Senior Events Manager

About the company

Spark New Zealand is the country’s largest telecommunications and digital services provider, supporting millions of customers and many businesses across Aotearoa. The organisation works in a fast-moving sector and uses agile ways of working to stay responsive, collaborative, and focused on strong outcomes for customers and communities.

Role overview

As Senior Events Manager, you will take full responsibility for Spark’s flagship live experiences from planning through to completion. This includes sales channel conferences, incentive and awards events, client hosting, and major company events. The role calls for strong strategic thinking, hands-on delivery, and the ability to create events that inform, engage, and impress both internal and external audiences.

You will also act as a day-to-day lead for the Live Experience team, supporting coordination, coaching, and decision-making. In addition, you will manage budgets, agency and supplier relationships, and the overall quality and consistency of Spark’s live event portfolio.

Key responsibilities

• Own the full lifecycle of assigned event programmes, from concept and planning through delivery and post-event review.
• Lead the design, scheduling, execution, and evaluation of Spark’s sales conferences, awards evenings, client events, and large-scale company functions.
• Set and protect the event style, tone, visual approach, and overall experience standard for Spark live events.
• Provide on-site leadership and operational control to ensure smooth event delivery.
• Prepare monthly performance updates for the Commercial Sponsorship Lead and other stakeholders.
• Allocate work across the Live Experience team and support day-to-day prioritisation.
• Serve as the primary contact for the team, offering guidance, escalation support, and leadership decisions.
• Coach and develop team members to strengthen capability, confidence, and career growth.
• Foster a collaborative and high-performing team culture.
• Build strong relationships with senior internal stakeholders across leadership, sales, brand, and marketing.
• Manage agency and supplier partnerships with clear expectations, accountability, and value focus.
• Maintain alignment across stakeholders to ensure a consistent one-Spark approach to live experiences.
• Oversee the budget for assigned programmes, including budgeting, forecasting, and reporting.
• Deliver events within budget while maximising business impact and return on investment.
• Provide monthly budget reporting to the Commercial Sponsorship Lead.
• Promote best practice in event delivery and stay current with market trends and competitor activity.
• Continuously improve event programmes by capturing lessons learned and applying them to future events.
• Contribute to Spark’s broader business strategy through high-impact live experiences.
• Model leadership behaviours and help support Spark’s culture and employer brand ambition.

Experience and background required

• At least 5 years of experience delivering complex, high-profile events, ideally within technology or large corporate environments.
• Proven ability to manage events end-to-end, including strategy, planning, budgets, agencies, and execution.
• Previous leadership experience such as coaching, mentoring, or supervising others.
• Strong project and programme management capability, with the ability to balance multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Confident stakeholder management skills, including working with senior leaders and external partners.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• A proactive, resilient, and practical leadership style suited to fast-paced settings.

Benefits

• Comprehensive wellbeing support, including medical insurance, life and income protection, wellbeing coaching, EAP access, and in-house specialist clinical support through the Mahi Tahi Wellness programme.
• Hybrid working for most teams, typically four days in the office and one flexible day.
• Four weeks of annual leave, plus purchased leave, enhanced parental leave support and payments, and study leave.
• Permanent employees receive $150 per month Spark credit to use on Spark products.
• Access to a share scheme when available.
• Career development through an internal marketplace for experiential, on-the-job learning opportunities.

Eligibility

Because of the urgency and nature of the role, applicants must already be based in New Zealand and hold permanent residency, New Zealand citizenship, or a valid work visa with at least 18 months remaining.

Diversity, inclusion, and sustainability

Spark aims to make inclusion part of everyday practice, with a workplace where people can bring their full selves to work regardless of gender, ethnicity, orientation, age, or ability. Sustainability is also a core priority, with a focus on supporting Aotearoa New Zealand’s recovery, economic transformation, and digital equity.