Director of Events and Experiences

Apply; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Perplexity is seeking a Director of Events to own our events worldwide: hosted, stages we speak on, and sponsorships. You will set the strategy, run production, manage the budget, and build the team.

Based in San Francisco or New York, you will lead end-to-end event programs, partner with Brand and Sales, and ensure every event reflects the product. Expect travel and hands-on leadership to scale our events function.

Qualifications

• 12+ years producing events, including large hosted events, sponsorships, and field programs.
• Has built or led an events team.
• Has owned large budgets, agency relationships, and vendor contracts.
• Has negotiated sponsorships and knows a bad deal when they see one.
• Has run an executive speaking program: selecting stages, preparing speakers, managing the day.
• Knows production: run of show, staging, AV, registration, staffing, security, permits.
• Drives measurement. Has built event attribution and tracked brand sentiment, and reports what each event returned.
• Can partner with Sales, Product, Comms, Brand, Finance, Legal, and executives.
• Power user of AI tools. Most of your work already runs through them, and you can show us how.
• Based in San Francisco or New York. Willing to travel internationally.

Responsibilities

• Own events. Hosted, speaking, sponsored. Strategy, budget, production, results.
• Set the calendar. Decide which events we run, which we speak at, and which we skip.
• Produce hosted events. Launches, dinners, summits, roadshows. Concept, programming, venue, vendors, run of show.
• Run the speaking program. Pick the stages. Prepare the speakers.
• Manage sponsorships. Negotiate terms, design our footprint, and account for the spend.
• Run field events with Sales. Get the right customers in the room. Make sure someone follows up.
• Be Perplexity. Our events should look and feel like our product. Work with Brand and Creative on every one.
• Lead the team. Equal parts IC and manager.
• Build the system. Playbooks, event tiers, intake, vendors, agencies, budgets.
• Measure. Attendance, coverage, pipeline, signups. Know which events worked and stop doing the ones that didn't.
• Be on site. For the events that matter, you are in the room.

Skills

Event production

Budget management

Vendor management

Sponsorship negotiation

Executive speaking program leadership

AI tools usage

Strategic planning

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Travel flexibility

Job description

Perplexity is seeking a Director of Events to own our events worldwide: the ones we host, the stages we speak on, and the ones we sponsor. You will set the strategy, run production, manage the budget, and build the team. If you have produced a flagship and a dinner in the same week, know what a good sponsorship deal looks like, and want to build an events function from the ground up, this role is for you.

Responsibilities

• Own events. Hosted, speaking, sponsored. Strategy, budget, production, results.

• Set the calendar. Decide which events we run, which we speak at, and which we skip.

• Produce hosted events. Launches, dinners, summits, roadshows. Concept, programming, venue, vendors, run of show.

• Run the speaking program. Pick the stages. Prepare the speakers.

• Manage sponsorships. Negotiate terms, design our footprint, and account for the spend.

• Run field events with Sales. Get the right customers in the room. Make sure someone follows up.

• Be Perplexity. Our events should look and feel like our product. Work with Brand and Creative on every one.

• Lead the team. Equal parts IC and manager.

• Build the system. Playbooks, event tiers, intake, vendors, agencies, budgets.

• Measure. Attendance, coverage, pipeline, signups. Know which events worked and stop doing the ones that didn't.

• Be on site. For the events that matter, you are in the room.

Qualifications

• 12+ years producing events, including large hosted events, sponsorships, and field programs, ideally in-house at a technology company.

• Has built or led an events team.

• Has owned large budgets, agency relationships, and vendor contracts.

• Has negotiated sponsorships and knows a bad deal when they see one.

• Has run an executive speaking program: selecting stages, preparing speakers, managing the day.

• Knows production: run of show, staging, AV, registration, staffing, security, permits.

• Drives measurement. Has built event attribution and tracked brand sentiment, and reports what each event returned.

• Can partner with Sales, Product, Comms, Brand, Finance, Legal, and executives.

• Power user of AI tools. Most of your work already runs through them, and you can show us how.

• Based in San Francisco or New York. Willing to travel internationally.