Associate Director, Experiential

BDG

$105K — $115K *
Media
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-8+ years in experiential marketing, brand activations, or events management history.
  • Proven track record in leading complex activations independently.
  • Strong negotiation and vendor management skills.
  • Creative strategist with excellent storytelling and writing abilities.
  • Exceptional client communication and presentation skills.
  • Dependability and collaboration across diverse teams.
  • Highly organized with the ability to juggle multiple projects under tight deadlines.

Responsibilities

  • Lead the ideation and strategy for custom events and brand activations.
  • Create and refine pitch decks and RFP responses to shape project direction.
  • Collaborate with Creative, Sales, and Editorial teams to align concepts with audience and brand strategy.
  • Manage budgeting for activations, including vendor onboarding and spend tracking.
  • Negotiate contracts and timelines, ensuring accountability for event delivery.
  • Interface with clients to refine concepts and manage expectations throughout the process.
  • Oversee logistics for major events and guide junior team members on quality and alignment.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to work on high-profile events at major cultural tentpoles like NYFW and Coachella.
  • Collaborative work environment with cross-functional team engagement.
  • Focus on innovation and strategic thinking in experiential marketing.
  • Chance to shape the future of branded experiences in a dynamic industry.
  • Potential for professional growth in a fast-paced, creative setting.
Full Job Description
Join BDG's Experiential team, where we create elevated, high-impact, award-winning events at the country's biggest cultural tentpoles - NYFW, Art Basel, Coachella, F1, and more. We're looking for a strategic, creative, highly organized leader ready to own branded experiences from ideation through on-site execution, someone who thrives on the adrenaline of bringing big ideas to life in real time, and wants to help shape what's next for experiential.

Key Responsibilities

Pre-Sale
  • Lead ideation, scoping, and pitch strategy for custom events and brand activations across our stable of proprietary properties.
  • Write and revise compelling pitch decks and RFP responses, shaping direction rather than just contributing to it.
  • Partner with Creative, Sales, and Editorial to ground concepts in audience insight and brand strategy.

Post-Sale / Execution
  • Own budgeting for assigned activations: building budgets, onboarding and managing vendors, tracking spend, approving invoices, and reconciling final costs.
  • Lead vendor negotiation, contracting, and production timelines as primary point of accountability for delivery.
  • Interface with clients throughout the process - refining concepts, managing expectations, and solving creatively in real time, including on-site.
  • Manage logistics for tentpole events (room blocks, travel, staffing) and ensure proper team resourcing.
  • Oversee recaps and event materials, guiding junior team members on quality and brand alignment.
  • Present strategic recommendations and recaps to leadership and clients.
  • Refine best practices and templates to improve team efficiency over time.


Qualifications

  • 5-8+ years in experiential marketing, brand activations, or events, with a track record of leading complex activations independently and successfully.
  • A fast-paced go-getter with an out-of-the-box, marketing-minded approach - genuinely passionate about where experiential is headed.
  • Skilled negotiator with proven budget and vendor management experience.
  • Strategic thinker with strong creative instincts and excellent writing and visual storytelling skills.
  • Strong client-facing communication and presentation skills.
  • Highly dependable and collaborative across cross-functional teams.
  • Highly organized, able to manage multiple high-stakes projects under tight deadlines.
  • Proficient in Canva, Keynote, PowerPoint, MS Office, and Monday.com (or similar).
  • Willing to travel and work nights/weekends as needed.


$105,000 - $115,000 a year

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