Lead, Audience Development

Clarion Events Inc. - North America; United States; Remote; USD 66,000 - 72,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base salary

100% remote or hybrid if near CT/OK

Generous PTO & holidays

Comprehensive benefits package

Job summary

Clarion Events North America is seeking an Audience Development Lead to own strategy, growth, engagement, activation, and retention of core attendee audiences across key events.

The role builds and activates high-value audiences, drives participation from target companies, strengthens attendee relationships, and delivers programs connecting attendees with exhibitors to grow event value. Data-informed leadership guides execution and measurable audience growth.

Qualifications

• Experience in audience development, customer growth, recruiting, or relationship-driven roles.
• Strong ability to build and maintain relationships with external stakeholders.
• Data-informed thinker, comfortable using insights to guide decisions.
• Confident communicator across phone, email, and in-person environments.
• Experience in events, conferences, or community-building environments preferred.
• Comfortable working cross-functionally and influencing without direct authority.
• Experience with CRM and planning tools is a plus.
• Ability to travel to assigned events and competitive events throughout the year.

Responsibilities

• Own defined audience segments, including target companies and key attendee groups or associations.
• Build and evolve high-quality audience strategies focused on growth and deeper participation within target organizations.
• Develop and maintain audience pipelines across new, existing, and lapsed attendees, ensuring ongoing expansion of the audience base.
• Drive participation from target audiences by strengthening relationships and increasing attendee volume from each organization.
• Lead the development and execution of connections programs that drive attendee engagement and exhibitor value.
• Design and evolve audience offers and experiences that increase attendance and participation.
• Ensure target audiences are engaged before, during, and after the event.

Skills

Audience development

Relationship building

Data-informed

Communication

Events / conferences

Cross-functional

CRM

Planning tools

Tools

CRM

Planning tools

Job description

Clarion Events North America is seeking an Audience Development Lead to support key event portfolio(s) by owning the strategy, growth, engagement, activation, and retention of core attendee audiences.

This role is responsible for building and activating high-value audiences, with a focus on increasing participation from target companies, strengthening relationships with key attendees, and delivering programs that connect attendees with exhibitors in meaningful ways to support overall event growth, retention and value.

Audience Development Leads play a critical role in shaping event success by combining market insight, audience strategy, and hands-on program delivery to drive both attendance and customer value. This role is accountable for delivering measurable audience growth and customer value across supported events.

This role is a central function led by the Group Vice President of Marketing Strategy, with dotted lines to the Vice President(s) overseeing the assigned events. The centralized team fosters camaraderie among like-minded individuals dedicated to driving audience growth and engagement. The dotted line reporting structure will enable a concentrated focus on supported events, ensuring alignment with event goals, focal areas and industry participation.

Main Responsibilities Include:

Audience Development

• Own defined audience segments, including target companies and key attendee groups or associations
• Build and evolve high-quality audience strategies focused on both growth and deeper participation within target organizations
• Develop and maintain audience pipelines across new, existing, and lapsed attendees, ensuring ongoing expansion of the audience base
• Drive participation from target audiences by strengthening relationships and increasing attendee volume from each organization
• Use data, customer insights, and market understanding to continuously refine audience approach

Audience Activation & Programming

• Lead the development and execution of connections programs (MATCH, hosted buyer, curated meetings, etc.) that drive attendee engagement and exhibitor value
• Design and evolve audience offers and experiences that increase attendance and participation
• Ensure target audiences are engaged before, during, and after the event
• Act as the primary owner of the attendee experience for defined audiences—ensuring relevance, value, and connection opportunities

Audience Relationship & Market Insight

• Build and maintain relationships with key buyers and audience groups to understand: business priorities, industry trends, drivers of event attendance and value
• Translate audience insights into actionable recommendations for: marketing messaging, content priorities, overall event strategy
• Serve as a voice of the customer, ensuring audience needs are reflected across the entire event experience
• Partner closely with Marketing, Sales, and Event Leadership to align audience strategy and event goals
• Work alongside the Audience Engagement team to ensure connections programs that utilize tech are effectively executed and optimized
• Provide regular updates on audience performance, trends, and opportunities to inform broader business decisions
• Contribute to a shared approach across the Audience Development team, including best practices and insights

Performance & Ownership

• Own key audience metrics, including growth of target audience segments, participation from priority companies, engagement in connections programs
• Contribute directly to overall event performance through increased audience quality and participation
• Maintain accurate audience data and ensure strong data hygiene across systems

Culture, Leadership & Relationships:

• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment with a constant curiosity for learning, customer needs and professional development
• Foster and support a culture of transparency, collaboration and innovation
• Build trust, value others, communicate effectively, drive execution, foster innovation, and focus on customer experience and event delivery
• Supports and collaborates with other attendee relations managers
• Represent Clarion Events in a professional manner at all times within the industries you serve

Requirements:

• Experience in audience development, customer growth, recruiting, or relationship-driven roles
• Strong ability to build and maintain relationships with external stakeholders
• Data-informed thinker, comfortable using insights to guide decisions
• Confident communicator across phone, email, and in-person environments
• Experience in events, conferences, or community-building environments preferred
• Comfortable working cross-functionally and influencing without direct authority
• Experience with CRM and planning tools is a plus
• Ability to travel to assigned events and competitive events throughout the year

What’s in it for me?

• Competitive Base Salary range between $65,500 and $72,100
• Bonus based on challenging but achievable targets
• 100% remote position (or hybrid if near CT or OK offices)
• Generous PTO & Company-paid Holidays: this includes the entire week of July 4th AND the entire last week of the year off.
• A full benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, voluntary life insurance, HSA (plus employer contrition), and FSA.
• Basic life, long-term disability & short-term disability are covered at 100%.
• 401(k) Plan with employer match.
• Opportunity to travel across the country to attend our shows and meet people from a multitude of different industries.

Physical Demands

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this role. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to stand, walk, use hands to finger, handle or feel, and reach with hands and arms. While at events/shows, this job may require extensive standing and walking and some pulling and lifting of products, supplies and/or equipment.

Equal Employment

Clarion Events provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status, disability, or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, Clarion Events complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has offices. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, and transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.