Senior Programs Lead — Global Meetings & Events

American Express Global Business Travel; Olympia (WA); On-site; USD 67,000 - 124,000; Full time

Job summary

American Express Global Business Travel seeks a seasoned Team Leader to run the program team, own budgets, and deliver large corporate meetings from kickoff to onsite completion. You will manage a multi-role team, ensure accurate forecasting, and maintain client relationships with senior leadership presence.

You will oversee timelines, registrations, venues, and onsite execution across flagship conferences, while driving risk management and continual process improvements within Smartsheet and

Qualifications

• Eight or more years delivering large corporate meetings and events, with at least three years leading a team of meeting professionals through full program cycles.
• Experience on a dedicated account team operating under a client statement of work, ideally as its lead.
• Ownership of multimillion dollar program budgets, with a track record of accurate forecasts, clean reconciliations, and change control the client accepts.
• Delivery of large conferences with thousands of attendees inside a multiprogram annual calendar, with the judgment to run concurrent programs at different stages.
• Advanced Cvent proficiency, including event builds, registration paths, reporting, and integrations, and comfort administering programs inside a client owned instance.

Responsibilities

• Lead the dedicated account program team, including Sr Meeting Managers, Meeting Managers, Meeting Coordinators, and functional leads for registration, content, and food and beverage, with direct responsibility for assignments, performance, development, and coverage across the program calendar.
• Own delivery for every assigned program from planning kickoff through onsite execution and close, including the flagship annual conference.
• Serve as the client's primary delivery contact day to day, running planning cadences, status reporting, and decision requests so the client always knows where each program stands and what it needs from them.
• Own program budgets from initial estimate through final reconciliation, including forecasts, change control, supplier commitments, and the financial reporting the client relies on.
• Own the master timeline and milestone tracking for every program in Smartsheet, and hold the team, suppliers, and client stakeholders to their dates.
• Oversee registration, housing, and attendee communications built in the client's Cvent instance, and own the data integrity, reporting, and privacy discipline that come with it.
• Lead supplier and venue management across the portfolio, from sourcing handoff through contract compliance and onsite performance, across hotels, destination and technology partners, and production resources.
• Lead onsite delivery for major programs, including staffing plans, precon meetings, run of show ownership, daily leadership huddles, and issue escalation, with the travel and extended program weeks that come with it.
• Own program documentation standards: planning files, decision logs, supplier records, and post program debriefs that let any team member pick up a program and let the account demonstrate its value at renewal.
• Partner with the Head of Event Operations on account planning, scope management, staffing forecasts, and change requests, and raise scope creep, risk, and resourcing gaps early with a recommendation attached.

Skills

People leadership

Cvent proficiency

Smartsheet proficiency

Executive client management

Project planning

Budget management

Client relationship management

Written communication

Education

CMP or CMM

Tools

Cvent

Smartsheet

Job description

American Express Global Business Travel seeks a seasoned Team Leader to run the program team, own budgets, and deliver large corporate meetings from kickoff to onsite completion. You will manage a multi-role team, ensure accurate forecasting, and maintain client relationships with senior leadership presence.

You will oversee timelines, registrations, venues, and onsite execution across flagship conferences, while driving risk management and continual process improvements within Smartsheet and