Conference Manager, Creative Journey and Branding

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) is a leading global research and advisory company dedicated to providing expert analysis and innovative solutions that help enterprise leaders and their teams succeed in their mission-critical priorities. Since its founding in 1979, Gartner has expanded to employ 20,000 associates worldwide, supporting over 13,000 client enterprises across approximately 90 countries and territories. Gartner is recognized as a world authority on artificial intelligence (AI) and stands at the forefront of the AI revolution, delivering proactive, objective guidance to clients as they navigate their AI journeys. The company fosters a vibrant, inclusive culture with individuals from diverse backgrounds collaborating to deliver exceptional results for clients. Gartner invests in great leaders and promotes continuous professional growth, making it a globally recognized great place to work.

This role is situated within Gartner's Global Creative Journey and Branding team, a key entity responsible for elevating the company's global conferences and business unit events through exceptional onsite branding and attendee experiences. The position offers an exciting hybrid employment opportunity with a competitive salary range estimated between 70,000 USD and 104,000 USD, alongside annual bonus plans or role-based uncapped sales incentive plans, depending on eligibility. The role also comes with a comprehensive benefits package including generous paid time off, 401(k) matching, stock purchase options, and more.

The Senior Manager, Creative Journey and Branding leads the strategic planning, development, and execution of onsite branding and attendee experiences across Gartner's portfolio of client-facing global conferences and business unit events. This position uniquely blends creative leadership, strategic thinking, project management, and operational excellence to deliver impactful, high-quality experiences that enhance the overall conference journey for attendees, clients, and prospects. The role demands close collaboration with the Conference Center of Excellence teams and other internal stakeholders to ensure seamless alignment between conference planning, branding, and experience delivery.

Responsibilities include managing the entire creative journey for external conferences, overseeing all aspects of branding, environmental design, attendee experiences, and digital touchpoints. The incumbent will manage conference projects from concept through execution, ensuring flawless planning, coordination, and delivery, whether onsite or virtual. Strategic partnership with internal teams is essential to align business objectives with event experiences, branding, and engagement opportunities. Operationally, the role encompasses project managing signage, structures, branding elements, and experiential components through strong vendor management and cross-functional collaboration.

Further, the role involves supporting the development and implementation of operational processes, project management frameworks, and best practices aimed at driving consistency, scalability, and efficiency within the team. The Senior Manager mentors junior team members, fostering professional growth and strengthening project management capabilities while promoting effective stakeholder engagement. They also cultivate strong vendor relationships to ensure the delivery of innovative, brand-aligned solutions that meet Gartner’s standards.

A critical aspect of the position is financial stewardship, which includes accurate forecasting, contract negotiation, cost management, risk identification, and resource allocation recommendations. The successful candidate will drive a culture of creativity and continuous improvement by identifying opportunities to enhance attendee experiences and optimize planning processes.

This role requires a professional presence and credibility as a representative of Gartner Conferences, with demonstrated ownership, accountability, and initiative in managing projects from inception through successful completion. It demands exceptional project management skills, creativity, strategic thinking, and client-focused collaboration. A willingness to travel approximately 30% across North American locations is also necessary.

This position offers an exceptional opportunity for an experienced event management professional to impact Gartner's global presence and client engagement through innovative and effective conference branding and attendee experience strategies. Candidates will thrive in an environment that promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, and high performance, with numerous opportunities for career growth and development within Gartner's dynamic, progressive corporate culture.