Science Meeting Manager

NASA Science Meeting Manager

Hands-on meeting planner / manager with a strong technical aptitude. This position requires effective time management, attention to detail, and strong oral and written communications skills.

The successful candidate will be a quick learner, proactive problem solver, and good negotiator.

This is a unique and rewarding opportunity for a meeting professional with a desire to travel and curiosity about the scientific world.

It provides the opportunity to regularly interact with NASA officials and highly respected scientists from around the world, and to support their research, including climate science, by facilitating NASA-sponsored meetings in the US and overseas.

The Meeting Manager / Coordinator is a contractor position, through Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, to work in the NASA Earth Science Project Office (ESPO) at Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California.

This is not a remote position, but the team does telework for a portion of the week.

Job duties will include but not be limited to :

Work with stakeholders to define meeting parameters, agendas, and expectations

Take notes during planning meetings, establish list of deliverables and deadlines

Comply with government regulations for meetings and conferences

Develop meeting budgets, pay invoices and track all accounting

Request proposals from convention and visitors bureaus, hotels, and vendors as needed to source venues and services

Negotiate contracts and provide detailed information for delivery, set up, BEOs, etc.

Communicate meeting and destination information via web pages, emails, signage, etc.

Set up registration forms, including abstract submissions for oral and poster sessions

Collect presentation files and load onto meeting laptop

Pack and ship materials and selected equipment

Design, print, and distribute badges

Travel to meeting destinations; some weekend and holiday travel and / or work will be required, as well as some long work days

Set up and actively manage hybrid meetings including presentations, AV, coffee service, poster sessions, etc.

Post presentations and / or recordings online as needed after each meeting

Plan and / or support planning efforts for six to ten events per year, including meetings and symposiums for up to 300 attendees

Support ongoing communications for multiple established groups / mailing lists

Candidate strengths and experience should include :

Writing clear, concise communications

Excellent organizational skills

Proven ability to meet deadlines

Sourcing meeting destinations, venues, and vendors

Negotiating hotel and other contracts

Specifying, setting up, and operating AV equipment

Creating web pages

Managing mailing lists and databases

Proficiency with office software (Office 365, Google Suite including Forms)

Creating simple graphic designs

Power user of virtual meeting platforms including Teams and Webex; hybrid meeting experience preferred

Computer and network savvy; Mac OS experience strongly preferred

Additional required qualifications :

A minimum of five years of experience planning, coordinating, and executing meetings

Current US Passport, or eligibility to immediately apply for US Passport

Must be able to pass personal background checks for working with a variety of government agencies

Ability to lift 25 pounds

Additional preferred qualifications :

Bachelor's degree

About ESPO

The Earth Science Project Office (ESPO) at NASA Ames Research Center is a group of success-oriented individuals providing project management for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Earth Science Division.

We provide planning, implementation, and post-mission support for large, complex, multi-agency, domestic, and international field campaigns.

ESPO has led over 60 successful field campaigns since 1987. We support several of the NASA Earth Science Division’s programs, including Upper Atmosphere Research, Tropospheric Chemistry, Radiation Sciences, Weather and Atmospheric Dynamics, Ocean Biology and Biochemistry, Airborne Science, and the Earth System Science Pathfinder Program.