(USA) Senior Director, Strategy Shows and Events - Center of Excellence

Posted:
10/15/2024, 5:00:00 PM

Location(s):
Bentonville, Arkansas, United States ⋅ Arkansas, United States

Experience Level(s):
Expert or higher ⋅ Senior

Field(s):
Business & Strategy

Position Summary...

What you'll do...

This highly visible global role at Walmart leads our Center for Excellence within our Event Solutions team supporting internal and external events and experiences for the largest company in the world. In this mission-critical role you’ll lead and inspire a large team; have strategic responsibility for our talent and third-party sourcing, best practices, and budgets. The ideal candidate is a strong people leader, has proven Executive presence, is motivated by current and future trends, and masterful at managing multiple projects simultaneously with a calm demeanor.

Reporting to the VP of Corporate Communications, this role will play a critical role in helping us deliver world-class events and tailored experiences for our target audiences while also living our values. At Walmart, we aim to build a better world — helping people save money, live better and renew the planet while building thriving, resilient communities.

What You’ll Do:

The Senior Director of Center of Excellence will be responsible for setting the vision for and overseeing all aspects of our company's celebrity talent acquisition, vendor sourcing strategy (including travel, registration, venue, housing, and agency support), budgeting (development, monitoring, reconciling, contract negotiation, and optimization), and best practices (process, procedures, tools and other resources). The successful candidate will be a creative and analytical thinker who can lead and manage a talented team of event professionals, is highly collaborative and builds excellent relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Lead, manage, and mentor a high-performing team of event professionals, ensuring all team members are motivated, engaged, and working efficiently toward common goals.
  • Develops and champions event best practices, maintaining a thorough understanding of industry best practices and continuously monitor trends, competitor activity, and audience preferences to identify opportunities for innovation and differentiation. Lead the development of processes, tools, and resources, with partnership from others on the events team, who create efficiency, cost savings and offer support to the Events team, as well as other internal stakeholders.
  • Drives celebrity and guest talent acquisition strategy across the enterprise, with an eye to bringing top-tier talent to Walmart’s events within our everyday low-cost culture. Develop and maintain strong relationships with key external and internal partners to source and secure talent and guests for meetings and appearances.
  • Leads sourcing strategy, accessing current production and operations vendors, and identifying untapped resources; serves as a senior counselor and partner to production and operations teams and other business partners on sourcing needs. Looks for opportunities to maximize resources with an everyday low-cost mindset. Manage the RFP vendor process, including developing and distributing RFPs, reviewing proposals, and selecting vendors that meet our needs and budget constraints and negotiating contracts and rates with vendors to ensure favorable terms and pricing.
  • Monitor and track vendor performance, ensuring they meet our expectations and deliver high-quality services.
  • Oversee event budgets and forecasting to ensure accuracy and adherence to established guidelines and protocols. Provide regular financial reports and analysis to production and operations partners, including event budgets, actual spend, and forecasts.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop and implement cost-saving initiatives and strategies.
  • Ensure compliance with Walmart's code of conduct and all relevant policies and procedures.
  • Serve as a company ambassador, representing the company at industry events, conferences, and trade shows.

You’ll make a positive impact by:

  • Being a great people leader in an ever-changing and challenging environment.
  • Bringing and implementing best-in-class ideas that take our events and experiences to the next level.
  • Strategically engaging cross-functionally with a winning mindset.
  • Communicating all status updates, changes, and pertinent details to cross-functional partners.
  • Thinking of creative solutions to sourcing needs that provide wow experiences and keep us on the forefront of the events field.
  • Implementing, monitoring, and enforcing pre-established event production budgets, adjusting as needed and ensuring invoices are paid on time.

Benefits & Perks:

Beyond competitive pay, you can receive incentive awards for your performance. Other great perks include full relocation, bonus, stock, 401(k) match, associate stock purchase plan, paid maternity and parental leave, paid time off, multiple health plans, and much more.

Qualifications:

  • Minimum of 5 years in a leadership role with experience managing large budget, sourcing, and overseeing third party vendors and agencies.
  • Proven history of planning and executing large-scale, high-quality events with complex budgets.
  • Exceptional people leadership and team management skills, with the ability to motivate, collaborate and develop talent.
  • Strong negotiation and relationship-building skills, with experience working with key industry stakeholders, partners, and suppliers.
  • Excellent communication, presentation, and people skills.
  • Ability to build strong relationships and leverage resources.
  • Must be willing to travel throughout the year.
  • Gracefulness under pressure and deadlines; must be able to manage multiple projects at once.
  • Analytical and creative mindset

The above information has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed in the role. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job. The full Job Description can be made available as part of the hiring process.

Equal Opportunity Employer Walmart, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer – By Choice. We believe we are best equipped to help our associates, customers, and the communities we serve live better when we really know them. That means understanding, respecting, and valuing diversity- unique styles, experiences, identities, ideas, and opinions – while being inclusive of all people.

At Walmart, we offer competitive pay as well as performance-based bonus awards and other great benefits for a happier mind, body, and wallet. Health benefits include medical, vision and dental coverage. Financial benefits include 401(k), stock purchase and company-paid life insurance. Paid time off benefits include PTO (including sick leave), parental leave, family care leave, bereavement, jury duty, and voting. Other benefits include short-term and long-term disability, company discounts, Military Leave Pay, adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, and more.

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You will also receive PTO and/or PPTO that can be used for vacation, sick leave, holidays, or other purposes. The amount you receive depends on your job classification and length of employment. It will meet or exceed the requirements of paid sick leave laws, where applicable.

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For information about PTO, see https://one.walmart.com/notices.

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Live Better U is a Walmart-paid education benefit program for full-time and part-time associates in Walmart and Sam's Club facilities. Programs range from high school completion to bachelor's degrees, including English Language Learning and short-form certificates. Tuition, books, and fees are completely paid for by Walmart.

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Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to a specific plan or program terms.

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For information about benefits and eligibility, see One.Walmart.

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The annual salary range for this position is $130,000.00-$260,000.00

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Additional compensation includes annual or quarterly performance bonuses.

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Additional compensation for certain positions may also include:

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- Stock

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Minimum Qualifications...

Outlined below are the required minimum qualifications for this position. If none are listed, there are no minimum qualifications.

Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, theatre, or related field and 5 years' experience in marketing, communications, theatre, or related field OR 8 years' experience in marketing, communications, theatre, or related field. 4 years' of supervisory experience. 3 years' experience in event management.

Preferred Qualifications...

Outlined below are the optional preferred qualifications for this position. If none are listed, there are no preferred qualifications.

Primary Location...

702 Sw 8Th St, Bentonville, AR 72716, United States of America

Walmart

Website: http://www.walmart.com/

Headquarter Location: Bentonville, Arkansas, United States

Employee Count: 10001+

Year Founded: 1962

IPO Status: Public

Last Funding Type: Post-IPO Debt

Industries: E-Commerce ⋅ Grocery ⋅ Retail ⋅ Retail Technology ⋅ Shopping