Vice President of Production

On Board Experiential; Los Angeles (CA); Hybrid; USD 193,000 - 225,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Dental/Vision insurance

401(k)

Profit Sharing/Bonus Plan

PTO (Paid Time Off)

STD/LTD insurance

Job summary

On Board Experiential is seeking a VP Production to establish a performance-driven culture and lead the Production Department. In partnership with the CPO and Sr VP Production, this role will standardize excellence, set staffing and budgeting plans, and drive training and development across the team.

The VP Production will hire, mentor, and optimize producers, ensuring top-level execution for every activation.

Qualifications

• Minimum 10+ years managing and executing complex live events with heavy emphasis on experiential.
• Significant experience managing internal teams with multiple direct reports.
• Extensive experience working with outside vendors, including a large personal network of vendors, partners, and service providers.
• Significant experience in all phases of event production: catering, scenic and event sets, lighting, audio/visual, transportation, permitting, insurance, trucking, shipping, fulfillment, fabrication, etc.
• Superior leadership, management, and presentation skills.
• Excellent client/customer service focus.
• Ability to manage, motivate, mentor, and develop internal production staff.
• Excellent planning, organizational, and time-management skills.
• Proven ability to multi-task, manage multiple projects simultaneously, and meet deadlines and budgets.

Responsibilities

• Lead production on assigned projects with cross-functional teams from RFP to delivery.
• Develop, implement, maintain, and enhance standard operating procedures and best practices for the department.
• Identify risks and develop solutions to ensure project success.
• Oversee staffing, budget tracking, project processes, and contingencies across the department.
• Coordinate with all departments to ensure smooth workflow and effective communication.
• Build and maintain relationships with outside vendors; manage bidding and contracts.

Skills

Leadership

Client service

Time management

Project management

Communication

Multi-tasking

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business administration or related field

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Word

PowerPoint

ClickUp

Budgeting platforms

Job description

OBE is a global marketing agency that brings brands to life through culture-shaping experiences. For more than 30 years, we've partnered with iconic brands — including Nike, the NFL, JPMorganChase, Meta, OpenAI, Sephora, Starbucks, and Converse — to build community, create cultural relevance, and drive measurable business impact. With offices in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and London, we activate globally. OBE is also a founding member of The ADD Collective, extending our reach and resources while staying true to our core capabilities.

We've been recognized by Event Marketer as one of the best places to work in events — and we couldn't agree more.

The most important part of our business is our people. They are hardworking, imaginative, and make genuinely remarkable things happen. But behind every great activation is a human who deserves rest, connection, and a life outside of work. That's why we invest in recovery days, company offsites, happy hours, and the kind of friendly-but-competitive fitness challenges that bond teams for life.

We show up for each other — in open conversations that heal, inspire, and bring us closer. We want to hear about your lived experiences, your unconventional ideas, and the perspectives only you can bring. Being unapologetically yourself isn't just welcome here. It's part of the job.

Summary of Position

The VP Production is charged with establishing and driving a performance-based culture with clear expectations, the highest standards, accountabilities, and measurements that allow continuous improvement and development across the department and the company. Furthermore, this person is expected to model excellence in the execution and management of all OBE work. In partnership with the Chief Production Officer, and the Sr VP Production, this role is responsible for the management and administration of the Production Department, starting with ensuring the highest levels of execution across all OBE work. The VP Production is also responsible for establishing and implementing a strategic plan for the department, which includes standards of excellence, execution, producer performance, staffing and resource planning, and training and development.

VP Production has various responsibilities from hiring talent, development and teaching of in-house production employees, as well as the highest levels of execution and operation of each project. Other responsibilities include day to day management of producers reporting directly to the VP and the continuous development and implementation of best practices and standard operating procedures that will ensure the highest level of performance for all producers.

