Director of Events & Operations

Director of Events & Operations

Apply to the Office for Religious & Spiritual Life (ORSL) at Stanford University. This position will manage signature events for the department and the wider university, and lead department operations.

The Office for Religious & Spiritual Life guides, nurtures, and enhances religious and spiritual life  supports religious access for diverse communities and traditions, fosters multi-faith engagement and learning, and promotes opportunities to pursue meaning and purpose through contemplative practices, academic coursework, spiritual care, musical concerts, and signature lectures. The office hosts hundreds of events, large and small, in support of this mission.

Stanford’s ORSL seeks an experienced Director of Events & Operations to manage signature events and lead department operations. Responsibilities include managing calendars, bookings, and schedules for the three primary ORSL spaces; serving as on‑site event manager for major events; training and supervising event staff for smaller events; and guiding the operational team.

• Provide strategic leadership for the development and execution of events through the Office for Religious & Spiritual Life, including project management of multiple events and activities, scoping out project tasks and team assignments, guiding team to create work plans and schedules, monitoring progress, and meeting milestones.
• Oversee the management of operational and event teams and/or production consultants to produce quality, multi‑faceted events and productions; hire and oversee staff, students, and contingent event staff; delegate routine and important tasks while assuming final responsibility for event logistics and departmental operations.
• Scope the length and difficulty of tasks, projects, and events; help the team break down work into process steps; identify opportunities for synergy and integration.
• Monitor and respond to requests submitted through email, phone, or the University reservation system, managing a portfolio of events and programs, working with a diverse constituency of staff, faculty, and students to produce logistically precise events.
• Resolve scheduling conflicts and optimize venue reservations, working closely with ORSL partners.
• Analyze successes and failures and implement improvements; marshal resources to accomplish goals.
• Oversee building use policies and protocols for Stanford Memorial Church, including working with student organizations and University offices and departments who wish to reserve space, setting, implementing, and assessing agreements for use, and collaborating with University constituents to provide access to Office for Religious & Spiritual Life spaces for University purposes.
• This position requires evening, weekend, and holiday hours, including Christmas Eve.

• Bachelor’s degree and five years of relevant experience or combination of education and relevant experience.
• Superior project and event management skills.
• Demonstrated history in creating innovative event planning strategies and successful event collaborations. Excellent judgment and decisiveness, high integrity, enthusiasm, diplomacy, and tact.
• Leadership to engage and empower an organized team, fostering a strong, cohesive work environment.
• Superior verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to supervise and manage a diverse team of staff and contingent labor, holding them to deadlines and the highest quality output.
• Demonstrated experience with financial management of complex event budgets requiring excellent analytical skills.

Must possess and maintain a valid California non‑commercial Class C Driver’s License.

• Frequently stand/walk, sit, perform desk‑based computer tasks, and use a telephone.
• Occasionally kneel/crawl, twist/bend/stoop/squat, grasp lightly/fine manipulation, and grasp forcefully, lift/carry/push/pull objects that weigh 21–40 pounds.
• Ability to drive day and night.

May require some travel and working evenings, holidays, and weekends.

• WORK STANDARDS:
  When conducting…