Experiential Event Strategist Program Lead

Boston, MA (Remote)

Salary Not AvailableSenior Level10+ years expContract

Posted 3 hrs ago

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Job Summary

Own and lead a multi-market field marketing program from strategy through post-event analysis, directing team, calendar, budgeting, and compliance across eight priority markets.

  • Own program strategy and staffing model
  • Ensure live execution across multiple markets and post-event optimization

Job Description

Responsibilities

  • Pre-Event — Strategy & Program Build: Program Strategy: - Develop the overall field marketing strategy and program framework for the client, then execute and manage against the approved plan for 8 priority markets: Chicago, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Boston, Denver, Kansas City, Tallahassee, and Madison Team Leadership: - Lead and manage the program's field team, including a dedicated Program Manager and market-level brand ambassadors — setting direction, delegating execution, timeline, training, and holding the team accountable to brand standards, compliance, and performance across all markets. Market Model: - Recommend the right staffing and coverage model across the eight priority markets — Phoenix, Chicago, Philadelphia, Tallahassee, Kansas City, Boston, Denver and Madison — including ambassador counts, activation cadence, dedicated vs. shared management, and where travel or flexible staffing makes sense. Advise where the program should run heaviest, where coverage can be lighter, and whether additional markets should be considered. Stakeholder Collaboration: - Partner with client-side and internal stakeholders, attend planning meetings, and keep the program aligned to brand priorities. Master Calendar: - Build and manage a master event calendar with 90-day, 180-day and annual views, balancing always-on activity with major tentpole and game day moments. Local Market Intelligence: - Identify and vet priority bars, nightlife districts, local events, festivals, and collegiate-adjacent (LDA-only) opportunities by market — advising where to show up, when, and what kind of activation makes sense. Event Mix & Occasion Strategy: - Determine the right mix of events and occasions in each market to help elevate the brand and give it a stronger physical presence around key moments. Prioritize which occasions matter most — nightlife, game day, festivals, seasonal moments and adjacent occasions beyond the traditional bar shot — and identify the moments where the brand can create participation, not just presence, so it feels visible, desirable and culturally relevant in market. Compliance & Permitting: - Secure event permits, licenses, and required compliance documentation, including alcohol/liquor liability, and ensure every activation meets federal, state, local and brand guidelines. Budget Ownership: - Establish and manage the overall program budget across markets. Brand Standards: - Define brand standards, messaging, and activation guidelines for the field team. Team Onboarding: - Onboard and train brand ambassadors who are energetic, reliable, socially confident, locally connected and able to represent the brand responsibly. Scheduling & Coverage: - Own and manage the ambassador schedule across all markets — building shift coverage against the activation calendar and adjusting staffing around tentpole moments, game day and shifting market demand. Activation Design: - Develop activation concepts that create participation and ritual — not just presence — and secure client sign-off before execution. Playbooks: - Create run-of-show templates and operational playbooks so the field team can execute consistently market to market, including any activity tied to the brand's branded RV program. Measurement Framework: - Establish KPIs and the reporting framework with the client. During Event — Live Execution: Client Point of Contact: - Serve as the primary point of contact for the client during live activations. Multi-Market Oversight: - Monitor simultaneous activations across markets and troubleshoot in real time. Compliance in the Field: - Ensure brand standards, LDA verification and sampling compliance are upheld at every event. Budget Tracking: - Track spend against the approved program budget. Escalation Management: - Manage escalations from event managers and field staff on the ground. Post-Event — Reporting & Optimization: Recap Reporting: - Compile and deliver recap reports to the client covering activations completed, markets covered, ambassador hours, estimated LDA consumer engagements, accounts visited, samples/trial moments, merchandise distributed, and content captured where applicable. Performance Analysis: - Analyze results against KPIs, assess whether the program is building genuine local relevance and participation (not just reach), and identify optimizations. Financial Reconciliation: - Manage invoicing, expense reconciliation and budget reporting. Continuous Improvement: - Gather field feedback, incorporate learnings into future planning, and maintain and update the master calendar based on results and new opportunities. Client Check-Ins: - Conduct regular check-ins with the client to review program health and adjust strategy.

Requirements

  • 10+ years in field marketing, experiential marketing, or brand/event management, including senior-level ownership of multi-market programs.
  • Direct experience in the alcohol beverage category or another regulated category, with a strong command of compliance discipline (LDA verification, sampling compliance, staff conduct, incident escalation).
  • Proven ability to build and manage ambassador or field teams — onboarding, training, scheduling, supervising and setting performance and conduct standards.
  • People-leadership experience managing direct reports, including a program manager and/or market-level managers.
  • Experience operating in nightlife, game day and event environments.
  • Strong program and project management skills, with the ability to run multiple concurrent activations across markets independently and with minimal direction.
  • Budget ownership experience, including planning, tracking and reconciliation.
  • Clear, consistent reporting skills and comfort translating field activity into insight and recommendations.
  • Must be willing to travel across priority markets as needed, including some evenings and weekends around key occasions (travel frequency will vary by program needs).

Preferred

  • Existing relationships with venues, promoters, local creators or partners.
  • Experience with content capture, creator/influencer coordination, or social amplification on an ad hoc basis.
  • Familiarity with third-party data collection tools or KPI measurement frameworks.
  • Background scaling a pilot program into a larger, optimized operation over time.

Benefits

  • Benefits available if eligible.
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Crawford Group

Crawford Group is a Marketing and Events Experts agency delivering strategy, planning, and execution across the full marketing lifecycle.We support marketing teams with scalable, high-impact solutions, and experts.Our experts plug directly into your team to support your digital marketing, creative, events, and content needs. With agile teams and proven workflows, we help leading brands move faster, collaborate better, and achieve real results.From campaign execution to event production and MarTech optimization, Crawford Group helps you scale smarter.

Founded in 1997
Campbell, California, USA
131 employees (42 in marketing)

Traffic Signals

Monthly Visitors
1.7K
Traffic Source Mix
Search
26.2%
Direct
54.8%
Referral
7.7%
Social
10%
Paid
1.2%

Headcount Trend

Current headcount: ~131

Marketing Team

Marketing Team Size
33 (25% of company)
Median Career Experience
18.5 years
Median Tenure
4.3 years
Marketing Roles Posted (Last 30 Days)
8