What does a senior event manager do?
A senior event manager's role is to spearhead different events, focusing on its planning and execution to ensure that everything runs smoothly in adherence to the goals and budgets. Their responsibilities typically revolve around meeting with clients to discuss their needs and preferences, managing the workforce, and coordinating with suppliers, caterers, photographers, designers, and other external agencies. They must also update clients regularly, monitor the progress of all procedures, and resolve issues promptly and efficiently. Furthermore, they must lead and encourage the workforce to meet goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Senior event manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior event manager resumes:
- Manage attendee database for hotel rooming list and transportation manifests, including room blocks and VIP arrangements.
- Advise, manage, supervise, and coordinate all special events, programs, ceremonies and VIP visits.
- Manage all aspects of these events and act as onsite manager to ensure meeting are delivered effectively and professionally.
- Prepare contracts, BEOs and restaurant group reservations and distribute to appropriate managers.
- Create and maintain all event paperwork, including BEOs, event contracts, deposits and payments.
- Challenge to continually identify new and innovative ways of executing event solutions, while minimizing marketing spend, and maximizing ROI.
- Create integrated event marketing plans that include ROI measurement.
- Supervise on-site logistics/operations and train conference coordinators on all aspects of planning.
- Distinguish by locally-source ingredients; exemplary culinary practices and close attention to customer service.
- Handle all aspects of planning including culinary and beverage selections, setup instructions, audio/visual requirements and special arrangements.
- Develop agenda and itinerary, organize and procure all speaker biographies and materials and logistics for successful program execution.
- Ensure florist, DJ, venue, and all other vendors are able to meet the client's expectations.
- Set up, breakdown, serve plait dinners, buffets and many more duties.
- Perform serving duties at breakfasts, lunches, dinners and eventsserve at plait dinners and buffets Prepared/delivered box lunches
- Direct and coordinate the activities of the business including FOH, BOH and catering staff.
Senior event manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Senior Event Managers are proficient in Digital Marketing, Customer Service, and Event Management. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Negotiation skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Senior Event Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Digital Marketing, 11%
Utilized multiple forms of marketing including digital marketing, strategic advertising and trade show participation to establish brand and create awareness.
- Customer Service, 10%
Achieved excellent ratings on post-event customer satisfaction surveys, and receive repeated praise from supervisor for customer service.
- Event Management, 9%
Provide detailed reports of financial expenditures and event management in post-event reports.
- Event Planning, 8%
Supervised event planning staff and on-site operational staff and requirements.
- Event Production, 6%
Managed outsourced event production and creative agencies to ensure execution against intended results.
- Audio Visual, 6%
Centralize the coordination process of the roadshows by managing all logistics including venue search, catering, audio visual and billing.
"digital marketing," "customer service," and "event management" are among the most common skills that senior event managers use at work. You can find even more senior event manager responsibilities below, including:
Interpersonal skills. One of the key soft skills for a senior event manager to have is interpersonal skills. You can see how this relates to what senior event managers do because "meeting, convention, and event planners must establish and maintain positive relationships with clients and suppliers." Additionally, a senior event manager resume shows how senior event managers use interpersonal skills: "created leads, appointments and communicated product information through demonstration and excellent interpersonal skills"
Negotiation skills. Many senior event manager duties rely on negotiation skills. "meeting, convention, and event planners must be able to secure quality products and services at reasonable prices for their clients.," so a senior event manager will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways senior event manager responsibilities rely on negotiation skills: "managed the negotiation, writing and execution of meeting space and guestroom contracts. "
Organizational skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of senior event managers is organizational skills. This skill is critical to many everyday senior event manager duties, as "meeting, convention, and event planners must multitask, pay attention to details, and meet tight deadlines." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "complete a wide range of activities requiring clear communication, excellent organizational skills and attention to detail. "
Problem-solving skills. senior event manager responsibilities often require "problem-solving skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "meeting, convention, and event planners must be able to anticipate potential issues and prepare creative solutions that satisfy clients." This resume example shows what senior event managers do with problem-solving skills on a typical day: "challenged to continually identify new and innovative ways of executing event solutions, while minimizing marketing spend, and maximizing roi. "
Communication skills. Another common skill required for senior event manager responsibilities is "communication skills." This skill comes up in the duties of senior event managers all the time, as "meeting, convention, and event planners exchange information with clients, suppliers, and event staff." An excerpt from a real senior event manager resume shows how this skill is central to what a senior event manager does: "developed and implemented communication tools in response to corporate service issues, proactively identifying emerging customer service concerns and developing solutions. "
The three companies that hire the most senior event managers are:
- Marriott International76 senior event managers jobs
- Alteryx42 senior event managers jobs
- Hilton21 senior event managers jobs
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Compare different senior event managers
Senior event manager vs. Party coordinator
A conference coordinator organizes professional gatherings and meetings according to a client's needs and preferences. There are also instances where they may plan reunions, parties, and other events. Their responsibilities begin at meeting the clients to identify their needs and preferences, including the event's purpose or themes. From there, a conference coordinator develops plans, secures venues and speakers, books caterers and other equipment, prepares and processes requests, and maintains records of all transactions, presenting invoices to the clients. Moreover, a conference coordinator must be proactive and resolve any conflicts or issues should any arise.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, senior event manager responsibilities require skills like "digital marketing," "event management," "event production," and "audio visual." Meanwhile a typical party coordinator has skills in areas such as "kids," "cpr," "allergies," and "pos." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, party coordinators reach similar levels of education than senior event managers. Party coordinators are 4.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Senior event manager vs. Conference coordinator
The role of planning committee members is to assist with designing and implementing an educational activity. They need to ensure that the leadership gives the continuing education (CE) developer enough time to complete the CE process. They are responsible for establishing a planning committee and maintaining access to all confirmed presenters and planners. Planning committee members are also responsible for meeting deadlines for submitting CE documents and clarifying any issues with the proposed CE documents.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real senior event manager resumes. While senior event manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "digital marketing," "customer service," "event production," and "audio visual," conference coordinators use skills like "conference calls," "reservations," "audio visual equipment," and "conference planning."
Conference coordinators earn a lower average salary than senior event managers. But conference coordinators earn the highest pay in the telecommunication industry, with an average salary of $48,429. Additionally, senior event managers earn the highest salaries in the retail with average pay of $78,653 annually.conference coordinators earn similar levels of education than senior event managers in general. They're 1.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for senior event managers in the next 3-5 years?
Siddharth Mobar
Assistant Professor, Lasell University
Senior event manager vs. Planning committee member
A site coordinator is responsible for organizing special events and programs based on a client's specifications or a business's needs. Site coordinators ensure that the plan will go well by monitoring their resources, coordinating with third-party services, researching the best settings, finalizing the list of attendees, and managing the budget goals. A site coordinator usually works with the marketing department of an organization for promotional strategies and addresses any concerns that an attendee might have.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, senior event managers are more likely to have skills like "digital marketing," "customer service," "event management," and "event planning." But a planning committee member is more likely to have skills like "safety committee," "community outreach," "financial statements," and "alumni."
Planning committee members typically earn higher educational levels compared to senior event managers. Specifically, they're 6.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 4.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior event manager vs. Site coordinator
Even though a few skill sets overlap between senior event managers and site coordinators, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a senior event manager might have more use for skills like "digital marketing," "event management," "event planning," and "event production." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of site coordinators require skills like "data entry," "cpr," "direct supervision," and "team work. "
In general, site coordinators earn the most working in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $41,125. The highest-paying industry for a senior event manager is the retail industry.The average resume of site coordinators showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to senior event managers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 4.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.8%.Types of senior event manager
Updated January 8, 2025
