Job Description

SUMMARY

The Director, Conference Programming role is responsible for the defining strategy and leading a team in the development of program content for in-person and virtual conferences that meet the needs of the internal audit profession across competency levels and industries. This role leads a team of conference product managers who develop program content and manage the overall project plan for each conference. Responsibilities include leading a team to success, recruiting top level keynote and concurrent session speakers, managing multiple project plans simultaneously, meeting tight timelines for development, negotiating speaker contracts and development requirements, managing conference planning committees, and driving increased skills and competencies of the team. This role must continuously improve and add new elements of innovation and engagement to conference programming and collaborate with other MC&L teams as well as Marketing, IT, Finance and Affiliate Relations as needed.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead a diverse team of conference product development professionals and coach them to meeting goals and achieving success; nurture team member growth and professional development.
• Direct the overall development of conference content programming for in-person and virtual conferences that meet the needs of internal auditing professionals at various competency levels representing a variety of industries.
• Oversee the creation of business cases for all conferences, including the target audience, key value proposition, conference themes, learning objectives, and other information needed to support marketing and sales efforts.
• Manage the conference planning committee structure and processes, including driving recruitment of high-profile volunteers and ensuring effectiveness of committees to drive successful programs.
• Develop and manage budget and forecasting for conference programming.
• Collaborate with the Portfolio Strategy team to fill gaps through conference content as well as define annual budgets and new products.
• Collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to develop, implement and maintain leading edge conference programs that meet or exceed budgeted and forecasted revenue goals.
• Negotiate keynote speaker fees and criteria. Partner with Legal and Operations teams to execute contracts.
• Identify innovative content and program development opportunities, and partner with internal teams to drive implementation of innovative ideas.
• Accountable for the accuracy and continuous improvement of project plans in SmartSheet developed by the team.
• Project manage the conference program development processes, including leading cross-functional meetings, ensuring all teams update action items, and report on conference progress; meet or exceed all development timelines with agility and efficiency.
• Develop executive summaries and dashboards to drive communication about the status of program development and other related conference activities.
• Manage and continuously improve conference program process flows and document standard operating procedures.
• Oversee the Subject Matter Expert (SME) review process ensuring qualified personnel or committee members review all PowerPoints submitted from conference speakers for content, format and alignment with learning objectives (NASBA).
• Partner with conference event logistics, MC&L operations, marketing, IT and other internal teams supporting conference programming ensuring successful delivery.
• Drive continuous improvement in response to conference program feedback through evaluations, discussions with conference planning committee, staff, speakers, and attendee\xe2\x80\x99s feedback.
• Collaborate with Marketing team to review all marketing collateral related to conferences to ensure accuracy and timeliness.
• Travels approximately 15-20% to conferences to ensure successful program delivery and site evaluations as needed.
• Stays up to date on information and trends related to the internal auditing profession to ensure that conference content is supporting the profession today while addressing future needs and direction for the profession.
• Other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position has direct management responsibilities for Sr. Managers and overall management responsibility for the team responsible for conference programming.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must have:

• Mastery of MS Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
• SmartSheet experience preferred.
• Sales Navigator experience preferred.
• Exceptional verbal and written communications skills.
• Strong collaboration skills.
• Self-motivation and ability to work independently.
• Demonstrated attention to detail.
• Demonstrated experience prioritizing and balancing multiple, ongoing high-profile projects with ability to meet critical deadlines.
• Ability to consider the global perspective and applicability of projects and content.
• Some travel is required, typically 10-20%.

The requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and/or Experience

Bachelor\xe2\x80\x99s degree, preferably in curriculum development, internal audit, business, or other related field and 8+ years of experience in development conference content programming and/or project management and previous people management experience. Masters/MBA degree preferred.

Competency Framework Requirements:

• Ability to think creatively while managing multiple assignments (multitask) in a deadline-driven environment while consistently producing quality results.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively and communicate effectively.
• Ability to work in a collaborative, team-oriented environment.
• Comfortable working with aggressive timeframes and the possibility of new and emerging responsibilities.
• Must be organized, able to act independently, and have an eye for detail with the ability of putting ideas into tangible form.

Critical Success Factors:

• Proven success with conference content programming.
• 5+ years of proven global conference content leadership.
• Strong program/project management skills with an emphasis on project execution.
• Must be self-motivated, well organized and detail oriented.
• Ability to work with big data, evaluation metrics and details.

Language Skills

Effective written, verbal, presentation development, and interpersonal communications skills as well as strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail. Ability to read, analyze, and interpret facilitator feedback that will be transformed into meaningful presentations. Ability to write business correspondence and work with IT and other staff professionals is required. A complete command of the English language, including grammar skills.

Mathematical Skills

Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations.

Reasoning Ability

Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, draw valid conclusions, and effectively propose and execute solutions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in written, mathematical, or diagram form, and create tangible representations of several abstract and concrete variables.

Computer Skills

Expert ability to work in a computerized environment with a strong knowledge of most Microsoft Office products and Smart Sheets. Must have an aptitude to learn new software tools relating to project and content management.

Other Skills and Abilities

Must have excellent writing, communication, and organizational skills, team orientation, and strong interpersonal skills. Able to handle multiple priorities and deadlines.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand, walk, sit, talk, or hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

This position will require work in our Headquarters office in Lake Mary, FL 50% of the time.

The Institute of Internal Auditors