Event & Hospitality Planner

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Event & Hospitality Planner will help bring our mission to life by executing events that support our staff and nonprofits driving innovation and sustainability across the Pacific Northwest! This role reports to the Events Manager, and is responsible for coordinating hospitality, logistics, vendor coordination, and budgeting for on-site meetings to large-scale conferences. 

This is a hybrid-eligible, full-time role. While there are occasional early morning, evening and weekend events, this role largely works within the operating hours of the Trust, which are standard business hours, Monday-Friday. 

THE DAY TO DAY

The Event and Hospitality Planner supports the planning and execution of a range of internal and external events, with a focus on the following activities:

· Building team and event timelines

· Defining event concepts, themes and decor

· Catering/menu planning 

· Researching vendors and venues

· Vendor/community relationships

· Material creation 

· Event setup and breakdown

· Hospitality activities

Technology tools used by the Events team include:

· Microsoft Suite (SharePoint, Teams, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, CoPilot)

· Google Workspace

· Adobe Cloud

· Teamwork Projects

· JotForm

· SurveyMonkey

· Claude by Anthropic

TOTAL REWARDS

Compensation

The hiring range for this position is $60,000-$75,000 per year, with placement commensurate with experience. This is a non-exempt role (eligible for overtime pay).

Benefits

The Trust offers exceptional benefits including:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for staff and qualifying dependents with premiums paid 90-100% by the Trust, depending on plan elections.

• Retirement contributions of 11% of base salary (up to the IRS maximum) for all full-time staff; additionally, staff contributions are matched up to 4%, all effective on day one.

• Time off accruals in the first year of full time employment include fifteen days of vacation, twelve sick days, and two personal days; the Trust also offers eleven paid holidays.

• Trust paid Long-Term Disability, Long-Term Care, Group Life and Group AD&D Insurance 

• Other benefits include wellness reimbursements, identity theft insurance, a generous matching gift program and more.

POSITION SUMMARY

As a member of the Program & Event Administration Team, the Event & Hospitality Planner is responsible for planning and carrying out the logistics of public and private, in-person and online meetings, events, conferences, seminars and/or convenings of the foundation, including in-person and online meetings. The Event & Hospitality Planner provides on-site hospitality, meeting support and logistics troubleshooting, supporting multiple medium to large events, seminars, meetings or convenings per year. 

TYPICAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Planning and Project Management

• Understands the vision of each assigned event and partners closely with the event sponsor to create and track event plans, coordination, schedules, and budgets from planning to post-completion evaluations.   
• Serve as the point of contact for assigned events and is responsible for sharing event information and communication.  
• Works with event sponsor to support and when assigned, manage vendor or partner organization relationships.   
• Responsible for ensuring branding standards for event materials. 

Logistics, Hospitality and Technical Support

• Responsible for ensuring all logistics, including hospitality, related to each event are effectively coordinated and executed, including but not limited to calendar management, vendor and contract management, invitations, menu selection, event decor, materials, marketing, and technology services; provides on-site support and logistics troubleshooting. 
• Ensure all activities are consistent with established standards for Trust convenings and events and that all vendor engagements are with approved Trust partners, when required. 
• Plan and carry out the logistics of monthly, quarterly, and perennial events, meetings and other functions that take place at the Trust. (e.g.: Grants, Investment, Monthly Staff Meetings).   
• In partnership with the People & Culture Team, coordinate logistics for Trust signature events, including Founder’s Day, Retreat(s), holiday celebrations, retirement celebrations, etc., as assigned. 
• Participate as a member of planning committees for Murdock signature events. 

General

• Uphold a strong commitment to the mission, ethos, and core values of the Trust. 
• Work with team members to identify opportunities for continuous improvement and innovation; as assigned, implement ways to make programs, processes, and systems more efficient. 
• Engage in training and professional development activities to develop competencies and build effectiveness within the role.  
• Attend conferences or workshops for professional development and share knowledge gained with peer staff.  
• Schedule flexibility related to conferences, seminars and convenings which may require work on select early mornings, evenings and weekends. 
• Travel, including overnight and outside of usual business hours, may be necessary, up to 5%. 
• Other duties and responsibilities, as assigned. 

Requirements

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

Leadership and Team Collaboration

• Balance the reliable completion of a high volume of independent work while working collaboratively as a part of a team. 
• Skillfully navigate relationships with internal and external interest holders at all levels of an organization, representing the Trust in a knowledgeable and credible way in all circumstances.
• Strategic thinking with the ability to align work with organizational values and priorities.
• Navigate ambiguity and change with agility and humility.
• Visionary; open to new or innovative methods and proposals.

Analysis and Organization

• Analyze and synthesize large amounts of routine to semi-complex information.
• Ability to review, understand and analyze program data and reports.
• Manage and prioritize routine and semi-complex projects and assignments.
• Excellent planning and operational skills.
• Produce high-quality work while adhering to deadlines.

Relationship and Communication

• Able to capably and knowledgeably interface with diverse secular, and faith-based organizations and individuals; interact with both secular and faith-based organizations as part of day-to-day programming and operations.   
• Build and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Curious, resourceful, service-oriented, and dedicated to lifelong learning. 
• Able to provide constructive feedback, deliver difficult news, and seek additional information as needed.
• Communicate effectively in writing and verbally, virtually or in-person, using appropriate mediums and tools to share information.

EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience. 
• Minimum of 3 years' experience in events planning/management, catering or hospitality planning, project management and/or related field.  
• Experience managing and coordinating semi-complex projects or events, including the management of multiple simultaneous or overlapping events with a demonstrated history of successful delivery. Additional experience with catering/menu development and determining event concepts, themes, and decor, preferred. 
• Demonstrated experience managing event budgets and schedules 
• Demonstrated continuous learning and skills development, specifically in event planning or management. 
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills; editing/proofreading experience required. 
• Demonstrated technical acumen including proficiency level knowledge of workplace technology including but not limited to Microsoft suite. Experience with CRM platforms, event management platforms, project management tools, and/or online vendor management preferred. 

Salary Description

$60,000-$75,000 per year, not including overtime