensures data-driven decision-making with robust analytics, observability, and measurable KPIs to optimize engagement and event performance
• Leads and develops a high-performing event and creative services team to utilize scalable and repeatable processes that hold up under pressure and are ready for growth
• Fosters experimentation and persona-based experiential event marketing strategies. Is a continuous learner that models a growth mindset and ensures the team is setup to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams
• Provides dedicated time and space for team development and growth
• Tracks and documents operational and other related costs by recording and classifying expenses to monitor and control costs, assess budget adherence, and evaluate the efficiency of resource utilization within the organization
• Builds and maintains a consistent event brand identity for internal and external events, ensuring NM brand and CEE design principles and best practices are applied across all programs
• Leads the team in delivering large, city-wide events including NM’s Annual Meeting in Milwaukee, two regional meetings that change locations throughout the US. In addition to hundreds of internal and external events on a yearly basis
• Responsible for overseeing and/or executing with the partnership of sourcing and procurement (S&P) all M&E vendor contracts including post-contract housing management
• Acts as a SME for the S&P team for industry-related standards, risk assessments, contractual terms, SOWs, pricing, and concessions, as well as ongoing management of hotel and vendor contracts once fully executed
• Experience sourcing and booking national and local artists for private performances as well as the RFP process for securing production and creative services vendors
• Applies platform thinking and automation to scale events through reusable processes, integrated tech stacks, and API-first solutions
• Ensures the team utilizes best-in-class event practices (sustainability, ADA, safety, ServSafe, economic impact reporting, resource allocation, spend optimization, etc.) and sets measurable KPIs that align with CEE programs and NM's sustainability and impact existing initiatives
• Collaborates with and advises senior leaders on the curation of experiences (including location, venues, timing, agenda placement) event strategies, design, and production providing pertinent data, insights, recommendations, and spend forecasts that inform portfolio-level investment and prioritization decisions
• Identifies external market and skill trends. Recognized as a Subject Matter Expert and considered an internal/external thought leader; models mastery, coaches, and develops others
• Solve complex organizational challenges in thoughtful and impactful ways that reinforce NM's core values
• Responsible for the culture and engagement of the team and for ensuring effective leadership of the work and the employees

Requirements:

• 10+ years of related business and managerial experience, with a strong track record in corporate events strategy, experiential marketing, or event production within a large, matrixed organization
• Building high-performing teams, experienced in organizational design
• Proven track record in developing vision and strategy that align with and advance corporate strategic objectives
• Comprehensive understanding of event strategy, experiential marketing, brand-building, and event technology platforms; applies broad industry knowledge and commercial awareness to drive financial performance
• Demonstrated ability to direct the resolution of highly complex or unusual business problems that cross functional lines, applying advanced critical thinking
• Strong political savvy and ability to negotiate with senior leaders across the business
• Proven skills in dealing with ambiguity and paradox; ability to iterate while overseeing multiple, high-visibility priorities
• Ability to lead change effectively both within the team and across the organization
• Accountability-Expert
• Event Management-Expert
• Expense Reporting Management-Expert
• Strategic Vision & Planning-Expert
• Talent Development & Planning-Expert
• Vendor Management-Expert
• Bachelor's degree in related fields such as business, event management, marketing; master's degree – a plus
• Experience working at a luxury hotel property or event venue is a plus
• Demonstrated experience leading through subordinate managers/professionals a plus