Head - Operation - Media/Event Industry

Description:

Key Responsibilities / Accountability:

Strategic Operational Leadership:

- Oversee the end-to-end operations lifecycle from manpower planning and vendor management to execution and post-event review ensuring timely, high-quality, and cost-effective delivery.

Financial & Commercial Oversight:

- Manage project-wise P&L, budget forecasting, and vendor negotiations. Ensure adherence to board- approved margins, optimize cost-to-deliver ratios, and maintain financial discipline across the department.

Vendor Network & Ecosystem Management:

- Develop and strengthen a pan-India vendor ecosystem across production, technical, printing, hospitality, and compliance services for increased leverage and market agility.

Team Building & Capability Development:

- Mentor and lead a multidisciplinary team across functions such as production, technical, and permissions. Create a talent pipeline through structured hiring, hands-on training, and performance coaching.

Cross-Functional Synergy:

- Establish seamless coordination between operations, client servicing, finance, and creative teams to align deliverables with expectations and contractual commitments.

Process, Compliance & SOP Governance:

- Institutionalize checklists, MIS reviews, forecasting tools, and SOPs to elevate consistency, output quality, and risk mitigation across all touchpoints.

Client Experience Management:

- Address client escalations, ensure on-ground excellence, and uphold Companies delivery reputation through solution-driven execution strategies and proactive engagement.

Required Qualifications & Experience:

Required Skills & Competencies:

- 10+ years of progressive experience in event operations, production, or project delivery within the marketing/events domain.

- Graduate/Postgraduate in Business, Marketing, or related field.

- Strong experience in leading high-impact project teams across regions.

- Proven track record of managing budgets, timelines, vendor negotiations, and stakeholder expectations.

- Exposure to B2B/corporate experiential marketing is preferred.

- Strong leadership and team management abilities.

- Commercial acumen with deep knowledge of cost structures and margins.

- Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and troubleshooting skills.

- High adaptability to changing project dynamics, with a hands-on, agile approach.

- Proficiency in Microsoft Office and project tracking tools.

- Ability to work under pressure and lead from the front during high-intensity event cycles.