Conference Center Operations Manager

Socket.dev; Tampa (FL); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

PenBay Technology Group seeks an experienced Conference Center Operations Manager / Team Lead to support the Davis Conference Center at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. You will coordinate scheduling, preparation, readiness, and daily operations of conference spaces and related facilities.

The role requires leading a small multidisciplinary contractor team, ensuring event-ready environments, and collaborating with government officers to translate requirements into actionable plans.ás

Qualifications

• Must be a U.S. Citizen with the ability to obtain a DoD Secret security clearance.
• Minimum of three years of progressively responsible management experience, preferably supporting DoD, military installation, federal government, conference center, hospitality, or event operations.
• Experience supervising a multidisciplinary team of AV, IT, facilities, custodial, customer service, or administrative personnel.
• Strong customer-service mindset with the ability to anticipate customer needs and maintain professional relationships.

Responsibilities

• Serve as on-site Team Lead and Conference Center Operations Manager for the Davis Conference Center contract team.
• Supervise contractor personnel, assign and monitor daily work, and ensure contract requirements are met.
• Coordinate daily use, scheduling, preparation, and readiness of conference rooms and supporting resources.
• Gather requirements from government Project Officers and translate them into executable facility-support plans.
• Ensure spaces are fully prepared before customer arrival and maintained as event-ready environments.
• Coordinate with audiovisual, IT, security, and other technical staff to meet customer needs.
• Maintain long-range conference schedules and resolve room and resource conflicts in advance.

Skills

Team leadership

Project coordination

Customer service

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

CMP/CEM certification (preferred)

Tools

EventPro

Microsoft Office

Job description

Description

PenBay Technology Group is seeking a Conference Center Operations Manager / Team Lead to support the Davis Conference Center (DCC) at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. This position serves as PenBay's on‑site contractor team lead and is responsible for coordinating the scheduling, preparation, readiness, and daily operation of the conference center's meeting spaces, distinguished visitor areas, offices, audiovisual capabilities, information technology resources, and related facility services.

This is not a traditional event-production position. The military or federal organization hosting an event retains responsibility for its program, agenda, speakers, participants, presentations, and overall event objectives. The DCC team supports those organizations by ensuring the facility, rooms, technology, access, and supporting resources are properly scheduled, configured, tested, and ready for use.

The Conference Center Operations Manager works directly with government Project Officers and organizational points of contact to understand their requirements and translate them into an executable facility-support plan. This includes determining appropriate meeting spaces and room configurations; scheduling conference rooms and Distinguished Visitor spaces; identifying audiovisual, information technology, communications, security, and access‑control requirements; coordinating support across the DCC contract team; and ensuring spaces are fully prepared before the customer arrives.

The position also serves as the on‑site leader for a small multidisciplinary contractor team supporting conference center operations. The successful candidate must be highly organized, customer‑focused, comfortable managing multiple competing facility requirements, and capable of enforcing DCC policies and operational limitations while maintaining a professional customer experience.

The DCC supports senior military leaders, distinguished visitors, federal agencies, and other Department of Defense organizations. Accordingly, this position requires professionalism, discretion, sound judgment, attention to detail, and the ability to remain composed in a high‑visibility military environment.

Work Environment

This position is performed on‑site at the Davis Conference Center at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.

The DCC is a large, technology‑enabled military conference facility containing multiple meeting rooms, flexible conference spaces, Distinguished Visitor suites and workspaces, audiovisual control rooms, secure communications capabilities, and classified‑capable meeting environments.

The position requires daily interaction with government personnel, Project Officers, contractor staff, military organizations, distinguished visitors, and facility customers. The primary focus is maintaining an organized, properly scheduled, secure, and event‑ready conference center environment capable of supporting multiple concurrent and future requirements.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Serve as the on‑site Team Lead and Conference Center Operations Manager for the Davis Conference Center contract team.


• Supervise contractor personnel, assign and monitor daily work, establish workload priorities, and ensure contract requirements are completed.


• Coordinate the daily use, scheduling, preparation, and readiness of DCC conference rooms, meeting spaces, Distinguished Visitor areas, and supporting facility resources.


• Work directly with government Project Officers and organizational points of contact to gather requirements for proposed conferences, meetings, training sessions, and other DCC activities.


• Translate customer requirements into appropriate room reservations, room configurations, technology requirements, access requirements, and facility‑support actions.


• Maintain the long‑range DCC conference schedule and ensure room and resource conflicts are identified and addressed before they affect customers.


• Use EventPro or similar conference‑center management software to schedule meeting spaces, document requirements, track room utilization, and maintain event‑support records.


• Coordinate meeting‑room configurations including tables, seating, stages, podiums, presentation areas, and other facility arrangements.


• Coordinate audiovisual, information technology, communications, secure video teleconferencing, and other technical support requirements with assigned DCC technicians.


