Aquent
Program Manager (Events Operations)
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Program Manager (Events Operations)
Program Manager for Strategic Events Operations
This critical role requires strong program management and transformation experience. The client seeks someone who can analyse complex systems and design scalable structures to streamline operations.
This pure program and operations position is focused on designing and maintaining the intake, planning, budgeting, reporting, and governance—the operating system that enables a small team to operate calmly a year in advance.
Notable Clarification
This role does not plan or deliver events. The client’s internal team and agency partners handle execution. Your responsibility is to build the framework in which events are delivered—the "rails," not the train. Success is measured by how effectively the delivery team is supported, not by the events you manage directly.
What You’ll Own
Single Source of Truth & Portfolio Visibility
- Design and maintain an authoritative, real-time overview of all events, including status, ownership, milestones, dependencies, and risks.
- Unify existing tooling (Smartsheet, Monday.com, Adobe Workfront) into a single system of record while phasing out standalone spreadsheets with outdated data.
- Establish a structured portfolio status cadence, ensuring answers to "where do we stand?" are always available.
- Create an internal ‘day-0’ information hub, enabling stakeholders to self-serve answers before reaching out.
Intake & Demand Governance
- Replace unstructured request intake with a structured process: qualify, prioritise, and tier all submissions before work begins.
- Develop (in collaboration with the Strategic Events Lead) a clear prioritisation and event-tiering framework—aligning effort with strategic value and ensuring the portfolio stays proportional.
- Govern requests against strategic alignment, preventing mismatches before resource allocation.
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Reporting Cadence & Stakeholder Governance
- Define governance for stakeholder engagement, setting boundaries where direction matters (goals, audience, outcomes) and where oversight stops (operational delivery decisions).
- Create r(TAG’s)mless reporting formats so status and outcomes are instantly visible without meetings.
Planning, Capacity & Resourcing
- Build a rolling 12-month planning framework, enabling advanced planning without hindering live events.
- Shift to shared ownership and clean handoff models, designing work distribution that avoids solo execution.
- Protect structured internal rituals (brieffs, debriefs, retrospectives) by integrating them into planning.
Process, Cadence & Playbooks
- Implement reliable, repeatable milestones (e.g., vassity,nbriefing, ticketing deadlines) that agencies and internal teams adhere to without missing delays.
- Standardise playbooks (briefing templates, run-of-show docs, post-event reports) to eliminate reinventing the wheel.
- Maintain an operating cadence: checkpoints for planning, status reviews, and retrospectives to drive improvement and consistency.
Agency Operating Model
- Support leadership in defining agency relationship models, focusing on process and governance (timelines, deliverables, budget tracking, quality) rather than execution.
- Oversee agency handoffs between internal strategy and contractions.
What We’re Looking For
Must-Have Experience & Skills
✔ Demonstrable program/operations or PMO expertise, proven in multiple concurrent workstreams. ✔ Track record of building systems from ambiguous, reactive environments—not just execution, but architectural strategy. ✔ Change management instinct: able to influence adoption without hierarchical authority. ✔ Skill in managing senior stakeholders, including alignment exercises and constructive pushback. ✔ Fluency in project tooling (e.g., Monday.com, Smartsheet, Adobe Workfront), with a bias toward single-source truth over spreadsheet sprawl. ✔ Crystal-clear communication—articulating briefs, concise status updates, and insightful executive summaries.
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Nice-to-Have (Non-Esentials)
- Background in events, experiential, brand, or marketing (provides contextual familiarity).
- Experience with operating models for external agencies/production partners.
- Experience with Figma and Microsoft toolset (Excel, Teams, etc.).
- PM credentials (e.g., PMP®, PRINCE2, PMI-ACP), though not mandatory.
How You Work
- Systems thinker who remains calm amid pressures and prospects deadlines.
- Proactive and organised, designing to meet deadlines rather than reacting to them.
- Collaborative yet firm about processes and standards—ensursing alignment without rigidity.
- Comfortable leading the invisible work—infrastructure others leverage to succeed.
What Success Looks Like
- Portfolio transparency: Stakeholders see real-time visibility without asking.
- Structured intake: Requests follow a clear, strategic prioritisation process, adjusting portfolio scope intelligently.
- Operational consistency: Internal deadlines hit reliably—effort is planned and briefed properly.
- Seamless reporting: Executives receive timely pre/post-event reports automatically.
- Collaborative ownership: Events web’t(hte(deplays an **independent operational russive),ront strong brand consistency through shared standards.
This role is open for a limited time. Application deadlines are met quickly due to high interest. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted immediately.
Due to high volume, we may not respond to all applicants. Thank you for your interest.
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