Congress & Meeting Management Manager

WillHire; Ridgefield (CT); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

WillHire in the United States is seeking a CMM Manager to plan and execute internal meetings, incentives, HCP events, congresses, and other high-profile programs within the Human Pharma business. You will manage meetings from intake to closeout and partner with CMM Leads on strategic initiatives.

As a central coordinator, you will work with meeting owners, agencies, and suppliers to deliver compliant, cost-effective experiences, support team operations, and contribute to ongoing process

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with approximately three or more years; or master’s degree with approximately two or more years.
• Experience in meeting and event management, project or program management, meeting operations, hospitality, procurement, or related fields.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple programs, priorities, budgets, timelines, vendors, and stakeholders in a deadline-driven environment.
• Strong project management, organization, communication, problem-solving, financial tracking, and relationship-management skills.

Responsibilities

• Manage assigned meetings from intake through reconciliation and closeout in accordance with CMM standards, playbooks, policies, and procedures.
• Partner with meeting owners to define objectives, scope, audience needs, timelines, budgets, and measures of success.
• Coordinate end-to-end planning with the meeting agency and suppliers, including venue and space requirements, registration, food and beverage, production, attendee communications, transportation, and special events.
• Develop and maintain project plans, milestone schedules, decision logs, meeting materials, status updates, and post-event summaries.
• Develop and maintain meeting budgets, track expenses and forecasts, support invoice reconciliation, and provide accurate updates to meeting owners and Finance.

Skills

Meeting planning

Project management

Budget management

Vendor management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree with 3+ years

Master’s degree with 2+ years

Tools

Cvent

SpotMe

Power BI

Invoice Track

We Buy

Job description

The CMM Manager supports the planning and execution of internal meetings, incentives, HCP events, congress, and other high-profile events for the Human Pharma business. The role manages assigned meetings from intake through closeout, provides project management support for select programs, and partners with CMM Leads on complex or strategic initiatives.

Serving as a central point of coordination among meeting owners, internal functions, meeting agencies, and suppliers, the CMM Manager helps deliver compliant, cost-effective, and engaging meeting experiences. The CMM Manager will support HCP events and team operations to help drive process improvements and operational procedures. This position is designed for an experienced meeting or project management professional who can manage programs while continuing to build the capabilities required for broader CMM leadership responsibilities.

Key Responsibilities

Meeting Planning & Execution

• Manage assigned meetings from intake through reconciliation and closeout in accordance with CMM standards, playbooks, policies, and procedures.
• Partner with meeting owners to define objectives, scope, audience needs, timelines, budgets, and measures of success.
• Coordinate end-to-end planning with the meeting agency and suppliers, including venue and space requirements, registration, food and beverage, production, attendee communications, transportation, and special events.
• Support CMM Leads with the planning and project management of large-scale, launch, or other complex meetings.
• Develop and maintain project plans, milestone schedules, decision logs, meeting materials, status updates, and post-event summaries.

Project & Stakeholder Management

• Coordinate schedules, deliverables, and cross-functional dependencies to keep work on track and ensure clear ownership and accountability.
• Collaborate with CMM Leads, meeting owners, functional workstreams, and external agencies to support timely decisions and consistent execution.
• Anticipate risks, develop mitigation plans, resolve issues within scope, and elevate decisions or gaps appropriately.
• Facilitate project meetings and communicate progress, risks, decisions, and next steps to relevant stakeholders.

Budget, Vendor & Operational Support

• Develop and maintain meeting budgets, track expenses and forecasts, support invoice reconciliation, and provide accurate updates to meeting owners and Finance.
• Coordinate supplier onboarding, statements of work, contracts, purchase orders, spend approvals, and invoice processing.
• Manage meeting agency roles and deliverables for assigned programs, monitor performance against expectations, and reinforce vendor accountability.
• Support operational reporting, meeting calendars, documentation, records retention, dashboards, and audit readiness.
• Ensure compliance with company policies, financial controls, risk requirements, and applicable meetings and HCP-related processes.

Process Improvement & Capability Building

• Identify and implement practical process improvements that increase efficiency, clarity, consistency, and service quality across meeting operations.
• Partner with CMM and HCP teams to strengthen operational procedures, ways of working, and vendor accountability.
• Capture lessons learned, share best practices, and contribute to the continued development of CMM tools, templates, and standards.
• Build expertise across the CMM operating model and progressively take on meetings of greater scale, visibility, and complexity.
• Experience in meeting and event management, project or program management, meeting operations, hospitality, procurement, or related fields.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple programs, priorities, budgets, timelines, vendors, and stakeholders in a deadline-driven environment.
• Strong project management, organization, communication, problem-solving, financial tracking, and relationship-management skills.
• Ability to work independently, collaborate across functions, and appropriately escalat…
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and experience working with meeting, project management, financial, registration, or reporting systems.

Preferred

• Experience in pharmaceuticals, healthcare, life sciences, or another regulated industry.
• Experience supporting large-scale, launch, sales, leadership, training, or incentive meetings.
• Experience with venue sourcing, contracts, meeting technology, dashboards, invoice management, or process improvement.
• Familiarity with tools such as Cvent, SpotMe, Power BI, Invoice Track, We Buy, or comparable platforms.

Success in This Role

• Assigned meetings are delivered on time, within approved budgets, and in alignment with objectives, policies, and CMM standards.
• Program plans, financial data, documentation, and reporting are accurate, current, and audit-ready.
• Stakeholders and vendors understand responsibilities, meet commitments, and receive clear, timely communication.
• Risks are identified early, issues are addressed appropriately, and lessons learned translate into stronger ways of working.
• The Program Manager demonstrates increasing independence and readiness to support meetings of greater complexity and strategic importance.

Education/experience equivalent: bachelor’s degree with approximately three or more years; or master’s degree with approximately two or more years.