Events Specialist

Job Description

The Event Specialist is part of the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University and is a key individual contributor responsible for organizing and executing on campus and off campus events for the school. The Event Specialist is a critical partner to constituents across Owen, including but not limited to multiple student recruiting and admissions teams, career management center, office of the dean, student affairs, and those leading annual programs such as Student Orientation, Welcome Weekend, and Commencement.

The Event Specialist is responsible for major on-and-off campus events, and is responsible for all operational activities before, during, and after events. This includes prioritization of time and resources as a resolution to potentially competing events. The Event Specialist conducts administrative duties and has primary responsibility for event setup, onsite support, and break down after an event. In addition, the Event Specialist oversees and maintains the calendar of events, negotiates vendor contracts, initiates payments, tracks expenses against budgets, facilitates feedback sessions with clients, and submits expense reports for approval of charges.

The Owen Graduate School of Management (OGSM) is a professional school at Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee, focused on graduate‑level business education. OGSM’s mission is to create opportunities for its faculty, staff, and students to discover, grow, and thrive in business and beyond. OGSM recognizes discovery in traditional forms, such as scholarly research, intellectual curiosity, and curricular learning. But it also celebrates discovery unique to the human experience, that is, the art of becoming, which is lived through a desire to connect with others, to find meaning in work and relationships, and to create something new.

OGSM sees transformation as foundational.

• Works closely with internal and external event planning committees and client groups to set overall strategy, define event goals, outline objectives, discuss opportunities for innovation, and document specific implementation plans.

• Leverages knowledge of industry best practices and knowledge gained through interactions with individual client groups in order to develop a comprehensive event strategy.

• Defines and measures key success metrics for events and communicates the results as part of an overall post‑event analysis.

• Presents post‑event analysis, including a budget recap during client feedback sessions, and then incorporates feedback into future plans.

• Negotiates agreements and solidifies contracts with outside providers and subcontractors to ensure lowest cost and highest quality of service.

• Uses software systems to create event request forms, to create post‑event feedback surveys, and to design event orders and diagrams.

• Oversees calendar of events, recognizes potential conflicts, and communicates a prioritization of time and resources as a resolution to competing events.

• Ensures compliance with legal, health and safety, and university‑specific standards.

• Serves as subject matter expert within the Owen Community and communicates and coordinates with other departments to maximize effectiveness of the Owen facility and event goals.

• Other duties as assigned

This position has supervisory responsibility for several student workers; this position reports administratively and functionally to the Facilities Manager.

• Bachelor’s degree with knowledge of marketing, operations and/or budget management is required

• Meetings or event planning certification is a plus

• Minimum three years Event Management experience required; hospitality, restaurant or business school industry experience is a plus

• Ability to work nights and weekends, stand for prolonged periods, and withstand physical exertion in lifting and moving moderately heavy objects up to 40 pounds is required

• Excellent attention to detail

• Excellent written and oral communication skills

• Intermediate Microsoft Office and Canva skills

• Excellent project management skills

• Experience using CRM systems, especially Prismm