Deputy Director - Tourism & Events

City of Scottsdale; Scottsdale (AZ); On-site; USD 133,000 - 163,000; Full time

Job summary

The City of Scottsdale seeks a Deputy Director of Tourism & Events to lead daily operations, manage contracts, and ensure alignment with strategic priorities. You will oversee key partners like Experience Scottsdale and Scottsdale Arts, driving performance and resolving issues proactively.

Preference given to candidates with municipal leadership experience and a track record in tourism, events, marketing, or economic development.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, public administration, urban planning, economic development or related field.
• Seven years of progressively responsible managerial experience in municipal government or similar public-sector organization.
• Any equivalent combination of education and/or job-related experience that meets the minimum qualifications.
• Preferred: experience in tourism, destination management, special events, economic development, marketing, cultural affairs or related field.
• Preferred: leadership roles in professional associations.

Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day management of the department and oversight of major tourism and cultural contracts.
• Ensure execution, accountability, and alignment with Scottsdale’s strategic priorities.
• Oversee relationships with contracted partners (Experience Scottsdale, Scottsdale Arts) and monitor performance.
• Translate policy and agreements into day-to-day operations and manage competing priorities.

Skills

Leadership

Contract management

Budgeting

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree

7+ years managerial experience

Equivalent education/experience

Job description

The Deputy Director of Tourism & Events serves as a key operational leader, providing day-to-day management of the department and oversight of the City’s major tourism and cultural contracts. Reporting directly to the Senior Director, this role is responsible for ensuring consistent execution, performance accountability, and alignment with the City’s strategic priorities. This position is central to the effective administration of Scottsdale’s tourism and events portfolio. The Deputy Director oversees the City’s relationships with its contracted partners, including Experience Scottsdale and Scottsdale Arts, ensuring contractual obligations are met, performance is monitored, and issues are identified and addressed proactively.

While the Senior Director serves as the City’s primary strategic and external-facing leader, the Deputy Director ensures that departmental operations, contract administration, and team performance are executed with consistency, discipline, and attention to detail. This role requires a highly organized and thoughtful professional who can translate policy and agreements into day-to-day operations, manage competing priorities, and support a high-performing, accountable team environment.

Anticipated starting salary for this position may be up to mid-point depending on candidate’s experience and internal equity. The full salary range is listed above and mid-point for this position is $147,950.40 annually.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Urban Planning, Economic Development or related field from an accredited educational institution.
• Seven years of progressively responsible managerial experience in municipal government or a comparably complex public-sector organization, including responsibility for supervising professional staff, administering programs and contracts, and coordinating work across organizational functions.
• Any equivalent combination of education and/or job-related experience that meets the minimum qualifications may be substituted.
• Preferred: experience in tourism, destination management, special events, economic development, marketing, cultural affairs or closely related field.
• Preferred: Participation in relevant professional associations, including leadership roles.

Licensing, Certifications and Other Requirements

• Must possess, at time of application, and maintain a valid, unrestricted driver’s license with no major citations within the past 36 months prior to the start date. The Arizona Motor Vehicle Department requires that out-of-state driver’s licenses must be surrendered within 10 days of relocating to the State of Arizona. Note: Graduated Driver’s Licenses are considered restricted.
• Every person employed by the City of Scottsdale shall reside in the State of Arizona during active employment by the city, regardless of whether the employee is approved for remote work.

Selection Process

The application and supplemental questions are an integral part of the selection process and must be completed in full in order for you to be considered as a candidate. Please complete each section and answer all questions as thoroughly as possible. DO NOT state “See Resume” in lieu of answering. Unanswered questions, incomplete responses, omissions, or partial information may result in disqualification from the selection process.

Applicants whose education, training and experience most closely meet the needs of the position may be invited to participate in a selection process that may include a panel interview. Successful candidates will receive a post-offer, pre-employment background screening that may include:

• Fingerprinting search of the national FBI Database
• Criminal Background screening

The City of Scottsdale reserves the right to change this process at any time, potentially without advance notice.

PLEASE NOTE: Years of experience are based on a work schedule of 2,080 hours per year for full-time positions and 1,040 hours per year for part-time positions, and while work experience may substitute for education on a year-for-year basis, depending upon the job classification, education may not be substituted for work experience.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY: It is the policy of the city to provide employment opportunities to all persons based solely on ability, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. When advised, reasonable accommodations will be made in order for an "otherwise qualified applicant" with a disability to participate in any phase of the recruitment process. Please contact Human Resources to request an accommodation. Persons with a disability may request a reasonable accommodation by contacting HR at [phone]. Requests should be made 24 hours in advance or as early as possible to allow time to arrange the accommodation. For TTY users, the Arizona Relay Service (1-800-367-8939) may contact HR at [phone].

This position description does not constitute an employment agreement between the employer and employee and is subject to change by the employer as the needs of the employer and requirements of the position change.