Event Operations Manager

Dynamic. Entrepreneurial. Hands-on. 

Hiring for an Events Operations Manager for behindthechair.com

Please send a copy of your resume and cover letter directly to:

natalya@behindthechair.com

mary@behindthechair.com

Behindthechair.com has many major events every year including:

• 4-6 one-day “tour” events drawing 1,200-1,500 attendees in major cities including:  Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, Austin, London.
• 1 major 4-day event each year drawing 4,000-5,000 attendees from more than 25 countries in different cities (example: Dallas, 2025) which also includes the world’s largest hairdresser awards show with more than 1.5MM entries from 90 countries in the last 6 years.
• 1-2 internal retreats where the organization comes together to strategize & connect.

This role will be responsible for operationally executing these events from sourcing and vetting venues, negotiating contracts, hiring support teams (such as A/V support) and reconciling all costs after the fact.

Behindthechair.com is the perfect company for someone with an entrepreneurial spirit who thrives on problem-solving and taking action. The ideal candidate is always curious, has a great sense of urgency, loves being part of a close-knit (predominantly female) team… and most importantly, is excited about inspiring, educating and interacting with hairdressers.

Introduction

A successful candidate for this role will have 7-10 years of proven experience planning and executing events of all sizes. You will have a curiosity around events and experiences and work synonymously with the Event Marketing Manager to bring our experiences to life. The ideal candidate can execute against the high standards and expectations of the leadership team but is also a proactive thinker that can anticipate business needs and strategize how to improve processes going forward while always keeping the attendee/customer at the heart of every action & intention.

The primary responsibility of this person is to own the operational execution of all behindthechair.com events to include: 

• Researching, sourcing and vetting cities and venues for behindthechair.com shows based on sponsor interest and audience data
• Leading our agency partner to source hotel accommodations for staff, support teams and sometimes attendees when the venue choice requires it
• Briefing, sourcing and hiring support partners per venue to augment gaps in expertise in areas such as A/V or talent management
• Sourcing vendors to supply experiential support such as marketing materials, swag, supplies, etc
• Working with our internal operations team to ensure delivery of inventory for on-site sales and show marketing support pieces
• Leading internal communication to ensure team alignment, understanding of roles & responsibilities and confirmation of needs on site and confirmation of information to be distributed to our sponsor partners 
• Maintaining hand-in-hand partnership with the Events Marketing Manager to drive ticket sales and ensure attendee accommodation (where applicable)
• Owning detailed responsibility of costs to not only maintain strict budget requirements but negotiate costs to constantly optimize the P&L

Experience

The ideal candidate:

• Has 7-10 years of event management experience
• Is organized, responsive and a self-starter and lives by four key values: Action, Accountability, Authenticity and Attitude (meaning, bring a good one every day)
• Has a strong understanding of venue logistics, production tech and A/V programs to ensure all appropriate needs are met with no extra unnecessary costs
• Is prepared to be very hands-on and have a great sense of urgency in building programs that sell

The Position

This role will report into the Vice President of Marketing & Events at behindthechair.com with a close, dotted line relationship to the CEO / Founder Mary Rector.

About Us

“Greatness is not reserved for a chosen few. It’s reserved for the few who choose it.”

Mary Rector

Founder, behindthechair.com

behindthechair.com launched in March 2000 by Mary Rector as a dream to bring the world of hairdressing to the hairdressers of the world.

Today, behindthechair.com is the largest website in the world for salon professionals with nearly 12,000,000 salon professionals logging on annually. Our story has been told in the New York Times, Business Week and the Chicago Tribune.

behindthechair.com provides hairdressers original content, 24/7 trending stories, engaging video, on-demand education, large impactful shows and continuing education, creating a destination hub for all salon pros who want to be in the know. This integrated digital approach allows BTC to reach and interact directly with our audiences across all our many platforms and it’s made BTC the number one media in the world for hairdressers.

Here are some key bragging statistics about our company:

• behindthechair.com welcomes more than 12MM hairdressers logging on annually.
• btcuniversity.com is the industry’s first & largest on-demand video education site. Last year alone, we provided education to more than 180,000 hairdressers from more than 80 countries.
• Our Instagram boasts over 2.6M Instagram followers, and Facebook over 1.7M.
• Our pride & joy show – The BTC Show – is the largest single-stage 3-day, in-person professional beauty education event worldwide.
• BTC’s #ONESHOT Hair Awards is the world’s largest hair awards program with more than 1.5MM entries from 90 countries in the past 6 years.
• The BTC Team is the hair industry’s first and most robust influencer marketing team with more than 200 influencers who are placed with brands in over 11 countries and a micro-influencer program of more than 5,000 hairdressers.

Location

Behindthechair.com is officially based in Illinois but, after the pandemic, we have stayed a fully remote company. This role – however – will require travel nationally possibly 10-12 times a year for shows, events, site-visits, planning meetings, competitive events, etc.

Interested?

Please submit a resume and a short letter on why you want this role and what you can bring to the table. We will provide additional requests for detail on past programs and a insight into how you might approach future plans at behindthechair.

To ensure visibility of your interest, Please send a copy of your resume and cover letter directly to:

natalya@behindthechair.com

mary@behindthechair.com