Head of Events

Wwshemi; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognition is seeking a Head of Events (Global) to build and lead the internal events function across offices and time zones, from company-wide offsites and all hands to celebrations that reinforce culture. You’ll sit in Employee Experience, own the event strategy and onsite execution, and create playbooks, budgets, and a team of producers as Cognition scales while maintaining the magic.

This is a hands-on builder role requiring strategic vision, partner management with People, Workplace,

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in events, including 3+ years leading internal or corporate events at a global, high-growth tech company or a premium experiential agency

Responsibilities

• Define and own Cognition's global events strategy and annual calendar, including company offsites, all-hands, holiday and milestone celebrations, and all office(s) programming
• Lead flagship company events end to end, from venue sourcing, travel, and programming to production, run-of-show, and onsite execution
• Deliver a consistent, high-quality event experience across every Cognition office and region while adapting to local culture and needs
• Build self-serve toolkits, budgets, and guidelines that let managers run great team offsites and socials
• Own the global events budget, vendor negotiations, and contracts, tracking spend against plan
• Partner with People, Workplace, Finance, Legal, Security, and leadership on programming, content, and overall decision-making
• Craft communications before and after each event, including Know Before You Go guides and attendee follow-ups
• Measure attendance, engagement, and employee feedback to continually refine and improve every program
• Lead a team of producers and coordinators as the function grows
• Be present at major events in person to lead execution directly

Job description

Cognition On-site - San Francisco, California, United States

This listing's locations On-site - San Francisco, California, United States

Employment Full-time

Workplace On site

Department: General & Administrative

We are an applied AI lab building end-to-end software agents.

We're the makers of Devin, the first AI software engineer.

Our team is extremely talent-dense. Among our founding team, we have world-class competitive programmers, former founders, and leaders from companies at the cutting edge of AI including Scale AI, Palantir, Cursor, Waymo, Tesla, Lunchclub, Modal, Google DeepMind, and Nuro.

Building Devin is just the first step-our hardest challenges still lie ahead. If you’re excited to solve some of the world’s biggest problems and build AI that can reason on real-world tasks, apply to join us.

About the Role

As Head of Events (Global) at Cognition, you will build and lead the internal events function that brings our team together across every office and time zone, from company-wide offsites and all hands to launch celebrations and team gatherings. Your events will strengthen our culture, connect a fast-growing global team, and make every person at Cognition feel part of one company.

You will sit within Employee Experience and own Cognition's event experience end to end, from strategy and concept through onsite execution, ensuring every event reflects the quality bar we hold for everything we build.

This is a builder role. You'll set the vision, run flawless events with your own two hands, and create the playbooks, partners, and team that let us scale without losing the magic.

What you’ll do

• Define and own Cognition's global events strategy and annual calendar, including company offsites, all-hands, holiday and milestone celebrations, and all office(s)l programming
• Lead flagship company events end to end, from venue sourcing, travel, and programming to production, run-of-show, and onsite execution
• Deliver a consistent, high-quality event experience across every Cognition office and region while adapting to local culture and needs
• Build self-serve toolkits, budgets, and guidelines that let managers run great team offsites and socials
• Own the global events budget, vendor negotiations, and contracts, tracking spend against plan
• Partner with People, Workplace, Finance, Legal, Security, and leadership on programming, content, and overall decision-making
• Craft communications before and after each event, including "Know Before You Go" guides and attendee follow-ups
• Measure attendance, engagement, and employee feedback to continually refine and improve every program
• Lead a team of producers and coordinators as the function grows
• Be present at major events in person to lead execution directly

What you bring:

• Comfort working 5 days a week in the office
• 8+ years of experience in events, including 3+ years leading internal or corporate events at a global, high-growth tech company or a premium experiential agency
• Proven ability to run end-to-end events including strategy, planning, logistics, vendor management, run-of-show creation, and onsite execution under pressure
• Experience producing events ranging from 10 to 1,000+ attendees, including multi-day international offsites
• Track record owning large budgets and managing vendors across multiple regionsExperience partnering with executives and senior leadership on company-wide moments
• Serious organizational rigor, sharp attention to details, and a high personal bar for quality and taste
• Willingness to travel up to 40%, including internationally

You might be a great fit if you…

• Have impeccable taste and can spot the difference between a good event and one people talk about for years
• Have a sharp eye for the details that make people feel something: the venue, the lighting, the playlist, the welcome note
• Have built an events function from scratch at a high-growth startup
• Love creating moments that make the whole company feel like one team
• Enjoy creating moments that make a company feel like one team
• Thrive when traveling, hosting, problem-solving, and adapting in real time
• Are highly organized and operationally minded while still creative
• Bring a strong network of venues, DMCs, and production partners across North America, Europe, and APAC
• Think like an owner of the employee experience and culture, not just an executor of logistics

Our Commitment

Equal Opportunity. Cognition is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of any protected characteristic under applicable law. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities throughout the hiring process - please let us know if you need any. Cognition also considers applicants with criminal histories consistent with the SF Fair Chance Ordinance and similar local laws.