T&E Events Lead

About the Team The Procurement organization enables our mission by ensuring every dollar is spent responsibly, compliantly, and efficiently. As a key part of this function, this role reports to the Head of Travel & Expense (T&E) and partners closely with Procurement Operations, Accounting, Finance, and business stakeholders to own and scale the company's global Events strategy, operations, and compliance. About the Role You'll own the global T&E event strategy and operations, acting as a strategic leader and hands-on executor supporting Events teams across the organization. Expect to align with event owners around the company and set the process roadmap for the company's Procurement & T&E processes, lead platform deployment and lifecycle management, manage key partners and stakeholders, and personally drive process standardization & cost optimization. You will also be a key contributor to the overall T&E process design and governance, ensuring tight controls and scalability across Travel, Expense, Events, and Card programs.Target mix: 50% program leadership, 50% hands-on execution (flexes with project roadmap and volume). What we're looking for: - We're looking for a strategic leader with deep experience in corporate events and T&E operations who can scale systems and processes without losing sight of the details. - Proven experience in Strategic Meeting Management Programs (SMMP), corporate travel and expense management, travel sourcing, and/or travel consulting. - Hands-on expertise in designing, standardizing, and automating processes across T&E, including policy management, systems integration, and controls alignment. - Experience leading global T&E events strategy, including policy development, venue/room block sourcing, and platform management (e.g., Planned, Cvent). - A strong controls mindset aligned to SOX, with experience driving audit readiness and partnering cross-functionally across Compliance, Legal, Privacy, Procurement, Accounting, and Finance. This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees. In this role, you will: - Strategy & Policy: Lead the global company-wide T&E & Procurement event strategy and associated policies (room blocks, venues, group meals, payments, reconciliation, etc.). - Stakeholder Partnership: Partner with Events teams, Executive Business Partners (EBPs), department leaders, and cross-functional teams (Compliance, Legal, Privacy, PTP, Cards, Security) to align event programs with business needs and compliance requirements. - Supplier & Spend Management: Optimize supplier strategy and ongoing event operations. - Controls & Standardization: Create and standardize event policy + controls across all organizations and managers. - Scalability & Standardization: Drive global standardization and operational scalability. Act as the primary DRI for process optimization and enforcement of compliance guardrails. - Compliance & Audit: Ensure SOX-compliant T&E & Procurement policies across all events. - Process Design & Governance: Lead and enhance the full T&E event process design and governance. Lead SOP documentation, controls alignment, and audit readiness. - Integration: Integrate T&E policy, budgeting/forecasting, travel, and card programs into a cohesive workflow for holistic event programs management. - Data & Systems:Ensure high data accuracy and reliable integrations across ERP, analytics, travel, tax, payroll, and related downstream systems. - Category Management/Sourcing (Events): Own the global events category strategy and supplier base. Lead sourcing, RFPs/RFQs, negotiations, contracting support, and vendor selection, partnering with internal sourcing teams. - Process Improvement (Events): Map current-state event operations, redesign workflows, controls, tooling, and handoffs across the events program. Define KPIs/reporting and drive adoption of better operating standards globally. Manage continuous process improvement through the deployment of new policies and platforms, ensuring a great experience and reduction of cycle time across hotel room blocks, venues, and group meals and other T&E related event purchases - Event Technology/Product: Own internal event-related products/tools/platforms. Define roadmap and requirements for event tech or event operations systems. Lead the integration of emerging AI throughout the workflow. You might thrive in this role if you: - Bring 8+ years of experience in M&E, SMMP, corporate T&E, Procurement, or Finance Operations. - Have thrived in high-growth, scaling environments, balancing long-term process design with hands-on execution. - Offer deep technical proficiency in T&E policy, global events management, card programs, and regulatory compliance (SOX, tax implications, etc.). - Have designed and automated T&E/Events workflows, leveraging ERP/AP automation, OCR, approval routing, and A