Director / Senior Manager of Experiential Marketing

The role

The Director of Experiential Marketing leads the strategy, execution, and measurement of WordPress VIP’s global portfolio of in-person events. This role partners closely with Sales, Customer Success, Partnerships, and Marketing to deliver experiences that generate pipeline, accelerate deals, and strengthen customer relationships.

The focus is on revenue-generating events, including third-party sponsorships, proprietary events, and customer programs. You will also support brand and thought leadership events where there is a clear opportunity to drive demand.

You’ll work alongside a peer senior experiential marketer and a small senior lab of marketers, each with deep expertise in a different discipline. Together, the team deploys against the highest-priority revenue opportunities across the business. You bring deep expertise in experiential marketing and credible breadth across the broader marketing mix. You are equally comfortable shaping event strategy, interrogating pipeline data, and determining where events can have the greatest commercial impact.

You are AI-fluent, highly analytical, and experienced across the full spectrum of enterprise events—from major industry sponsorships to highly targeted executive programs.

What you own

Pipeline & Demand Generation

• Own the pipeline contribution strategy for every assigned event–define target account lists, set opportunity goals, and work with Sales to activate before, during, and after.
• Design event programs with a clear path to sourced pipeline: identify and prioritize ICP-fit attendees, build intent-based outreach with BDR and Sales partners, and ensure every event has a follow-up motion in place.
• Track and report on SAOs sourced, pipeline influenced, and deals accelerated–and use that data to improve future event ROI.
• Ensure Salesforce campaign setup, lead capture, and post-event follow-up sequences are in place before the event.

Event Management & Operations

• Own end-to-end project management for assigned events: event agency relationship, timelines, vendor sourcing, venue and AV, catering, production schedules, swag, and budgets.
• Serve as the on-site lead for execution: own the run-of-show, manage logistics in real time, and solve problems before they become visible to attendees.
• Manage contracts, invoices, and expense tracking to ensure on-budget delivery and timely AP processing.
• Scope events fully before SOW execution: anticipate needs like swag sourcing, shipping logistics, and staffing early enough to avoid downstream gaps.

Integrated Marketing

• Develop the full event marketing plan: audience segmentation, campaign calendar, content requirements, channel mix, and success metrics.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to ensure execution across email, paid, social, and partner channels to drive attendance from the right accounts–not just high volume.
• Coordinate with cross-functional teams like Content, Sales, CS, and Partnerships to ensure programming is compelling and promotional efforts are aligned.
• Report on pipeline impact, attendance vs. goals, and ROI after every event.
• Identify and respond to emerging revenue opportunities, whether driven by industry moments, competitive shifts, or field signals.

Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Act as the single point of accountability for each event you own, from kick-off through post-event reporting.
• Drive alignment across Sales, CS, Partnerships, Design, Content, and MOPs, making sure every stakeholder knows their role and deadlines.
• Surface risks early and bring proposed solutions, not just problems.
• Maintain clear project visibility via project management tools and Slack updates.

Working the intelligence layer

• Leverage shared industry intelligence, including Product Marketing narratives, customer insights, and AI-generated research.
• Use AI tools to accelerate planning, research, and execution while applying your own judgment to final decisions.

What you bring

Craft

• Deep experience in enterprise B2B event marketing, with a track record of building programs that drive pipeline and revenue.
• Expertise across a broad range of event formats, from large-scale sponsorships to highly targeted executive programs.
• Ability to move seamlessly between strategic planning and hands-on execution.

AI fluency

• Active use of AI tools and agents in your day-to-day work.
• Experience briefing AI tools, critically evaluating outputs, and refining workflows.
• A clear perspective on where AI adds leverage and where human judgment remains essential.

Data fluency

• Strong analytical skills and comfort working directly with dashboards and pipeline reports.
• Ability to make sound decisions with imperfect information.
• Confidence translating performance data into actionable recommendations.

How you operate

• Comfortable with ambiguity and shifting priorities.
• Collaborative and low-ego, with a strong instinct to partner across functions.
• Curious about the industries and customers we serve.
• Focused on business outcomes, not activity for its own sake.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of B2B event marketing experience, ideally in enterprise SaaS or technology.
• Proven track record connecting event activity to pipeline–not just delivering logistics but driving measurable revenue outcomes.
• Experience managing both the operational and marketing sides of events.
• Strong grasp of demand generation principles: ABM, segmentation, lead scoring, and what makes a follow-up motion convert.
• Excellent project management instincts: you build timelines early, anticipate dependencies, and flag issues before they become fires.
• Skilled communicator who can align stakeholders and hold cross-functional partners accountable.
• Experience with Salesforce (campaign setup, lead capture, attribution reporting) and marketing automation platforms.
• Comfortable with regular travel for on-site event execution (up to 25% of your time).

Performance Indicators

This role contributes directly to the Experiential Marketing team’s core KPIs:

• Pipeline generated: SAO attainment and sourced pipeline contribution from events.
• Pipeline influenced: Deals accelerated or influenced through event activity, tracked in Salesforce.
• Event delivery: 30+ in-person events annually, on time and on budget, with target vertical mix of roughly 50% enterprise (professional services, finance, manufacturing, healthcare) / 15% public sector / 35% media.
• Thought leadership: ~10 thought-leadership events annually with measurable demand-gen outcomes.