Sr. Event Operations Lead

AMD; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

AMD in Santa Clara, CA is seeking a Senior Event Operations Lead to steer the operational strategy and end-to-end delivery of our most complex events, including Advancing AI global flagship initiatives.

You will partner with portfolio leaders to translate ambitious event objectives into executable delivery plans, manage budgets, risk, and cross-functional teams, and ensure flawless on-site execution across venues and production partners.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in event operations and live experiences.
• Experience leading large, flagship conferences or major events.
• Ability to translate strategy into executable delivery plans.
• Willingness to travel and work flexible hours.

Responsibilities

• Own the operational strategy and end-to-end delivery of flagship events.
• Lead cross-functional teams across venues, production, registration, and staffing.
• Partner with agencies and vendors to ensure timely, on-budget delivery.
• Establish readiness processes and risk mitigation plans for live delivery.
• Communicate with executives on strategy, risks, and trade-offs.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Operational planning

Budget oversight

Risk management

Cross-functional leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Event Management, Marketing, Communications, Business, Hospitality, or a related field

Job description

ADVANCE YOUR CAREER. ADVANCE THE WORLD.

At AMD, we believetechnology has the power to solve the world’s most important challenges. From advancing healthcare and scientific discovery to powering AI and the technologies people rely on every day, innovation at AMDis shapingthefuture.

Whetheryou’redesigning next-gen processors, enabling AI breakthroughs, orbringing leading edge products to market, every role at AMD contributes to something bigger— technologythat moves the world forward.Join us and, together, we’ll advance your career.

THE ROLE

We are seeking an experienced and strategic Senior Event Operations Lead to lead the operational strategy and delivery of AMD’s most complex and strategically significant events, with primary responsibility for Advancing AI, AMD’s global flagship event.

This role will serve as the senior operational partner to event portfolio and program leaders, translating ambitious event strategies into comprehensive, executable delivery plans. The successful candidate will bring deep expertise in large-scale event operations, production integration, agency and vendor management, financial management, and risk mitigation, while providing leadership across complex, multi-disciplinary teams through influence and collaboration.

This is a senior individual contributor role for an event operations leader who can operate with significant autonomy,navigate executive-level complexity, and shape the operational approach for AMD’s highest-profile experiences.

THE PERSON

You are an experienced event operations professional who thrives in high-visibility, complex environments where strategic thinking and flawless execution are equally important. You bring deep expertise in operational planning, risk management, budget oversight, and cross-functional leadership, along with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels of the organization. You are skilled at translating ambitious ideas into executable plans, navigating competing priorities, and leading teams through complexity while maintaining a focus on delivering exceptional event experiences.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Strategic Event Operations: Own the operational strategy and end-to-end delivery of assigned flagship and highly complex events, translating event objectives, experience requirements, and audience needs into comprehensive operational plans.
• Advancing AI Operational Leadership: Serve as the senior operational lead for Advancing AI, partnering with the AAI program owner and functional teams to develop and deliver the operating model required for AMD’s global flagship.
• Operational Strategy & Feasibility: Serve as a strategic operating partner during event development, assessing feasibility, identifying implications and trade-offs, and recommending approaches that balance experience ambition, budget, timeline, risk, and operational requirements.
• Integrated Operations Planning: Lead operational planning across venue, production integration, registration, attendee flow, staffing, F&B, security, transportation, logistics, signage, accessibility, and other event requirements.
• Complex Program Leadership: Lead large, multi-disciplinary delivery teams across Event Operations Managers, Coordinators, agencies, venues, production partners, vendors, and internal stakeholders, establishing clear accountability and driving execution across interconnected workstreams.
• Agency & Vendor Leadership: Provide senior leadership across operational agencies, venues, production partners, and suppliers, ensuring scopes, resources, timelines, and performance expectations support successful delivery.
• Budget & Investment Management: Develop and manage significant operational budgets, forecasts, scope decisions, and financial trade-offs for assigned programs.
• Operational Readiness: Establish and lead comprehensive readiness processes, ensuring operational workstreams, dependencies, escalation paths, contingency plans, and decision points are aligned ahead of live delivery.
• Risk & Contingency Management: Anticipate complex operational, financial, safety, reputational, and execution risks and develop mitigation and contingency strategies appropriate for high-profile programs.
• Onsite Leadership: Lead the onsite operational command structure for assigned events, coordinating teams and resources and providing senior decision-making and escalation leadership in live environments.
• Executive & Stakeholder Partnership: Communicate effectively with senior and executive stakeholders on operational strategy, readiness, risks, trade-offs, and critical decisions.
• Cross-Functional Integration: Partner with Proprietary Events, Event Marketing, Content & Programming, Event Technology Operations, Demo Experiences, Strategic Partnerships & Sponsorships, Communications, and other teams to ensure operational plans support the integrated event experience.
• Operational Expertise & Continuous Improvement: Serve as a senior subject-matter expert within Event Operations, identifying new approaches, contributing to operational standards and best practices, and applying lessons from complex programs across the broader portfolio.
• Team Development & Mentorship: Provide program-level leadership, coaching, and mentorship to Event Operations Leads, Managers, and Coordinators, helping strengthen operational capability across the organization without direct people management responsibility.

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE:

• Extensive progressive experience in event operations, event production, experiential marketing, or related disciplines, including leadership of large-scale, complex, and high-profile events.
• Demonstrated experience serving as the senior operational lead for major conferences, flagship events, or similarly complex live experiences.
• Deep expertise across venue operations, production integration, registration, attendee flow, staffing, F&B, security, transportation, logistics, and onsite event management.
• Experience developing operating models for complex or evolving programs where established approaches may not exist.
• Demonstrated experience managing significant event budgets and making complex scope, resource, and investment tradeoffs.
• Extensive experience leading agencies, production partners, venues, vendors, and large cross-functional delivery teams.
• Demonstrated ability to anticipate and manage significant operational risk and make sound decisions in complex live-event environments.
• Strong executive presence with demonstrated ability to advise senior stakeholders on operational implications, tradeoffs, risks, and recommendations.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence and provide direction to cross-functional teams without direct people management authority.
• Strong financial acumen, sound judgment, communication, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Willingness to travel extensively and work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends, as required.

ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS:

• Bachelor's degree in Event Management, Marketing, Communications, Business, Hospitality, or a related field preferred.

LOCATION:

• Santa Clara, CA
• May be open to considering Austin, TX

This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

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Benefits offered are described: AMD benefits at a glance.

AMD does not accept unsolicited resumes from headhunters, recruitment agencies, or fee-based recruitment services. AMD and its subsidiaries are equal opportunity, inclusive employers and will consider all applicants without regard to age, ancestry, color, marital status, medical condition, mental or physical disability, national origin, race, religion, political and/or third-party affiliation, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We encourage applications from all qualified candidates and will accommodate applicants’ needs under the respective laws throughout all stages of the recruitment and selection process.

AMD may use Artificial Intelligence to help screen, assess or select applicants for this position. AMD’s “Responsible AI Policy” is available here.

This posting is for an existing vacancy.