Global IT Events Director

MARI; Chiswick; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A global events and experiences company is looking for a Global IT Events Director in Chiswick. This senior leader will oversee IT operations for high-profile events worldwide, managing technical delivery and vendor relationships. Ideal candidates have 10+ years in event technology and a background in live events, plus excellent leadership and communication skills. You will ensure faultless execution of IT across various venues while working in high-pressure environments. This is a permanent position with standard working hours but may require additional hours during events.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in event technology or live events.
• Experience managing global technical teams.
• Strong understanding of temporary event infrastructures.

Responsibilities

• Oversee IT operations for MARI live events.
• Manage vendor contracts and relationships.
• Ensure event technologies are tested and ready.

Skills

Leadership

Troubleshooting

Vendor negotiation

Team coordination

Education

Bachelor's degree in IT, Engineering, or equivalent experience

Tools

Event management software

Wi-Fi design tools

POS systems

Job description

Who We Are

About MARI

MARI is a global events and experiences company with a portfolio of world‑class live properties spanning sport, art, lifestyle, and entertainment. These include major international tennis tournaments, among them the Mutua Madrid Open and Miami Open presented by Itaú, Frieze, a leading voice in contemporary art, Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, TodayTix Group, a leading digital ticketing and technology company for theatre and live performance, and Barrett‑Jackson, the foremost U.S. collector car auction company. MARI delivers live experiences that bring people together, inspire audiences, and shape culture worldwide.

The Role

The Global IT Events Director is a senior operational leader responsible for designing, delivering, and continually improving the end‑to‑end IT operations for all MARI live events worldwide.

This is a hands‑on, globally distributed role that blends technical leadership, resource orchestration, and on‑site live event management. You will oversee all technical elements of event delivery — from planning, site inspections, network builds, POS deployments, Wi‑Fi design, broadcast / streaming requirements, accreditation systems, and endpoint provisioning to on‑site support teams, overnight builds, and rapid issue resolution during live operations.

MARI’s event calendar includes high intensity overlaps across regions (Americas, APAC, EMEA), multi‑month installations, and peak concurrent periods that require careful planning, vendor management, and operational precision.

You will own the global event IT operating model, manage internal and third‑party resources, maintain standards and runbooks, and ensure MARI delivers faultless technical execution at every event.

Key Responsibilities And Accountabilities

Global Event Technology Leadership

• Own the full lifecycle of IT delivery for all global MARI events — planning, design, setup, live operations, de‑rig, and post‑event reviews.
• Develop and enforce a global Event Technology Standards Framework (networks, Wi‑Fi, POS, ticketing, printers, devices, connectivity, resilience, documentation).
• Conduct technical site visits and lead pre‑production planning sessions with Production, Operations, Commercial, and external partners.

Event Calendar & Resource Orchestration

• Manage the global event calendar to prevent resourcing conflicts during overlapping periods (e.g., February Americas overlap, August–September APAC triple overlap, October–January EMEA peaks).
• Build detailed resource allocation plans, identifying when internal teams, temporary staff, or third‑party vendors are required.
• Coordinate scheduling around 4–8‑week planning windows, ensuring global workloads are sustainable and predictable.

On‑Site Technical Delivery

• Serve as senior technical lead at major events worldwide.
• Oversee all on‑site infrastructure as well as potential disaster recovery scenarios.
• Network and Wi‑Fi deployment.
• Cabling and infrastructure setup.
• POS and payment device rollout.
• Ticketing and access control systems.
• Artist / athlete / media areas.
• Press rooms, broadcast / streaming support.
• Back‑office IT and endpoint provisioning.
• Rapidly diagnose and resolve issues during live operations, ensuring business continuity.

Vendor & Third‑Party Management

• Build and manage a global network of boutique IT event support vendors to supplement internal teams.
• Negotiate contracts, scopes of work, SLAs, day rates, and surge capacity terms.
• Establish escalation pathways between internal teams, 3rd‑party engineers, and event production.

Event Runbooks, Documentation & Knowledge Management

• Create and maintain event‑specific IT runbooks, diagrams, staffing plans, network maps, and pre‑flight checklists.
• Develop repeatable, scalable templates for art fairs, tennis events, endurance sports, festivals, and long‑duration winter attractions.
• Ensure post‑event debriefs capture lessons learned and feed into continuous improvement.

