Innovation starts from the heart. Edwards Lifesciences is the global leader of patient-focused innovations for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring. With millions of patients served in over 100 countries, each team makes a meaningful contribution by improving patient outcomes and discovering lasting solutions for unmet patient needs. Our Manager, Meetings & Events position is a unique career opportunity that could be your next step towards an exciting future.

Work Schedule: Given the collaborative and complex nature of this work, this role is in person full time in Irvine, California.

You will make an impact by.

• Identifying, negotiating, and selecting suppliers and vendors (e.g., hotels, third party planners) to reduce costs, minimize risks and penalties and ensure favorable incentives and commissions are achieved.
• Project manage the logistical coordination and utilization of managed event spaces at Edwards Irvine facilities. Manage event spaces and ensure compliance with Irvine facilities guidelines, insurance, legal, health and safety obligations.
• Partnering with management in the evaluation and selection of preferred event suppliers (e.g., hotels, audio visual companies, third party planners, transportation, etc.). Define and create Service Level Agreements (SLA) with suppliers to ensure best in class service is delivered.
• Providing oversight and guidance to logistical staff on event activities (e.g., site selection, food and beverage, audio visual, transportation, entertainment, onsite staff, event safety communication plan, cost estimates and budget management, post-event assessment, etc.) Ensure internal and external partners, facilities, corporate dining, security, legal, compliance, etc. expectations are met. Collaborate with stakeholders to execute and facilitate event components (e.g., online reservation development, travel reservations, billing reconciliation, etc.)
• Assessing meeting processes and event technology utilization to identify actionable strategies to improve user experience; develop change management plan to overcome objections/ obstacles and build partnerships. Collaborate with event technology supplier(s) to provide guidance on business requirements and ensure efficient and user friendly processes are established within the platform.
• Recommending policy revisions as needed to reduce cost and/or improve service and reflect best practices. Influence compliance through effective communication and change management.
• Defining reporting requirements, review and validate data to measure program effectiveness
• Establishing and maintaining an internal event planning resource site and planning tools to facilitate consistent, high-quality planning standards and optimal experience for event attendees
• Other incidental duties

What you'll need (Required): 

• Bachelor's Degree in in business administration, hospitality, or tourism
• A minimum of 8 years of experience in meetings and events planning; strategic meetings management program development experience OR Master’s Degree and a minimum of 6 years of experience

What else we look for (Preferred): 

• Medical device and/or Pharma experience
• Experience using Cvent
• Proven expertise in Microsoft Office Suite, including Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word
• Experience using SharePoint
• Serve as event planning Subject Matter Expert, staying current of industry best practices, establishing and maintaining a network of industry professionals
• Proven ability to develop and maintain influential and collaborative relationships at a variety of levels
• Ability to extract input from colleagues and stakeholders and achieve successful project outcomes through strong consensus building and facilitation skills.
• Excellent at data analysis and business process design
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills, including the ability to document and translate business needs into event, contract and/or system requirements, process improvements, and policy changes
• Extensive knowledge of own area within the organization while contributing to the development of new concepts, techniques, and standards
• Extensive understanding of related aspects of meetings and events industry, including policies, processes, tools, contracts, and best practices
• Strict attention to detail
• Ability to interact professionally with all organizational levels and proactively escalate issues to appropriate levels of management in the organization
• Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast paced environment
• Ability to represent leadership on sections of projects within a specific area interfacing with project managers and team
• Ability to consult in project setting within specific sections of area

Aligning our overall business objectives with performance, we offer competitive salaries, performance-based incentives, and a wide variety of benefits programs to address the diverse individual needs of our employees and their families.

For California, the base pay range for this position is $100,000 to $142,000 (highly experienced).

The pay for the successful candidate will depend on various factors (e.g., qualifications, education, prior experience). Applications will be accepted while this position is posted on our Careers website.