Director, Event Strategy & Operations

Overland Park, KS

Atlanta, GA

R

The  
** Director, Event Strategy & Operations
** will lead the company-wide events function for QTS, including executive-level meetings, customer and partner events, internal leadership events, industry engagements, trade shows, site activations, and other high-visibility brand moments. This role is responsible for shaping event strategy, bringing forward fresh ideas, and translating business priorities into events that are thoughtful, well-run, and aligned to QTS goals.

This leader must be able to think strategically while also operating as a doer. They will own planning, logistics, run of show, vendor coordination, budget management, executive stakeholder communication, onsite execution, and post-event reporting. The role requires strong executive presence, high professionalism, sound judgment, discretion, and the ability to build trusted relationships across the company.

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* What You Will Do:

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* ** Event Strategy and Creative Leadership*
* + Lead the event strategy for QTS-hosted and attended events, ensuring each event has a clear purpose, audience, business objective, and desired outcome.

+ Bring forward creative, executive-ready event concepts that elevate QTS, support the brand, and create stronger engagement with customers, partners, employees, and communities.

+ Serve as the events thought partner to Brand, Marketing, Communications, Sales, External Affairs, and senior leadership teams.

+ Identify new approaches, industry trends, and experience opportunities that help QTS show up with more polish, consistency, and impact.

** Executive and C-Level Event Ownership*
* + Own planning and execution for high-profile, C-level, CEO, customer, partner, and board-facing events, including executive briefing needs, guest experience, run of show, and onsite readiness.

+ Interact directly with executives and senior stakeholders with confidence, clarity, professionalism, and appropriate urgency.

+ Anticipate executive needs, risks, sensitivities, and decision points before they become issues.

+ Ensure events reflect the right tone, level of quality, and business importance for the audience.

** Operational Execution and Team Leadership*
* + Lead the centralized event planning team and establish clear swim lanes, priorities, timelines, and standards for execution.

+ Administer all phases of the event process, including planning, logistics, registration, staffing, catering, transportation, audiovisual, signage, collateral, run of show, onsite execution, teardown, and post-event follow-up.

+ Operate as a hands-on leader who can both direct the work and step in to execute when needed.

+ Build strong team routines, including planning meetings, status updates, check-ins, decision logs, and issue escalation paths.

+ Coach, develop, and hold team members accountable for quality, professionalism, responsiveness, and follow-through.

** Process, Reporting, and Measurement*
* + Build repeatable pre-event and post-event processes that create consistency across event types and reduce last-minute fire drills.

+ Develop event intake, planning, reporting, and prioritization tools that help the organization understand workload, goals, outcomes, and resource needs.

+ Create an event ROI and impact model appropriate to the event type, including attendance, engagement, stakeholder feedback, budget performance, and business outcomes where available.

+ Use post-event learnings to improve future planning, vendor decisions, team resourcing, and executive reporting.

** Budget, Vendor, and Risk Management*
* + Manage event budgets, vendor relationships, contracts, negotiations, timelines, and invoice reconciliation in alignment with QTS policies and processes.

+ Partner with procurement, legal, accounting, security, facilities, and other teams as needed to support compliant event execution.

+ Identify risks and dependencies early, provide clear recommendations, and manage tradeoffs without losing momentum.

+ Ensure all events are delivered with strong attention to detail, cost discipline, and operational readiness.

** What You Will Need to be Successful:*
* + Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.

+ 10+ years of experience leading large-scale corporate events, executive meetings, customer or partner events, conferences, trade shows, site activations, or similar high-visibility events.

+ 5+ years of people leadership experience directly supervising an event planning function or event team.

+ Demonstrated experience owning executive-level or C-level events from strategy through onsite execution and post-event follow-up.

+ Experience managing event budgets, vendor negotiations, contracts, timelines, logistics, and cross-functional stakeholders.

+ Ability to travel and work outside standard business hours as needed, approximately 40% travel.

** Nice To Have:*
* + 10+ years of management experience directly supervising an event planning function and team.

+ Experience supporting events in a fast-paced, high-growth, B2B, technology,…