Associate Director of Events

Location: New York City, NY (hybrid, 2 to 3 days per week in office)

Position type: Full-time

Salary: $85,000 to $105,000, based on experience

Experience: 6 to 8 years in fundraising event management

Powered by Professionals (PBP) is a nonprofit fundraising and event management consultancy in New York City. Founded in 2001, we’ve spent over two decades helping nonprofits raise more through professionally managed events, and 2026 marks our 25th anniversary. Over that time we’ve helped our clients raise more than $350 million and produced more than 600 events.

We manage the full lifecycle of a nonprofit’s signature fundraising event, whether that’s a gala, a benefit, or a run or walk, from strategy and creative through logistics, technology, fundraising, and day-of execution. We work as an extension of our clients’ teams, not as an outside vendor, which is why our clients come back year after year.

We’re a small, hands‑on team where you will have the chance to own meaningful work and see the impact of it directly. Live events move quickly and shift in real time, so we look for people who stay adaptable, think on their feet, and care about helping our clients raise more for the causes they serve, from medical research and education to veterans, human services, and the arts.

Learn more about our work at

As an Associate Director, you will own a portfolio of 5-7 major fundraising events annually, serving as the lead for each event and guiding your team through execution. You will be assigned complex, high-profile events with elevated expectations, requiring a strong level of experience and expertise to successfully execute. You are the single point of accountability for delivery: the run of show, staffing, vendors, timeline, fundraising outcomes, and the client relationship.

You make the calls that keep events on track, you bring junior team members along rather than absorbing the work yourself, and you are a big part of why an event feels seamless from the outside. In addition to leading your own events, you will provide ongoing management and guidance to a team of approximately three colleagues, helping prioritize workloads, troubleshoot challenges, and flag important issues to leadership.

This role is on‑site for the events you lead, which means some evenings and weekends, especially during event season.

• Own event execution end to end. Lead major fundraising events from kickoff through closeout, overseeing strategy, production, vendors, staffing, day‑of execution, and post‑event debriefs.
• Lead and develop the team. Manage approximately three colleagues on a weekly basis, setting clear expectations, delegating effectively, and coaching managers and coordinators on workload, priorities, and challenges, while escalating and communicating key issues to leadership.
• Be the trusted client lead. Build strong relationships with nonprofit leaders, boards, event chairs, honorees, sponsors, and partners while providing strategic guidance and managing competing priorities.
• Drive fundraising outcomes. Understand each client’s goals and work with honorees, committees, sponsors, and client leadership to support fundraising, engagement, and revenue.
• Own the budget, timeline, and details. Manage budgets, deadlines, deliverables, and critical milestones while identifying and addressing risks before event day.
• Lead complex event production. Oversee key elements including AV, entertainment, videos, awards, speakers, scripting, live appeals, auctions, registration, volunteers, and venue logistics.
• Build and improve systems. Use PBP’s event and auction platforms effectively, follow established processes, and identify ways to make event execution more efficient and scalable.

• 6-8 years in event management and fundraising, ideally in an agency, nonprofit, or corporate events setting, with a track record of running large-scale events from concept to completion.
• Real delegation and team leadership. You lead by distributing work and developing people, not by doing everything yourself. You can tell when a teammate is underwater and you step in before it becomes a problem.
• Comfort pushing…