Senior Manager of Events

To apply, use the Apply button on this Idealist listing. Please include your resume, a cover letter, and your salary expectations. Applications must include all three to be reviewed.

• Location: New York City, NY (hybrid, 3 days per week in office)
• Position type: Full-time
• Team: Manage 1 to 2 colleagues year round, alongside your own events
• Salary: $80,000 to $95,000, based on experience
• Experience: 4 to 6 years in fundraising event management
• Education: Bachelor's degree

Who We Are

Powered by Professionals (PBP) is a nonprofit fundraising and event management consultancy in New York City. Founded in 2001, we've spent over two decades helping nonprofits raise more through professionally managed events, and 2026 marks our 25th anniversary. Over that time we've helped our clients raise more than $350 million and produced more than 600 events.

We manage the full lifecycle of a nonprofit's signature fundraising event, whether that's a gala, a benefit, or a run or walk, from strategy and creative through logistics, technology, fundraising, and day-of execution. We work as an extension of our clients' teams, not as an outside vendor, which is why our clients come back year after year.

We're a small, hands-on team where you will have the chance to own meaningful work and see the impact of it directly. Live events move quickly and shift in real time, so we look for people who stay adaptable, think on their feet, and care about helping our clients raise more for the causes they serve, from medical research and education to veterans, human services, and the arts.

Learn more about our work at https://www.poweredbyprofessionals.com/

The Role

As Senior Manager of Events, you manage 1 to 2 colleagues and lead the event team on each of your own events, across a slate of 5 to 7 major fundraising events a year. On every event you run, you are accountable for delivery from kickoff to closeout: the run of show, staffing, vendors, timeline, fundraising outcomes, and the client relationship. You make the day-to-day calls that keep your events on track, and you bring the coordinators working on them along rather than absorbing the work yourself. This role is on-site for the events you lead, which means some evenings and weekends, especially during event season.

We are also hiring an Associate Director of Events, who manages 2 to 3 colleagues and leads a slate of 6 to 8 events a year. If that matches your experience, see that listing.

What You'll Do

• Run your events end to end. Lead each event from concept to closeout: run of show, production plan, vendor management, staffing, day-of execution, and a clean post-event wrap with lessons captured.
• Lead the team on your events. Delegate clearly, set expectations, oversee the work, and develop the coordinators working with you. You scale yourself through your team, not around them.
• Manage the client relationship. Be the trusted lead for clients, honorees, chairs, sponsors, vendors, and partners, building relationships that carry into future events. Push back when a request puts the event or the budget at risk, and do it in a way that keeps the relationship strong.
• Move the fundraising forward. Engage honorees, committees, and sponsors, facilitate the meetings that move fundraising forward, support solicitation efforts, and keep every event aligned with the client's fundraising goals.
• Hold the numbers. Track budgets, timelines, and fundraising progress, and flag risks early rather than letting them surface on event day.
• Run on clean systems. Use our event and auction platforms well, build repeatable processes, and improve them rather than working around them by hand.

What You'll Bring

• 4 to 6 years in event management and fundraising, ideally in an agency, nonprofit, or corporate events setting, with a track record of running large-scale events from concept to completion.
• Real delegation on your events. You lead by distributing work and developing the people on your events, not by doing everything yourself. You can tell when a teammate is underwater and you step in before it becomes a problem.
• Comfort pushing back. You hold the line with clients and vendors when the event, the budget, or the team is at risk, and you stay professional doing it.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills. Clear, professional communication and relationship-building with clients, honorees, sponsors, and vendors.
• Proactive communication. You flag issues, capacity concerns, and risks early. You do not go quiet when something is off.
• Platform and systems fluency. You are fluent in event and auction platforms (we work across OneCause, GiveSmart, Givergy, ClickBid, GoFundMe Pro, and others) and strong in Excel and Google Sheets. You build systems rather than brute-forcing tasks by hand, and you pick up new tools fast.
• A feel for the guest experience. You bring creative, practical ideas for making events more engaging and memorable, working within the creative direction set for each client.
• Composure under pressure. You stay calm and clear-headed in the lead-up to and during events, and that steadiness reassures both clients and your team.
• Strong organization and judgment across multiple events and competing deadlines, with the discretion to handle confidential client and donor information.

Our Core Values

Everyone at PBP is held to our seven core values. They are the standard we hold ourselves to, at every level:

• Relentless Drive: Proactively identify challenges and develop solutions before they escalate.
• Innovative Thinking: Propose new approaches to keep events fresh and solve unexpected issues creatively.
• Accountable Excellence: Meet deadlines with high-quality deliverables without needing reminders.
• Integrity and Communication: Provide honest updates and maintain transparency at every stage.
• Composed Under Pressure: Stay calm when challenges arise during execution, reassuring clients and leading the team.
• Tech-Savvy Learning: Stay current with the tools we use and share what you learn with the team.
• Collaborative Spirit: Celebrate team wins, support colleagues, and work closely with vendors and partners.

Why Join PBP

• Impactful work. Every event you lead directly contributes to a nonprofit's mission.
• Growth. A small team where you take on real ownership and shape how we run events.
• Flexible and inclusive environment. Hybrid setup (3 days per week in office) and a culture that values diversity, inclusion, and balance.
• Comprehensive health benefits. Eligibility begins three months after you join, with company contributions.
• 401(k) with employer matching after one year.
• Generous time off. 15 PTO days, 4 summer Fridays, 7 paid company holidays, 4 floating holidays of your choice, your birthday off, and the office closed from Christmas through New Year's Day.

If you lead through your team, hold a high bar under pressure, and want real ownership of events that help nonprofits raise more, we would love to hear from you.

Powered by Professionals is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and are committed to a fair and inclusive hiring process.

• Comprehensive health benefits with company contributions. Eligibility begins three months after you join.
• 401(k) with employer matching after one year.
• 15 PTO days, plus 4 summer Fridays.
• 7 paid company holidays, 4 floating holidays of your choice, and your birthday off.
• The office is closed from Christmas through New Year's Day.
• Hybrid schedule, 3 days per week in our New York City office.