Event Operations Manager, Speaker Programs

Who We Are

Strategic Event Services brings together strategy, operational excellence, technology, and cross-functional expertise to deliver high-quality experiences across congresses, speaker programs, and advisory boards.

Our team works closely with Field, Marketing, Medical, Compliance, Legal, technology teams, speakers, and vendors. The Event Operations Manager reports to the Head of Strategic Event Services The role provides essential operational, compliance, financial, and administrative support, enabling smooth, compliant execution across a high volume of programs each year.

We are looking for an Event Operations Manager who can provide end-to-end operational excellence while helping Strategic Event Services strengthen and continuously improve how speaker programs are delivered.

The Opportunity

The Event Operations Manager, Speaker Programs is the internal operational owner for assigned speaker bureaus and programs, from bureau setup through program closeout. You will support HCP programs (in-person, virtual), Patient programs, and HCP and Patient product theaters, most organized into brand bureaus that run on a calendar-year cycle.

Our speaker program vendor manages day-to-day logistics and execution. You will direct that vendor, keep every program inside the compliance guardrails, and own the approval, financial, and documentation work that stays in-house.

Responsibilities:

• Oversee Vendor Execution: Direct the day-to-day work of our speaker program vendor across logistics, registration, attendee management, and speaker coordination. Set clear expectations, monitor performance against SLAs and KPIs, and resolve or escalate gaps.
• Manage Bureau and Program Operations: Coordinate annual bureau setup and close, program intake, timelines, and readiness. Adapt requirements to each program type, including Patient program needs such as patient speaker training, privacy, and adverse event reporting.
• Operationalize Compliance: Partner with Compliance and Legal to confirm speaker contracting, fair market value, and training are complete before programs proceed, and that attendee, venue, meal, and state-specific rules are met.
• Manage Materials and Approvals: Route speaker decks, invitations, and program materials through Commercial and Medical review. Track re-approvals and expirations so only current approved materials are in use.
• Manage Financial Operations: Support budgets, statements of work, purchase orders, invoices, accruals, and reconciliation. Validate speaker honoraria and HCP spend for Open Payments (Sunshine Act) and state transparency reporting.
• Coordinate Across Functions: Partner with the Marketing, Field, Medical, Compliance, and Finance, to resolve dependencies and provide visibility into progress and risks. Serve as an operational resource for field teams, and bring platform and data needs to the product team.
• Report and Improve: Work with our vendor to maintain trackers and standard reports on program activity, speaker utilization, exceptions, and vendor performance. Work with the product team to simplify and automate high-volume work and strengthen SOPs.
• Who You Are
• You have a Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
• You have at least 4 years of experience in event operations, speaker program operations, project management, commercial operations, or a related field.
• Experience managing vendors that deliver high-volume programs or events, including tracking deliverables and resolving issues through appropriate escalation.
• Working knowledge of the rules governing interactions with healthcare professionals, such as the PhRMA Code, Anti-Kickback Statute, OIG guidance on speaker programs, and Open Payments (Sunshine Act) reporting.
• Demonstrated ability to manage many concurrent programs with strong organization and attention to detail.
• Experience supporting structured Commercial, Medical, regulatory, or other content-review and approval processes.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, including intermediate Excel, and the ability to learn program-management, content-management, and workflow platforms.
• Willingness to travel occasionally based on program needs.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting speaker programs or HCP engagement in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or healthcare industry.
• Experience supporting patient-facing programs, patient speakers, or patient advocacy engagement.
• Experience managing program exceptions, compliance documentation, or supporting audits and monitoring.
• Experience with vendor speaker portals, Veeva, Cvent, Jira, or comparable tools.
• Experience managing purchase orders, invoices, program budgets, spend reconciliation, and transparency reporting data.
• This role requires an onsite presence at our South San Francisco, Genentech Campus.
• Relocation benefits are NOT offered on this posting

The expected salary range for this position based on the primary location of South San Francisco, CA is $100,700/yr to $186,900/yr.  Actual pay will be determined based on experience, qualifications, geographic location, and other job-related factors permitted by law .  A discretionary annual bonus may be available based on individual and Company performance.  This position also qualifies for the benefits detailed at the link provided below.