VP of Event Management (UK & Europe, Navan Events)

Join Navan Events as the VP of Event Management for the UK and Europe. In this hands-on transformation role, you will oversee event strategy, planning, venue sourcing, supplier contracting, registration, attendee management, event production, onsite delivery, and reconciliation. You will establish globally consistent standards while enabling regional teams to respond effectively to local clients, markets, and suppliers. You will also partner closely with the Senior Director, Global Event Travel, and lead a multi-layer, multi-country organization. Success will be measured through gross margin, operating expense, client retention, satisfaction, and service quality.

• Oversee the event strategy, planning, venue sourcing, supplier contracting, registration, attendee management, event production, onsite delivery, and reconciliation for a multi-country organization.
• Establish globally consistent standards while enabling regional teams to respond effectively to local clients, markets, and suppliers, and integrate teams and capabilities across Navan and Reed & Mackay.
• Drive business growth by partnering with Sales and Customer Success to shape the regional growth plan, qualify opportunities, define service scope and pricing, and ensure new business is operationally ready.
• Evidence of building high-performing leadership teams and credible succession pipelines
• Demonstrated success integrating organisations, modernising operating models, or leading large-scale transformation
• Experience serving as executive sponsor for complex enterprise clients
• Ability to operate across different European employment, regulatory, supplier, and cultural environments
• Commercial ownership experience: operating budget, gross margin/contribution margin, forecasting, pricing, capacity forecasting, cost-to-serve and productivity
• Strong knowledge of venue sourcing, supplier contracting, registration, attendee management, event production, and agency economics
• Significant experience leading multi-country, multi-layer Event Management organisations
• Experience partnering with Product and Engineering teams to digitise or automate service operations
• 12+ years in meetings and events, experiential, hospitality, or another complex managed-services environment