About the position

Are you passionate about crafting exceptional culinary experiences and managing high-profile talent and strategic partnerships? Do you thrive on leading dynamic teams to execute successful, memorable campaigns? If so, this could be your next significant career move within our Lifestyle team. We are looking for an Experiential Director to join our dynamic team. This person will manage talent relationships, and partnerships with groups in the culinary industry, and will act as a main point of contact for the client. The Experiential Director will cultivate partner and vendor relationships, plan all elements needed to create excellent experiential events, manage partner and vendor relationships, and work closely with key internal and external stakeholders to deliver top-of-the-line experiences for our client’s brand. Our ideal candidate is highly organized, detail-oriented, and an exceptional communicator. We are looking for a collaborative self-starter who is comfortable taking the lead, sharing innovative ideas, and managing complex, high-profile relationships.

Responsibilities

• Manage and nurture relationships with culinary talent, coordinating their involvement in events, content creation, and brand activations.
• Oversee the strategic partnership with a key restaurant group, including event coordination, managing reservation requests, and ensuring a premium guest experience.
• Develop and implement a consistent plan and approach for executing each tier of the culinary series, ensuring strong brand alignment.
• Oversee all aspects of event planning and implementation (pre, during, and post-event), including logistics from venue research to wrap reports, budgets, and timelines.
• Direct the development, implementation, and execution of events and sponsorships, encompassing production, on-site management, asset management, vendor management, and assistance in property negotiations for all culinary activations.
• Develop activation/experience plans for stakeholders prior to events and create comprehensive wrap-up reports following events.
• Attend events, serving as the primary point of contact for vendors, guests, clients, and partners, including culinary ambassadors and restaurant group representatives.
• Identify and recommend potential dining locations and unique culinary experiences.
• Secure partnerships and negotiate agreements with culinary talent and restaurant groups.
• Maintain and proactively seek creative ways to enhance all partner relationships, including culinary ambassadors, restaurant groups, vendors, and property owners.
• Act as the day-to-day contact for key clients, ensuring clear and effective communication.
• Manage approvals of sponsorship branding and messaging for both onsite and digital collateral.
• Deliver unique, custom event solutions to key program collaborators, both internally and externally, on a regular basis.
• Develop post-event wrap-up presentations for clients directly following events, and compile end-of-year recaps.
• Own the budget for each individual event, ensuring fiscal responsibility.
• Manage all finance paperwork and documentation (creation of POs, job codes, and onboarding new clients/vendors into our systems).

Requirements

• A genuine passion for lifestyle culture, food, and travel, with a strong understanding of the culinary landscape.
• 6+ years of agency/client service experience, with 4+ years in event planning
• Proven experience managing high-profile talent relationships and strategic partnerships
• Demonstrated ability to work as part of a team and to solve problems effectively and independently
• Experience with on-site event management and execution
• Ability to maintain relationships with key partners (e.g. venues, vendors, suppliers, etc.)
• Diligent work ethic, with the ability to balance multiple tasks simultaneously and produce quality work, while adhering to strict timelines (ex: reporting documents, client-facing decks, budgets)
• Excellent project management skills
• An A+ organizer and communicator
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Software (specifically PowerPoint, Excel, and Word)
• Ability to supervise, lead, and mentor junior employees
• Flexibility and willingness to travel domestically and work weekends or holidays as needed. Anticipated travel level: Moderate (20-45%)

Nice-to-haves

• Some budget management and/or reconciliation experience preferred