Director, Events Automotive News (Hamtramck)

Director Of Events

The Director of Events will lead the strategic and operational transformation of the Automotive News Group event portfoliosdriving growth, innovation, and operational excellence. This executive will be responsible for full P&L ownership and end-to-end delivery of tentpole summits, one-day forums, awards galas, executive roundtables, private dinners, and custom experiences that elevate both brand influence and industry leadership.

Working across editorial, sales, marketing, and audience development, the Director will translate brand authority into compelling event experiences that attract high-value audiences and generate multimillion-dollar revenue through tickets, sponsorships, and new products. The ideal candidate is equal parts strategic architect, product innovator, and operational leadercapable of building a roadmap for growth while ensuring flawless execution in every detail.

Key Responsibilities

Set the vision & roadmap craft a 3-year growth plan that aligns event concepts with overall Automotive News Group growth plans, brand positioning, editorial calendars, and revenue targets.

Own full P&L develop budgets, pricing and margin targets; forecast, track and optimize revenue (tickets, sponsorship, ancillary products) and costs; create business cases for new launches and M&A opportunities.

Product innovation launch new formats (micro-events / dinners, regional roadshows, expanded tentpole events) and experiences that extend value beyond show days.

Programming strategy own the high-level content architecture for every event; partner with head of programming and content leaders to define themes, session formats, speaker targets, and data-driven storytelling that differentiate AN programming from competitors.

Audience growth & attendee experience set the strategy and drive end-to-end execution for a best-in-class attendee registration journey and event-marketing site flow; partner with marketing, data, and content teams to build segmented acquisition funnels and deliver best-in-class attendee journeys.

Sponsorship strategy design tiered sponsorship architecture; collaborate with ad-sales on packaging, pricing and bespoke activations that leverage AN editorial assets and Crain's broader ecosystem; partner with sales leadership to penetrate new spend categories.

Operational excellence lead event operations team, technology stack (registration, Cvent, mobile app, analytics) and vendor selection for flawless, scalable execution.

Market intelligence continuously scan industry trends, competitor moves, and tech innovations; convert insight into new event concepts or pivots.

Team leadership inspire, coach and restructure a distributed team; embed OKRs and rigorous post-event debrief loops to drive continuous improvement.

Requirements

5+ years building and scaling B2B event portfolios, including multi-brand or multi-vertical oversight.

Proven leader who can cascade strategy into clear objectives for programming, sales, and operations teams; track record of working with experienced operations teams to align event strategy into on-site, day-of execution.

Demonstrated record of revenue growth, new event launches, long-term strategic planning and big sponsorship wins.

Strong team leader with experience reorganizing under-resourced groups into high-performing units.

Exceptional collaboratorequally effective with direct-report teams and distributed corporate support resources.

Able to travel 25-50% domestically and internationally.

Preferences

Strong network in automotive, manufacturing or adjacent industrial sectors is a plus.

Fluency with Cvent event management platform.

This position is exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act and is not eligible for overtime pay.

Pay Transparency Disclosure : The estimated base salary for this position is $140,000 - $175,000. The final salary offering will take into account a wide range of factors, including experience, accomplishments and location. The salary range provided should not be considered as a salary limit or cap. In addition to base salary, Crain also offers competitive benefits including retirement plan savings contributions and bonus opportunities based on individual and company performance.

Brand Overview : Since 1925, Automotive News has been the go-to place for all the news that is happening among automotive retailers, suppliers and manufacturers. Whether it is breaking news sent to a phone, digital editions and web products delivered to a desktop, or stories in the award-winning print edition, Automotive News covers the news everywhere it happens around the world. Breaking news, data, daily newscasts, webinars, conferences and events are just some of the offerings. AutomotiveNews, Automotive News Europe, and Automotive News China are created locally and are backed by a global team of 50 editors and reporters, as well as a commitment to journalistic excellence.

About Crain Communications : Crain Communications is a leading business news and information company with a portfolio of 24 media brands that provide indispensable coverage and data for professionals globally and across sectors, including advertising, automotive, finance, healthcare, staffing, and workforce solutions. Many of Crain's brands are the most influential media properties in the industries and communities they serve, including Ad Age, Automotive News, Pensions & Investments, Modern Healthcare, Staffing Industry Analysts, as well as Crain's regional business brands. For more than a century, our dedication to deep sector expertise and journalistic integrity has enabled us to provide trusted insights across all our platforms, empowering today's business leaders to make industry-shaping decisions.

Environmental Demands : Where you work matters. The job posting will provide specific information on where and when your amazing work would be performed. Employee work location is determined by the needs of the specific team and may include on-site, hybrid or remote. Employee work location is subject to change.

• An in-office role would require the employee to come into the office most days with occasional flexibility to work remotely if tasks can be performed elsewhere and if the manager approves.
• A remote role would allow an employee to work from a home office that is in one of the states Crain does business in. We can only employ a remote / work from home employee if they reside in one of these states : AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, IL, MD, MA, MI, MN, NV, NY, NC, OH, OR, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI, and Washington, DC.
• A hybrid role would be a mix of in-office and remote work. There may be a specified schedule for coming into the office or it could be at the discretion of the employee with the manager's approval, subject to change.
• Employees who live within a reasonable commute distance from a Crain office are expected to work on-site 3 days per week.

Many positions will also include work done in the field. Depending on the role, this may include conducting in-person interviews, attending work-related events, meeting with sources or clients. Specifics will be noted in the job posting but are subject to change as a role evolves. Employees may be exposed to adverse environmental conditions, specifically during field work. Other typical job functions are performed under conditions such as those found in general office work.

Travel to cover news stories / events, meetings with clients, and to our geographically separated offices may be required. It is the nature of many positions to experience non-standard working hours and be on-call when needed for responding to email, meeting with clients, attending work-related events, story development or breaking news. Most employees perform work Monday through Friday, although early-morning, evening, or weekend shifts may be required. Work schedule and travel requirements are subject to change as a role and needs evolve over time.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of many Crain jobs and are subject to change. Physical activities will include frequent in-person or virtual interactions. For most positions, it is essential to be able to remain at a desk / computer workstation for prolonged periods, perform computer-related tasks, and create / maintain documents within filing systems. Must have close visual acuity to perform an activity, such as preparing and analyzing reports and information, transcribing, viewing a computer terminal, or extensive reading. The typical physical requirements are light workexerting up