Marquee Events, Program Lead

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Position Summary:

The leader in this role will be highly collaborative, innovative, entrepreneurial, and results-oriented with deep experience in global event management, complemented by strong commercial sensibilities and creative instincts. This role will be responsible for some of our most high value media-driven NBA events such as Global Games and fan-first engagement programs such as NBA House.

The person in this role will manage budgets and event program plans, oversee a variety of vendor and venue partners to ensure all stakeholders deliver a high-quality experience for our key constituents (e.g. teams, media, partners, guests, players).

To be successful in this role, this executive will be a strategic and curious thinker who understands all aspects of live events, with an emphasis on developing new ways to save money, make money and engage fans. They are a mega project manager that has extraordinary organizational skills and is self-motivated.  

The person in this role will be confident, decisive, and able to display a management style that emphasizes intense partnership, communication, and commitment on all levels, especially working cross-functionally with partnerships, production, marketing, and teams. They will be able to navigate ambiguity to drive swiftly toward clarity and solutions, capable of skillfully leveraging insights in new and advanced ways.

This individual ensures accountability and manages toward outcome-based results. 

The role will require significant international travel.

The specific scope of this role will initially include the following programs, with a focus on managing basketball-led initiatives and cross-functional groups.  

• Combine
• Draft
• Global Games – Asia
• Global Games – Europe
• Global Games – Mexico
• All-Star

Major Responsibilities:

• Play a key role in catalyzing a unified, global events function and team, integrating efforts and people across the world.
• Deploy a hands-on, passionate approach to the job. Attract, build, and lead a high-performing teams.
• Execute against the roadmap to produce diverse, scalable, and profitable events.
• Work effectively, transparently, in a partner-like fashion with the leadership team; ensure buy-in to key decisions, agreement on strategic direction, alignment of cross-functional resources and activities.
• Interact with promoters, venues, partners and agencies to plan and produce world-class events and experiences.
• Lead the development and presentation of planning assigned events to communicate key milestones, storylines, activation plans with all key stakeholders.  
• Develop and execute both sides of the event P&L
• Lead working group meetings – creating structure, timely reports, consistent communication tools.
• Lead post-event recaps of what worked and what didn’t work identifying indicated actions, so we can continue to improve processes.
• Extensive international travel and in-office work is required.

Required Experience:

Industry Experience

• Significant experience in the consumer, sports, media, and/or entertainment industries at companies whose best-in-class live experiences have driven rapid growth. Understanding of a diverse set of business models is ideal.

Event Leadership Expertise

• Premium live event development, production, and management skills with a track-record of delivering game-changing and profitable in-person experiences that have transformed companies.

Business Growth

• A performance history of driving organic, profitable growth and value creation by developing and effectively monetizing an innovative, global events strategy.

Team Leadership

• Track-record building and leading high-performing, global events teams scale.
• Proven commitment to DE&I and track record of cultural agility.  

Stakeholder Management Skills

• Proven external and internal stakeholder management skills and experience collaborating effectively cross-functionally with revenue, marketing, and content leaders.

Critical Leadership Capabilities:

Collaborating and Influencing

• Negotiates with a genuine give-and-take approach, where both act as true peers sharing decisions.
• Spends time identifying all requisite stakeholders and meets or connects with all of them, neglecting no one to shape a collective consensus.
• Identifies opportunities to build relationships in every market and function that will help others achieve their objectives while reaching out to those people or new people.

Driving Results

• Acts to surpass goals by seizing opportunities to push the envelope and innovate.
• Sets continually higher goals that are ambitious but realistic for self and the events team geared to the league’s OKRs.  

Qualifications:

• 13+ years of proven track record with large-scale complex events and experiences
• Exceptional leadership and management skills
• Great initiative, leadership qualities and the ability to work well within a group
• Excellent written and interpersonal communication skills and ability to effectively communicate across all levels of the organization
• Proficiency in creating, managing, tracking and reconciling budgets
• Previous international experience; additional language skills a plus
• Willingness to travel extensively and work weekends and nights

Salary Range:

$150,000 - $165,000

Job Posting Title:

Employees currently are eligible to receive an annual discretionary performance bonus, awarded at the sole discretion of the Company and subject to any terms and conditions set by the Company. Employees and/or eligible dependents may be eligible to participate in the following Company-sponsored employee benefit programs: medical; dental; vision; life/AD&D insurance; short- and long-term disability; fertility and family-forming assistance; wellbeing allowance; educational assistance; mental health coaching/therapy; tax advantaged accounts such as HSA and healthcare/dependent care FSAs; a 401(k) retirement plan; and time off benefits that include vacation, sick time, and personal days.

We Consider Applicants For All Positions On The Basis Of Merit, Qualifications And Business Needs, And Without Regard To Race, Color, National Origin, Religion, Sex, Gender Identity, Age, Disability, Alienage Or Citizenship Status, Ancestry, Marital Status, Creed, Genetic Predisposition Or Carrier Status, Sexual Orientation, Veteran Status, Familial Status, Status As A Victim Of Domestic Violence Or Any Other Status Or Characteristic Protected By Applicable Federal, State, Or Local Law.

The NBA is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace. To safeguard our employees and their families, our visitors, and the broader community from COVID-19, and in consideration of recommendations from health authorities and the NBA’s own advisors, any individual working onsite in our New York and New Jersey offices must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The NBA will discuss accommodations for individuals who cannot be vaccinated due to a medical reason or sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance.

About the NBA

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a global sports and media organization with the mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball. Built around five professional sports leagues: the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and Basketball Africa League, the NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming available in 214 countries and territories in 60 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 200 countries and territories on all seven continents. NBA rosters at the start of the 2024-25 season featured a record-tying 125 international players from a record-tying 43 countries. NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass. The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with more than 2.3 billion likes and followers globally across all leagues, team and player platforms. NBA Cares, the NBA’s global social responsibility platform, partners with renowned community-based organizations around the world to address important social issues in the areas of education, inclusion, youth and family development, and health and wellness.