Group Manager, Strategic Events

Job Description

Zendesk is seeking an experienced and visionary leader to join our Experiential Marketing team as Group Manager, Strategic Events. This role will lead a team of high-performing experiential marketers and own the strategy, planning and execution of our Tier 1 events, comprising our large-scale customer conference and our C-level executive summit. This individual will shape end-to-end experiences that bring our brand to life, foster customer engagement, and drive business growth. This role requires a strategic thinker who will possess strong organizational skills, creativity, and the ability to work collaboratively across various teams, partnering closely with marketing, sales, product, customer success, and executives.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the strategy and execution of Tier 1, including our large-scale customer event, Zendesk Relate, and our C-level AI Summit.

• Lead, mentor, and inspire a team of experiential marketers who plan and execute our events; foster professional growth, development and collaboration.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with marketing, sales, product, and customer success teams to integrate event strategies that drive pipeline growth, customer retention, and brand awareness.

• Oversee event budgeting, vendor relationships, logistics, and onsite management to ensure exceptional execution and ROI.

• Innovate event formats and experiences, incorporating digital and hybrid event technologies to maximize reach and engagement.

• Analyze event performance metrics and feedback to continuously improve event impact and alignment with strategic goals.

• Represent Zendesk at key industry events and speak on behalf of the company when appropriate.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in event marketing, with a focus on corporate tech events. Experience producing events with over 1,500 attendees is preferred.

• 2+ years experience managing people.

• Proven success delivering large-scale B2B conferences and executive-level events with measurable business impact.

• Strong strategic thinking and project management skills with the ability to manage multiple complex initiatives simultaneously.

• Excellent leadership and team-building capabilities.

• Experience managing and reporting on event metrics and ROI, and using data to measure impact and determine improvements.

• Exceptional communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.

• Experience with event technology systems.

• Passion for innovation in experiential marketing and a customer-first mindset.

• Ability to travel to global events as needed up to 20% of the time.

#LI-WO1

The US annualized base salary range for this position is $126,000.00-$190,000.00. This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.

Hybrid: In this role, our hybrid experience is designed at the team level to give you a rich onsite experience packed with connection, collaboration, learning, and celebration - while also giving you flexibility to work remotely for part of the week. This role must attend our local office for part of the week. The specific in-office schedule is to be determined by the hiring manager.

The intelligent heart of customer experience

Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.

Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.

Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here.

Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to peopleandplaces@zendesk.com with your specific accommodation request.