Senior Director, Conference Program Management

Gartner

Senior Director managing conference programs for C-level executives at Gartner. Developing strategies, content, and experiences to drive event success and profitability.

Posted 5/10/2026full-timeStamford • Connecticut, Texas • 🇺🇸 United StatesSenior💰 $136,000 - $189,000 per yearWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Develop the conference strategy and orchestrate cross-functional team collaboration to drive growth, profitability and customer retention.
Create the most compelling attendee-driven conference agendas based on market needs and requirements, in close partnership with Gartner Research chair.
Creates client-focused programs that will deliver the highest results
Identifies and secures guest speakers (keynotes, panelists, case studies…)
Drives primary and secondary market research to understand client needs and behaviors, as well as market trends
Identifies target audience and defines positioning for assigned conferences
Works with Exhibitor Products team to define and deliver sponsorship opportunities and content
Identifies and evaluates competitive events, including attending competitive events
Creates the conference or portfolio strategy, in collaboration with other global colleagues & stakeholders
Innovates conference experiences, content and formats
Works closely with Conferences Marketing to create compelling messaging and campaigns to drive growth and increase retention
Collaborates with Exhibits Sales to identify prospective exhibitors, articulate the conference value proposition, and accelerate sales growth and retention
Collaborates with Conference Operations to ensure we deliver a great attendee and sponsor experience in an efficient and cost-effective way
Partners with financial-planning teams on annual budget and investment processes

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelors Degree; MBA preferred
8-12+ years’ experience in conference management, content-rich program planning, or content strategy, development and creation
Proven ability to drive overall direction and development of conference programs: specifically content strategy and creation, agenda development, speaker management, etc.
Experience in driving or supporting audience and sponsorship acquisition
Demonstrated ability to work in a highly collaborative matrix environment, with strong stakeholder management skills.
Excellent written and oral communication, and ability to influence
Global/multinational event experience strongly preferred
Strong multi-project management, prioritization, time management
Good AI, data and analytics familiarity
Ability to accommodate moderate travel, including international
Ability to engage effectively with C-level executives

Benefits

Comp & perks

Generous PTO
401k match up to $7,200 per year
Opportunity to purchase company stock at a discount

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

conference managementcontent strategyagenda developmentspeaker managementaudience acquisitionsponsorship acquisitionmarket researchdata analyticsprogram planningevent strategy

Soft Skills

stakeholder managementcollaborationcommunicationinfluencemulti-project managementprioritizationtime managementcustomer retentioncreativityproblem-solving

Certifications

Bachelors DegreeMBA