• Ensure conference rooms and supporting spaces are fully event ready, including required room configuration, functioning technology, customer materials, lighting, temperature, and other identified requirements.


• Coordinate Distinguished Visitor suites, conference rooms, workspaces, technology, communications, and access requirements based upon customer needs.


• Coordinate facility access and physical‑security requirements with appropriate government personnel, security representatives, and DCC staff.


• Lead customer planning and facility‑coordination meetings focused on identifying what the DCC must provide to support the customer's event.


• Clearly communicate DCC capabilities, limitations, policies, scheduling requirements, and available technology to customers during the planning process.


• Help customers identify solutions that meet their requirements while remaining within DCC policies, available resources, security requirements, and contract scope.


• Coordinate with audiovisual, information technology, security, custodial, catering, transportation, protocol, and other supporting organizations when their services affect use of the facility.


• Maintain room setup sheets, facility schedules, Project Officer agreements, checklists, Distinguished Visitor requirements, reports, and other conference‑center documentation.


• Ensure changes to customer requirements are communicated to affected DCC personnel and incorporated into facility and technical preparations.


• Monitor scheduled activities while they are occurring and coordinate rapid response to facility, technology, access, or customer‑support issues.


• Supervise post‑event room reset, cleanup coordination, equipment accountability, and preparation of spaces for subsequent customers.


• Maintain awareness of future facility requirements and balance preparation activities across multiple upcoming events.


• Support daily opening and closing requirements for the conference center and ensure government facilities, equipment, and materials are appropriately secured.


• Assist with reception, scheduling‑office, administrative, records‑management, and facility‑support requirements as necessary.


• Maintain professional working relationships with military, federal, and contractor personnel while providing responsive customer service.


• Communicate performance issues, operational risks, staffing concerns, scheduling conflicts, and recommended solutions to PenBay and appropriate government representatives.


• Ensure contractor personnel comply with applicable DCC facility, safety, security, access‑control, and operating procedures.


• Use Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for scheduling, correspondence, documentation, reports, coordination, and briefings.

Understanding the Role

The Conference Center Operations Manager is responsible for the environment in which the event takes place—not for producing the customer's event itself.

The customer's Project Officer or organizational point of contact determines the event's purpose, agenda, speakers, attendees, presentations, and mission objectives. The DCC Operations Manager works with that individual to determine:

• Where the event will be accommodated within the facility.


• When the required rooms and spaces will be reserved.


• How each room must be configured.


• What A/V, IT, communications, and presentation technology is required.


• What Distinguished Visitor spaces or support are required.


• What security, classification, and access considerations affect use of the facility.


• What DCC personnel and resources must be coordinated to make the space ready.


• Whether the requested support is consistent with DCC capabilities, policies, and contract requirements.

Success in this position means that when the Project Officer and attendees arrive, the appropriate space is reserved, configured, secure, technically functional, professionally presented, and ready for the organization to conduct its event.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. Citizen.


• Must possess or be able to obtain a DoD Secret security clearance.


• Must be able to meet installation access and background screening requirements.


• Minimum of three years of progressively responsible management experience, preferably supporting DoD, military installation, federal government, conference center, hospitality, or event operations.


• Demonstrated experience planning, coordinating, and executing events, meetings, conferences, or projects involving senior leaders, executives, distinguished visitors, or government customers.


• Demonstrated ability to supervise and coordinate a multidisciplinary team, preferably including audiovisual, information technology, facilities, custodial, customer service, or administrative personnel.


• Strong customer‑service mindset with the ability to anticipate customer needs, resolve concerns, and maintain professional relationships.


• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to prepare correspondence, reports, briefings, and event documentation.


• Strong organizational, analytical, and planning skills with the ability to manage multiple events, projects, and deadlines simultaneously.


• Ability to remain calm and professional under pressure while resolving operational, technical, or logistical challenges.


• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office, including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.


• Experience with EventPro or similar event scheduling/event management software is preferred.


• Familiarity with military protocol, customs, courtesies, organizational structure, distinguished visitor support, and secure facility operations is strongly preferred.


• Familiarity with force protection, access control, facility management, and secure event coordination is preferred.

Education and Training

• Bachelor’s degree or three plus years of equivalent relevant experience in hospitality management, Event Management, Business Administration, Communications, or a related field is preferred.


• Professional certification in event or conference management, such as CMP, CEM, or equivalent, is preferred.


• Training or certification in DoD, federal, or military protocol procedures is highly desirable.


• Must complete all required installation access, safety, security, and job‑specific training prior to or upon assuming duties.


• Must complete required initial, refresher, or continuing training in applicable systems, customer service procedures, event operations, security procedures, and local conference center requirements.


• Must maintain currency in assigned areas through contractor‑provided and government‑directed training programs.