Infrastructure & Technology Readiness

• Ensure all event technologies are fully tested, configured, and signed off before deployment.
• Manage event equipment inventory and warehousing— laptops, iPads, POS units, printers, switches, APs, cabling.
• Oversee temporary internet services, 4G / 5G fallback, and redundant connectivity.

People Leadership & Team Development

• Manage and mentor a distributed global Support and Events technology team.
• Coordinate with IT Operations & Support teams to ensure effective follow‑the‑sun support.
• Provide coaching, training, and development to build a world‑class event engineering capability.

Budget Ownership & Cost Management

• Own the event IT budget forecast, including staffing, equipment, vendors, and travel.
• Evaluate buy vs. rent vs. outsource decisions for event hardware.
• Tracks spend per event and identify opportunities for operational efficiency.

Unusual Challenges or Circumstances

• Extensive travel to global events (including nights, weekends, holidays).
• Multi‑week or multi‑month on‑site presence for intense installations (e.g., Winter Wonderland, Frieze Seoul).
• High‑pressure live environments requiring rapid response and exceptional problem‑solving.
• Simultaneous events across regions requiring strong remote coordination.
• Adaptability to outdoor environments, temporary structures, weather, and last‑minute operational changes.

Key Results Areas

• Zero critical outages across all major MARI events.
• On‑time build readiness and go‑live execution.
• Accurate staffing models for each region and peak period.
• Standardised event runbooks used globally.
• High vendor performance and reliable surge capacity.
• Strong relationships with Production, Commercial, and Operations teams.
• Positive feedback from event directors, partners, and VIP stakeholders.

Person Specification

Knowledge And Experience

• 10+ years in event technology, live events, or field‑based technical operations.
• Demonstrated leadership in delivering IT for large‑scale, multi‑day or multi‑week events.
• Hands‑on experience with event networks, temporary connectivity, Wi‑Fi design, ticketing systems, POS, and broadcast support.
• Experience managing global technical teams and 3rd‑party vendors.
• Background supporting art fairs, sports, experiential events, or major festivals highly desirable.
• Strong understanding of hardware logistics, IT security, BYOD environments, and temporary event infrastructures.

Skills And Abilities

• Expert at managing complex, multi‑site, multi‑team event operations.
• Exceptional troubleshooting in high‑pressure, live environments.
• Strong negotiation skills with vendors and contractors.
• Ability to produce clear diagrams, runbooks, and operational documentation.
• Excellent communication with both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Strong analytical capabilities for resource modelling and event forecasting.
• Able to lead teams across time zones within a follow‑the‑sun model.

Qualifications And Training

• Bachelor's degree in IT, Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• ITIL, PRINCE2, or project management certifications beneficial.
• Vendor‑specific networking certifications desirable (e.g., Cisco, Aruba, Meraki).
• Event‑specific technical qualifications (broadcast, networking, or AV) advantageous.

Aptitudes / Personal Profile

Drive and Energy

• Strong drive for success and relentless pursuit of achieving results.
• Is action oriented and pursues everything with energy and drive. Passionate about success and winning.
• Dedicated, committed, enthusiastic, positive, and motivated. Has courage and persistence in convictions no matter how difficult the task is.

Adaptability

• Is open, flexible, and adaptable to changes in work demands, people, and situations.
• Ability to view overall business priorities and redefine own and team’s priorities in line with expectations and objectives.
• Ability to plan and communicate the steps needed to deliver a defined outcome.
• Ability to ensure the most urgent and important needs of the business are achieved.
• Time management for the event team and prioritising escalations.

Communication

• Persuasive and influential. Understands the attitudes, interests, needs, and perspectives of others and can convince others and gain agreement.
• Listens intently and ensures other party feels they have been heard and understood.
• Maintains confidentiality, remains open to others’ ideas, and exhibits willingness to try new things.

Working Conditions

• The work location is Chiswick Park, London.
• This is a permanent contract.
• Working hours are 9‑5 pm with occasional work outside of working hours where necessary for the business.