Manager, Events and Experience

Job Summary

The Experience & Events Manager is responsible for creating, coordinating, and executing exceptional experiences that strengthen UFCU's relationships with strategic partners, community organizations, members, executive stakeholders, and community leaders This role leads the development and execution of events, activations, sponsorships, programs, and engagement opportunities that elevate UFCU's brand, deepen relationships, and advance organizational objectives.

The Experience & Events Manager serves as the operational and creative lead for partnership activations, community engagement events, executive experiences, and strategic stakeholder gatherings. Working closely with Business Development, Community Engagement, Marketing, Retail, Lending, and organizational leaders, this role ensures UFCU consistently delivers meaningful, memorable, and well-executed experiences that reflect UFCU's purpose and values.

The role reports to the Director, Partnership Success & Community Engagement and leads a team responsible for event planning, sponsorship activation, stakeholder engagement, community programming, and executive event support. The position also maintains a dotted-line relationship to the Office of the CEO to support Board of Directors events, executive leadership engagements, strategic planning events, and key stakeholder experiences.

About UFCU

Our Credit Union was founded in 1936 and has grown to serve members throughout Texas and beyond. At UFCU, we are more than just a financial institution, and our people are more than just employees. We are dedicated to our purpose of empowering our Members to achieve financial success and build brighter futures.

In pursuit of our aspiration that UFCU is loved by millions of Members and built to thrive for generations, we are guided by our values:

• Purposefully Member-Obsessed: We are driven by a profound sense of empathy to deeply understand our Members’ needs and preferences, what brighter futures means to them, and the obstacles in their way. We act in our Members’ best interests, forever seeking to empower their financial success.

• Possibilities Reimagined: We are inspired to courageously experiment, learn, and iterate in pursuit of positive impact for our Members, UFCU, and coworkers. We challenge assumptions, embrace diverse perspectives, and make use of data and insights.

• Performance Excellence Rooted in Unwavering Integrity: We do the right thing, always. We champion teamwork, accountability, continuous improvement, and celebrate successful outcomes of others, fostering an inclusive environment of excellence and collaboration.

Essential Functions

Events, Activations & Engagement

• Lead the planning, coordination, and execution of strategic partnership events, sponsorship activations, community events, and stakeholder engagement initiatives.
• Develop and maintain an annual activation calendar aligned with partnership priorities, community development goals, and organizational objectives.
• Create innovative engagement opportunities that strengthen UFCU's visibility and presence within higher education, healthcare, employer groups, and community organizations.
• Oversee all aspects of event execution including planning, logistics, vendor management, budgets, communications, UFCU suite hospitality, and post-event evaluation.
• Ensure events and activations consistently reflect UFCU's brand, values, and strategic priorities.
• Develop activation playbooks, planning standards, run-of-show templates, vendor processes, and event execution practices that create consistency across community events, partner engagements, sponsorships, and organizational programs.
• Identify opportunities to increase attendance, engagement, brand awareness, relationship growth, and community impact through events and activations.
• Coordinate financial wellness workshops, community outreach activities, SEG/partnership launches, and signature UFCU experiences. May assist with volunteer events.

Executive & Board Event Support

(Dotted-line relationship to the Office of the CEO)

• Support planning and execution of Board of Directors meetings, retreats, strategy sessions, appreciation events, and governance-related activities.
• Develop event standards and hospitality protocols that support executive and board engagement activities.
• Support VIP engagement strategies and special events that enhance UFCU's reputation and influence within the communities it serves.

Community & Partnership Activation

• Partner with Partnerships, Business Development, and Community Engagement teams to deliver community-focused initiatives that support UFCU's strategic priorities.
• Coordinate community development programs, financial wellness activities, and outreach efforts.
• Support activation strategies for strategic partnerships and community relationships.
• Represent UFCU at partner events, community programs, sponsorship activations, and stakeholder gatherings as appropriate.

Team Leadership & Operational Excellence

• Lead and develop a team responsible for event planning, activation management, sponsorship coordination, , community events, and stakeholder experiences.
• Establish annual goals, performance metrics, and accountability standards for activation and event outcomes.
• Manage event and activation budgets while ensuring effective use of organizational resources.
• Develop processes, tools, and operational standards that improve consistency, efficiency, risk management, and execution quality.
• Foster a culture of creativity, service excellence, collaboration, responsiveness, and accountability.
• Coordinate internal resources and remove obstacles to ensure successful delivery of event commitments and activation plans.

Strategic Business Partner

• Cultivate strong, lasting, and meaningful relationships with leaders, peers, partners, and stakeholders across the organization.
• Collaborate with BD, Retail, Marketing, Lending, Wealth Management, Commercial Services, Operations, Community Engagement, and other business units to maximize event and activation success.
• Translate organizational priorities into actionable activation plans that support member growth, community impact, brand visibility, and partnership success.
• Support enterprise initiatives through event planning, activation execution, cross-functional coordination, and stakeholder engagement.

Other

• Perform other duties as assigned.
• Adhere to all organizational policies, procedures, and business ethics codes.
• Complete required regulatory training as assigned.
• Maintain strict adherence and compliance to all laws, rules, regulations, policies, procedures, and internal controls specific to the role, including but not limited to the Bank Secrecy Act, Anti-Money Laundering, USA Patriot Act, OFAC, and Fair Lending regulations.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

Events & Activation Management

• Expertise in event planning, activation management, sponsorship execution, hospitality, and stakeholder engagement.
• Strong ability to conceptualize, organize, and execute large-scale events, executive programs, community events, and partnership activations.
• Demonstrated success managing multiple high-profile initiatives simultaneously while maintaining attention to detail and service quality.
• Strong vendor management, budgeting, project management, logistics coordination, and post-event evaluation skills.

Relationship Management & Community Engagement

• Ability to build strong relationships with community leaders, strategic partners, executive stakeholders, nonprofit organizations, vendors, and organizational leaders.
• Strong communication, presentation, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to represent an organization professionally in public-facing environments.
• Strong understanding of community engagement, partnership support, experiential marketing, and relationship-building strategies.

Executive Presence

• Ability to work effectively with senior executives, board members, and influential external stakeholders.
• High degree of professionalism, confidentiality, discretion, sound judgment, and attention to detail.
• Ability to anticipate needs, manage complexity, and deliver exceptional experiences for executive audiences.
• Comfort operating in fast-moving environments where priorities, stakeholders, and event requirements may shift.

Executing for Results

• Proven track record of delivering measurable outcomes through high-quality events, activations, and engagement programs.
• Ability to translate strategic objectives into actionable, well-orchestrated plans.
• Consistently drives accountability, follow-through, and results while maintaining strong stakeholder relationships.