Australia Event Operations Lead

Events; Sydney; On-site; AUD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Navan Events seeks a Manager, Event Operations Australia based in Sydney, reporting to the Director, Event Travel. You will lead the Australia Event Operations function, overseeing event travel, planning, venue sourcing, supplier contracting, registration, attendee management, event production and onsite delivery.

You will establish globally consistent standards while enabling regional teams to respond to local clients, markets, and suppliers, driving commercial and operational excellence across

Qualifications

• 12+ years in meetings and events, corporate and group travel operations.
• Proven experience in leading Corporate Travel and/or Event Management organisations.
• Strong knowledge of venue sourcing, supplier contracting, registration, attendee management, event production.
• Sound knowledge of event registration platforms and attendee-management tools.
• Excellent understanding of the corporate travel environment; Sabre experience preferred.
• Experience supporting organisational integration, improving operating models, and delivering operational change.
• Great commercial acumen, proven success managing budgets, expanding revenue, and maximising profitability.
• Proven background overseeing intricate, large-scale event portfolios across multi-city logistics.
• Evidence of building high-performing teams and credible succession pipelines.
• Ability to cultivate cross-functional alignment and collaborate with senior stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead operational risk management, compliance, duty of care and incident escalation.
• Establish scalable service, staffing, and delivery models to improve profitability.
• Set standards for delivery quality, supplier contracting, budget control, and service recovery.
• Serve as primary contact for critical account challenges and delivery risks.
• Partner with Product and Engineering to automate workflows and improve client visibility.
• Lead an organisation of travel and event professionals across Australia.
• Build a high-performing team across Australia with commercial, client and people outcomes.
• Identify performance issues early and communicate changes clearly to the organisation.
• Drive M&E business growth; qualify opportunities with Sales and Customer Success and define pricing.

Skills

Corporate travel operations

Event management

Budget management

Client delivery

Cross-functional leadership

Commercial/ revenue growth

Team leadership

Risk/ compliance awareness

Operational change

Tools

GDS systems

Sabre

NDC

Job description

Navan Events seeks a Manager, Event Operations Australia based in Sydney, reporting to the Director, Event Travel. You will lead the Australia Event Operations function, overseeing event travel, planning, venue sourcing, supplier contracting, registration, attendee management, event production and onsite delivery.

You will establish globally consistent standards while enabling regional teams to respond to local clients, markets, and suppliers, driving commercial and operational excellence across