Director, Event Operations & Planning - Combat Sports

Who We Are: On Location is a global leader in premium experiential hospitality, offering ticketing, curated guest experiences, live event production and travel management across sports, entertainment, fashion and culture. On Location provides unrivaled access for corporate clients and fans looking for official, immersive experiences at marquee events, including the Olympic and Paralympic Games, FIFA World Cup 2026, Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, and more. An official partner and/or service provider to over 150 iconic rights holders, such as the IOC (the Milano Cortina 2026 and Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games), FIFA, NFL, NCAA, UFC, WWE, and PGA of America, the company also owns and operates a number of its own unique experiences. On Location is a subsidiary of TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TKO), a premium sports and entertainment company. TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TKO) is a premium sports and entertainment company. TKO owns iconic properties including UFC, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization; WWE, the global leader in sports entertainment; and PBR, the world’s premier bull riding organization. Together, these properties reach 1 billion households across 210 countries and territories and organize more than 500 live events year-round, attracting more than three million fans. TKO also services and partners with major sports rights holders through IMG, an industry-leading global sports marketing agency; and On Location, a global leader in premium experiential hospitality.

The Director, Event Operations & Planning for On Location, Combat Sports team will play a central role in working with more than 10 functional areas across On Location that will sell, deliver, and innovate Hospitality and VIP Experience programs alongside UFC, WWE, Zuffa Boxing, and TKO.

Main responsibilities will include:

• Collecting and evaluating functional area project deadlines, milestones and deliverables.
• Measuring the project health and summarizing project progress according to milestones set at the Rights holder partner level, or by the On Location functional areas. Making sure that all parties are on track with project requirements, deadlines, and schedules.
• Identifying key areas of risk or delay that require additional focus or escalation to executive leadership to ensure dependent milestones are not impacted.
• Serve as a client-facing team member, required to coordinate meetings, reporting, and project deliverables with our Partners and internally.
• Preparing status reports by gathering, analyzing, and summarizing relevant information.
• Establishing & maintaining effective project communication plans and ensuring their execution.
• Facilitating change requests to ensure that all parties are informed of the impacts (schedule, partner, financial).
• Serving as a central hub of information and support for the entire team so internal and external communication along with relationship building is crucial to the success of the role.
• Supporting special strategic growth initiatives within the Combat team from creation to completion by working with internal stakeholders and external clients to define that concept and create a process to bring it to fruition. This includes setting and managing client expectations, developing a detailed project plan, defining the scope of the project and assigning team members to specific tasks.
• Building, managing and training project management systems and new tools required to work effectively.
• Accelerating alignment across teams, integrating different functions, defining, and driving better processes, and coaching and aligning teams and leaders to achieve their desired efficiency.
• Establishing operational accountability (e.g., checklists, quality assurance tests) for the Combat team and share best practices across event teams.
• Ensuring teams are maintaining best practices with data across systems to ensure that when we bring it all together, it results in the correct information available to the correct teams.
• Working with people with different styles, and ability to navigate and endure learning situations where interactions and outcomes do not go as planned.

In order to build and maintain a dynamic team mentality, a planning & coordination manager must be able to keep open and honest communication, form working relationships and motivate anyone who needs it.

Monitor Project Progress and Set Deadlines

Organization and follow-through are a big part of a planning & coordination manager’s job. From creating an accurate timeline of project completion to ensuring tasks are finished within the confines of the assignment, this manager must remain aware of how the project is progressing.

The planning and coordination manager also anticipates delays that may occur on the client side and apprises the team of any changes in the client’s needs.

Solve Issues That Arise

During every project, issues arise that need to be solved. The planning & coordination manager is the first person who clients and team members turn to when something goes wrong, so it is in these professionals’ best interest to anticipate any potential hiccups before they happen. Adaptability and problem solving are key to keeping control of a project.

You Have These:

Planning & Coordination Manager Requirements:

• A bachelor’s degree or master's degree in Event or Project Management.
• Proven experience in event operations, event product building, project management & project management tools.
• Problem solving, creative solutions and strong communication are all essential.
• Forward thinker, strong planning skills. Ability to look ahead at possible scenarios to manage different outcomes and prepare the project team members accordingly.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, across multiple time zones, with the ability to prioritize projects and deliverables as demands shift.
• Ability to distill complex projects in a simple and understandable method requires training experience.
• Ability to lead project teams of various sizes and see them through to completion.
• Strong understanding of formal project management methodologies.
• Experience as a large-scope project manager.
• Able to complete projects in a timely manner.
• Understanding of Project Management Systems; Airtable, Smartsheet.
• Excellent PowerPoint capabilities.

We’d like you to have:

• Event Management experience.
• Internal & External client relations experience.

Planning & Coordination Skills

Because these manager responsibilities are abundant, a broad range of skills is helpful in propelling them through the process, including:

• Accountability
• Adaptability
• Budget Management
• Clear Communication
• Creativity
• Decisiveness
• Delegation
• Forecasting
• Leadership
• Management
• Organization
• Problem Solving
• Strategic Thinking
• Stress Management

Travel:

Occasional domestic travel to On Location offices could be required.

Per local requirements and in the interest of transparency, the hourly rate shown below reflects the prevalent current hiring range for this position. Hiring pay rates are based on a number of factors, including location and may vary depending on job-related qualifications, knowledge, skills and experience. The company strives to provide locally competitive rewards packages, which include base rate along with, as applicable, short- and long-term incentives, growth and developmental opportunities, and robust benefits, such as health care, retirement, vacation and other paid time off, and additional offerings.

Hiring Rate Minimum:

$112,500 annually (minimum will not fall below the applicable State/local minimum salary thresholds)

Hiring Rate Maximum:

$150,000 annually

TKO is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws regarding non-discrimination in employment. TKO makes employment decisions based on merit and qualifications, without considering an employee’s or applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other basis prohibited under federal, state or local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the Company has facilities. TKO also provides reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and applicable state or local laws. For information about Privacy and Information Security for TKO employment candidates, please review our Privacy Policy. For information regarding Terms of Use for this and other TKO websites, please review our Terms of Use.