Essential Job Functions

• Work with the business development team in determining the feasibility of projects and making GNG decisions.
• Join RFP (“pitch”) teams and engage in the development and delivery of responses.
• On assigned projects, serve as primary Production Lead throughout all phases of the project process with internal and external cross-functional teams. This will include building, implementing, managing, and executing, the most detailed overall project plans.
• Work very closely with internal and external cross-functional teams to ensure the highest standards and smooth operation of all production-related deliverables.
• Develop, implement, maintain and enhance OBE standard operating procedures and best practices that meet project specific and companywide goals and objectives. Included in this is regularly reviewing current procedures and best practices for potential
• Identify potential risks and challenges that may impact current production processes and develop solutions to mitigate risks and ensure project success.
• Develop, implement, and oversee required plans (and planning) across the department, for staffing procedures, budget tracking, project processes, critical workflows, meetings, redundancies and contingencies.
• Coordinate with all departments and personnel to ensure smooth workflow and effective communication.
• Identify, build, and maintain relationships with outside vendors. Establish criteria for developing and maintaining such relationships, creating bidding process, reviewing bids, and negotiating contracts. Monitor performance of vendors.
• Keep Chief Production Officer, Sr. VP of Production, OBE Leadership, and specific project teams, informed on a regular basis regarding personnel, project and department financials related priorities.

MANAGEMENT/LEADERSHIP

• Manage, oversee and direct production team members on project, departmental, OBE-wide, and individual career path related matters.
• Lead and manage a designated team of OBE producers.
• Take a leading role in the allocation of internal and external production resources in an effort to optimize department efficiency while identifying and addressing any resource constraints or challenges that may arise.
• Exhibit and model consistent and superior leadership, coaching/teaching and management skills, as well as interpersonal communication skills.
• Lead, manage, coach, teach, mentor and motivate production staff and other FT OBE employees consistently.
• Actively contribute to OBE’s ongoing retention and recruiting efforts. In other words, help make OBE a consistently better place to work.
• Consistently track industry-based talent and build appropriate relationships to support OBE’s ongoing goals and objectives.
• Perform staff review and evaluations after each project as well as for the annual review of staff performance. Discuss evaluations with each staff member.

Desired Skills and Experience

Education/Experience

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration or related field.

Experience

• Minimum 10 plus years managing and executing complex live events, with heavy emphasis on experiential.
• Proven and comprehensive experience managing internal teams with multiple direct reports.
• Significant experience working with outside vendors, including a large personal network of vendors, partners, and service providers.

Must have significant experience in all phases of event production, including catering, scenic and event sets, lighting, audio/visual, transportation, permitting, insurance, trucking, shipping, fulfillment, fabricating, etc.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Superior leadership, management, and presentation skills.
• Excellent client/customer service experience focus.
• Excellent ability to manage, motivate, mentor, and develop internal production staff.
• Excellent planning, organizational, and time-management skills.
• Proven ability to multi-task, manage and/or oversee multiple projects simultaneously, while being able to set and manage priorities and commitments.
• Proven ability to pro-actively identify issues/obstacles/problems and effectively create solutions,
• Proven ability to meet internal and external deadlines and deliver projects within approved budgets.
• High proficiency in Microsoft 365, particularly Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, ClickUp, and Budgeting platforms.

Other Qualities and Skills

• Exceptional work ethic.
• Very high personal standards and expectations
• Proven ability to thrive in and enjoy a fast-paced dynamic work environment.
• Natural curiosity—the drive to always be learning and growing, professionally and personally.
• High energy and flexibility in working non-traditional hours as needed (some nights and weekends as deadlines dictate).
• Willingness to work on a schedule of at least 2 days in office (up to 4 days as needed) and travel up to 50% of the time.

Compensation

$192,500 to $225,000 annually. This is the pay range OBE believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on level of experience, relevant skills, professional certifications, market pay, and demand for the role. OBE reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. For this role, Benefits include medical/dental/vision insurance, employer paid basic life and personal accident insurance. Also included: Annual Profit Sharing/Bonus Plan based on the company’s performance and your individual performance, 401(k), Healthcare Flexible Spending Account, Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account, PTO, STD/LTD insurance benefits.

On Board Experiential is An Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status, age or any other federally protected class.