Meetings & Events Planner

Foundation for the National Institutes of Health; Rockville (MD); Hybrid; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) in Rockville, MD seeks a Meetings and Events Planner to develop, coordinate, and execute logistics for conferences, workshops, and both international and domestic meetings, including live virtual events. The role reports to the Director, Meetings and Events and requires strong vendor management, budget oversight, and travel coordination.

You will work with a meeting coordinator to secure venues, manage registrations, and ensure quality

Qualifications

• Minimum five years of meeting and event planning experience or equivalent.
• CMP credential preferred.
• Experience planning international meetings and travel internationally is desirable but not required.
• Proficiency in Microsoft 365 products (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) is required.

Responsibilities

• Source venues and negotiate contracts per internal guidelines.
• Oversee logistics for virtual, hybrid, and in-person meetings and events.
• Coordinate with event-related vendors and manage onsite operations.
• Anticipate and resolve issues with schedules, resources, and budgets.
• Arrange travel with a meeting coordinator and ensure traveler outreach and compliance.
• Oversee registration processes and invitations.
• Produce and manage meeting collateral and timelines to reflect standards.
• Reconcile expenditures to meet budget targets and inform leadership.
• Update tasks in project management software regularly.
• Assist with inventory and departmental tasks as needed.

Skills

Multitasking

Teamwork

Stakeholder communication

Customer service

Written communication

Budget management

Education

College degree preferred

CMP credential preferred

Tools

Cvent Event Management

Cvent Supplier Network

Job description

The Meetings and Events Planner is responsible for the development, coordination and execution of logistics for meetings and events including large conferences, workshops, special events, professional meetings, both international and domestic, and live virtual events.

Reporting to the Director, Meetings and Events, they will manage assigned projects, meeting with Science Partnerships project lead staff, developing and managing project budgets, research and inspect fit-for-purpose meeting sites, and negotiate with vendors. In partnership with a meeting coordinator, the planner arranges parking, transportation, signage, catering, marketing, advertising, necessary permits, security, A/V, and event registration. The Meetings and Events Planner is responsible for overseeing the tick-tock of each meeting or event including but not limited to event management tools and software, adherence to budgets, timelines, processes and procedures, and internal and external relations. The Planner takes action to solve problems or issues that routinely arise in assigned areas based on changing needs and escalates to Meetings and Events leadership, when required.

Key Responsibilities:

Event Planning

• Source venues appropriate for meetings and negotiate contracts per internal guidelines. Oversee all aspects of hotel arrangements including rooming list, meeting space, food and beverage, and audio/visual equipment.
• Oversee the coordination of logistical aspects of virtual, hybrid, and in-person meetings and events, including but not limited to, virtual event platforms, hotel rooming lists, meeting room layouts, food and beverage, and audio/visual needs.
• Communicate with event-related vendors regarding all preplanning needs and manage related operations onsite.
• Anticipate and resolve issues with project schedules, resources, and budgets.
• In partnership with a meeting coordinator, oversee travel arrangements ensuring excellent traveler outreach, communication, data tracking, updates and compliance with established processes.
• Oversee the life cycle of meetings, conference and special event registration including creating and managing invitations, developing the registration process and communication pieces.
• Manage all meeting collateral and production timelines ensuring that materials are professional and appropriately reflect the organization’s standards, thus ensuring quality control.
• Oversee and reconcile meeting, conference and special event expenditures to deliver on or below budget objectives while keeping the project leader and finance staff informed on all budget related activities.
• Update tasks in project management software on an ongoing basis.
• Assist with assigned departmental tasks such as inventory, as needed.

Qualifications

Education & Experience:

• A college degree is preferred.
• At least five years of meeting and event planning experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience is required.
• Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) credential is preferred.
• Experience planning international meetings and events and traveling internationally to execute these events is desirable but not required.
• Proficiency in Microsoft 365 products (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) is required.

Skills:

• Effectively prioritize and execute tasks conforming to shifting priorities, demands and timelines; multitask and handle multiple projects efficiently simultaneously.
• Collaborate within and contribute positively to a team setting while also able to work independently as an individual contributor with minimum supervision where required.
• Elicit cooperation from a wide variety of sources including management, project managers, staff departments, and vendors.
• Analyze and solve challenges quickly and effectively including recognizing when to elevate to Meetings & Events team leadership.
• Provide exceptional customer service to both internal and external clients while exhibiting a high degree of responsibility, initiative and professionalism.
• Strong interpersonal communication skills required.
• Solid written communication skills including the ability to communicate effectively with multiple stakeholders in a hybrid environment.
• Proficiency in Cvent Event Management software and Cvent Supplier Network software.
• Ability to adapt quickly to using new technology and software as implemented by the team.

This is a hybrid position and requires regular visits to FNIH headquarters in Bethesda, MD. The Meetings and Events Planner may be required to occasionally work weekends, evenings and other irregular hours and travel as necessary. Ability to travel domestically 10-15% of the time is required. International travel may be assigned as needed.

At FNIH we are committed to living our core values every day. If you are excited about this role and the work of the Foundation, but your experience doesn't align perfectly with all the qualifications in the job description, we encourage you to apply nonetheless. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles at FNIH.