Manager, Event Operations Australia

Navan; Sydney; On-site; AUD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Navan is seeking a Manager, Event Operations Australia to lead the delivery, performance and strategic development of the Event Travel and Events operation across Australia. You will guide a high-performing team, drive client outcomes and ensure scalable, compliant service delivery aligned with global standards.

The role requires leadership across people, client ownership, and risk management, with a focus on profitability and growth within the APAC region.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership of teams and stakeholders.
• Experience in events and group travel operations.
• Strong communication and PM capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead high-performing event operations teams across Australia.
• Drive delivery, performance and strategic development of Event Travel and Events.
• Manage risk, governance and compliance to ensure service excellence.

Skills

People leadership

Stakeholder management

Project management

Communication

Tools

Sabre

Cvent

Job description

About the Role

The Manager, Event Operations Australia is responsible for leading the delivery, performance and strategic development of the Event Travel and Events operation across Australia and supporting the broader APAC region. The role provides leadership across people, client delivery, commercial performance, operational excellence and risk management, ensuring consistent, high-quality service and sustainable business growth. The role combines team leadership, client ownership and direct service delivery, ensuring both operational excellence and strong team performance. It plays a critical part in scaling the Australia and broader APAC operations while aligning with global standards. The position leads and develops a high-performing team, drives operational best practice, oversees resource planning and acts as a senior escalation point for client, supplier and operational matters. The role is accountable for ensuring service excellence, commercial success, compliance, and continuous improvement across all Event Travel and Events activities. Working closely with global stakeholders, Client Success, Sales, Finance, and Operations teams, the Manager plays a key role in scaling the Australia and APAC business, strengthening client relationships, developing future leaders, and ensuring alignment with global standards and strategic objectives.

What you’ll do

• Builds and leads high-performing, accountable and collaborative teams, fostering a culture of trust, recognition and open communication.
• Coaches, mentors and develops future leaders, providing clear direction, feedback and performance management
• Leads teams through organisational growth, transformation and change with resilience and adaptability
• Acts as a senior escalation point for complex client, operational and service delivery issues
• Balances client experience, operational excellence and commercial objectives to drive profitability and account growth.
• Oversees the successful delivery of complex events and group travel programmes, ensuring quality, compliance and exceptional service.
• Uses data, operational insights and best practices to improve performance, productivity and service consistency.
• Develops scalable processes, training frameworks and operational standards across Events and Event Travel functions
• Identifies and mitigates operational, commercial and reputational risks, ensuring governance, compliance and business continuity.

What we’re looking for

• Proven experience in Events and Group Travel operations, including group travel logistics
• Demonstrated people leadership experience, ideally within a regional or multi-market team
• Strong working knowledge of GDS systems (Sabre preferred) and travel booking processes
• Experience in managing large, complex event programmes, including multi-destination or high-volume attendee movements
• Sound knowledge of event management platforms (e.g. Cvent)
• Strong commercial acumen with a track record of driving revenue and profitability
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to manage multiple complex projects simultaneously
• High attention to detail with strong organisational capability

Navan uses AI-assisted Automated Employment Decision Tool (Metaview) to assist with evaluating resumes against job qualifications for this role. All final decisions are made by human recruiters and hiring managers.

Human oversight: Metaview does not automatically reject candidates or make final hiring decisions. Our recruiters and hiring managers review all outputs and make the final hiring decision regarding every application.

• Your rights: If you prefer to have your application reviewed without AI assistance, you may request a human evaluation by entering your email here. Your decision to do so will not affect how your candidacy is evaluated.

Please refer to our Candidate Privacy Notice for more information about our processing of personal data, and your rights.