Confluent Event Leader

IBM; Raleigh (NC); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM seeks a Client Experience Marketing Event Strategist to drive growth by delivering exceptional attendee experiences and aligning events with strategic priorities. You will partner across Marketing, Sales, Product, Ecosystem, and Communications to implement a cohesive event portfolio that builds pipeline and strengthens brand.

With a Master’s degree and strong global experience, you will lead cross-geography teams, optimize budgets, and leverage data-driven insights to continually raise

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, business administration, or related field.
• Significant experience in event marketing and integrated marketing.
• Proven success leading global event strategies for complex technology organizations.
• Experience working with executive stakeholders across multiple functions and geographies.
• Strong understanding of audience engagement, demand generation, pipeline development.
• Ability to manage large-scale event portfolios, budgets, agencies, and partnerships.
• Strong analytical, communication, leadership, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Experience with enterprise software, cloud, AI, data, or platform technologies.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the global event strategy for the Confluent business within IBM.
• Develop and manage an annual strategic portfolio.
• Partner with senior stakeholders to establish event priorities, success measures, and activation plans.
• Design audience-first event experiences that engage clients, prospects, developers, partners, and execs.
• Ensure event programs contribute to measurable outcomes including pipeline and brand awareness.
• Lead portfolio planning, governance, budget strategy, and vendor relationships.
• Use data and market insights to optimize investments and program effectiveness.
• Drive innovation and post-event performance through analytics and improvements.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Executive engagement

Analytical skills

Communication

Leadership

Event marketing

Go-to-market

Portfolio management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Marketing/Business

Master's Degree

Tools

RainFocus

Captello

Adobe Workfront

Adobe Marketo

Job description

Introduction

At IBM Corporate Headquarters (CHQ) and Other Functions, diverse teams such as marketing, finance, legal, operations, HR, and more work together to keep IBM moving forward. These functions play a vital role in solving complex challenges, supporting our clients’ success, and creating collaborative environments for IBMers worldwide. Working in CHQ and Other Functions means contributing your expertise to a global network that values teamwork, problem-solving, and innovation. You’ll have opportunities to grow your career while helping IBM operate with excellence and scale its impact across industries. With a culture that emphasizes learning, inclusivity, and career development, IBM offers the platform to apply your skills where they matter most. At the heart of our business.

Introduction

At IBM Corporate Headquarters (CHQ) and Other Functions, diverse teams such as marketing, finance, legal, operations, HR, and more work together to keep IBM moving forward. These functions play a vital role in solving complex challenges, supporting our clients’ success, and creating collaborative environments for IBMers worldwide. Working in CHQ and Other Functions means contributing your expertise to a global network that values teamwork, problem-solving, and innovation. You’ll have opportunities to grow your career while helping IBM operate with excellence and scale its impact across industries. With a culture that emphasizes learning, inclusivity, and career development, IBM offers the platform to apply your skills where they matter most. At the heart of our business.

Your Role And Responsibilities

As a Client Experience Marketing Event Strategist, you will drive IBM growth by delivering exceptional attendee experiences through strategic thinking and flawless operational management. You will partner across various teams to design and deliver events that connect audiences to IBM's innovation, turning engagement into measurable business outcomes. The Confluent Event Strategist is responsible for defining and leading the global event strategy for the Confluent business within IBM. This role develops and executes an integrated event portfolio that supports business growth, audience engagement, pipeline creation, customer advocacy, and brand awareness across priority markets, industries, and audiences. This individual serves as a strategic advisor to senior leaders and partners across Marketing, Sales, Product, Ecosystem, and Communications to align event investments with business priorities and measurable outcomes. The Confluent Event Strategist establishes long-term event direction, drives innovation across the event ecosystem, and ensures experiences deliver meaningful value to clients, partners, and the business.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and lead the global event strategy for the Confluent business, aligning event investments to business objectives, product priorities, and go-to-market initiatives.
• Develop and manage an annual strategic portfolio.
• Partner with senior stakeholders across Marketing, Sales, Product, and Ecosystem teams to establish event priorities, target audiences, success measures, and activation plans.
• Design audience-first event experiences that engage priority clients, prospects, developers, partners, and executive decision-makers.
• Ensure event programs contribute to measurable business outcomes, including audience engagement, pipeline generation, customer expansion, and brand awareness.
• Lead portfolio planning, governance, budget strategy, agency relationships, and vendor partnerships.
• Use data, performance insights, and market trends to optimize event investments and continuously improve program effectiveness.
• Drive innovation through technology, automation, scalable event frameworks, and modern audience engagement strategies.
• Provide thought leadership and guidance to event teams and cross-functional stakeholders across geographies and business units.
• Ensure compliance with IBM policies, financial controls, data privacy requirements, and event governance standards.
• Drive Strategy and Outcomes: Partner with demand generation, field marketing, and partner acceleration teams to define event objectives, target audiences, and success metrics that align to business goals, ultimately driving strategy and outcomes.
• Design Impactful Client Journeys: Develop integrated event experiences, including branding, content, and engagement strategies, focused on capturing and converting client interest into pipeline and revenue.
• Execute with Excellence: Manage all end-to-end event processes and tools, ensuring alignment with IBM's standards for audit, legal, and financial compliance, while maintaining a relentless focus on post-event performance.
• Optimize Performance: Leverage a robust Response Lead Management (RLM) plan to ensure consistent pre- and post-event follow-up across field and sales teams, analyzing event results to extract performance insights.
• Innovate and Lead: Provide thought leadership in event innovation, continuously improving processes, tools, and client engagement models to elevate IBM's event ecosystem.

Preferred Education

Master's Degree

Required Technical And Professional Expertise

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, Communications, Business Administration, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• Significant experience in event marketing, experiential marketing, integrated marketing, or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated success developing and leading global event strategies for complex technology organizations.
• Experience working with executive stakeholders and influencing decisions across multiple functions and geographies.
• Strong understanding of audience engagement, demand generation, pipeline development, and customer experience strategy.
• Proven ability to manage large-scale event portfolios, budgets, agencies, and strategic partnerships.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate performance data into business recommendations.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, leadership, and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred Technical And Professional Experience

• Experience in enterprise software, cloud, AI, data, or platform technologies.
• Experience supporting acquisition, business transformation, or portfolio integration initiatives.
• Experience with event and marketing technology platforms such as RainFocus, Captello, Adobe Workfront, Adobe Marketo, or similar solutions