Corporate Event Planner at ZT Corporate – Newport, California

Job Title : Corporate Event Planner

Department: ZT Corporate

Reports to : Chief People Officer

Position : Full-Time - Onsite

Summary:

The Corporate Event Planner is responsible for providing, designing, coordinating, and executing corporate events that support all entities across all portfolios including private equity, philanthropy, and broader organizational goals. This role manages the full lifecycles of events, from initial concept, vendor sourcing, and logistics through on-site setup/breakdown and post-event analysis, while providing organized administrative support to our varying portfolios, including scheduling, data tracking, and follow-up documentation.

The Corporate Event Planner will report to the Chief People Officer and work closely with all portfolios, including Private Equity, Philanthropy, and Marketing teams. For Private Equity events, the Corporate Event Planner will collaborate with the Client Relationship Managers, getting final approvals from the President of ZT Capital and the Senior Managing Director. For events supporting ZT Athletics, the President of ZT Athletics and the Director of Philanthropy provide the vision that the Corporate Event Planner will assist in bringing to life. The Corporate Event Planner will also collaborate with the Marketing and Operations Director for input, feedback, and historical insight.

In addition, the Corporate Event Planner is accountable for setting the organizational tone and leadership standards that drive performance, trust, and engagement across all levels of the enterprise. Spearhead the development and execution of both hosted and attended event initiatives that strategically align with and support key business objectives and organizational needs. The planner maintains strong relationships with vendors and internal stakeholders through clear communication, meticulous attention to detail, and a hospitality-driven approach that ensures a polished, guest-focused experience. Success in this position requires proficiency with Microsoft Office tools for budgeting, reporting, presentations, and data management, as well as awareness of social media and digital touchpoints that extend event reach and engagement.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Event Coordination

• Covering the full event lifecycle, including research, planning, logistics, execution, and wrap-up and analysis.
• Defining the event objectives, building timeline, establishing and maintaining budgets, selecting venues, coordinating travel and accommodations, overseeing registration, and running the occasion day of.
• Keep a curated calendar of proposed events for ideas to push forward throughout the calendar year for functions we should host and participate in. Justify why it would be a benefit to our portfolios and create a formal proposal to introduce the idea to our internal teams.

Administrative Support

• Hosting internal briefings, preparing lists of key action items, tracking RSVPs, and maintaining accurate CRM data for our team so that they may focus on clients and donors.
• Assist with preparations of proposal decks, sponsorship packages, and briefing documents for client or donor meetings at events.

Relationship Management

• Maintain positive relationships with vendors, playing the role as both a negotiator and a partner to ensure quality, reliability, and future value to be built.
• Serve as the primary liaison between internal and external parties, sourcing, vetting, and selecting the proper vendor based on quality, fit, and budget, and be able to negotiate contracts, review proposals, and clarify deliverables, timelines, and service standards.
• Communicate with vendors in a polite, concise, and professional manner.
• Maintain a list of preferred vendors for internal and future use to continue to leverage relationships based on positive previous experiences. Must organize and expand this list over time to keep results consistent and up to date.

Event Set-Up and Break-Down

• Responsible for overseeing the set-up and break-down for the event, including supervising vendors and staff, checking details, and ensuring a safe and professional environment.
• Arrive early at the event to oversee the plans’, ensuring set-up is occurring on schedule. Run pre-event walkthroughs and briefings with staff to confirm final details and responsibilities.
• During the event, monitor the schedule and transitions and make real-time adjustments if necessary.
• Post-event, oversee the breakdown, ensuring items are returned, spaces are restored and cleaned, and any necessary incident documentation is submitted.

Research, Data Collection, and Analysis

• Collect and research data throughout the event lifecycle to inform planning, execution, and post-event evaluation.
• Conduct venue research and gather registration and attendee information to ensure events meet participant needs.
• Design and distribute pre- and post-event surveys to measure attendee satisfaction and expectations.
• Track and reconcile event budgets to support financial and performance analyses.
• Analyze post-event data to extract meaningful insights and measure outcomes against established KPIs.
• Identify successes, challenges, and opportunities for improvement to enhance future event strategy.
• Create and share data-driven summaries and reports that connect event outcomes to business objectives and organizational goals.

Core Competencies

• Strong and Professional Communication Skills

Conducts clear and adaptable communication across multiple avenues, written and verbal, with members both internal and external to the company. Internally, they must translate business objectives into tangible events, share logistical details such as cost, resources needed, and timelines, and provide updates to the team. Externally, they must communicate our business needs to vendors and suppliers, negotiate costs, provide clear instructions, and handle any last-minute changes, keeping the brand image in mind and communicating with diplomacy. Must be able to communicate professionally through a polished and well-groomed appearance as well.

• Detail and Task-Oriented

Tracking multiple competing priorities and moving parts in an organized manner to ensure deadlines are met such as the event status via a comprehensive checklist ensuring that the timeline is still on track and critical goals are met. Double-checking contracts and monitoring deadlines for deposits, vendor confirmations, and internal approvals. Highly organized, using project-management methods to organize tasks by priority, owner, and due date.

• Adaptability and Problem Solving

Remains calm and compose under pressure, demonstrating the ability to pivot seamlessly and adapt to unexpected challenges in real time. Proactively identifies issues as they arise and implements effective, solution-driven responses to keep events running smoothly. Takes ownership of responsibilities, operates with minimal supervision, and consistently presents well-thought-out solutions to ensure flawless event execution.

• Hospitality Minded

Creating a welcoming, thoughtful, and brand focused experience for our attendees and VIPs, combining guest service with business sensitivity and brand awareness. Maintain a calm, solution-oriented demeanor on site, even under pressure, so guests feel taken care of. Anticipate needs of the attendees, such as accessibility, dietary restrictions, cultural considerations, and overall comfort; designing touch points that feel personal and thoughtful. Mindset that is client-first and networking savvy to maintain positive relations with our event attendees and vendors.

• Technologic Literacies

Proficiency with the Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) as core productivity tools to help maintain internal coordination and for proposal communication and budget tracking. Familiarity with event planning tools, such as ticketing platforms, and being capable of using CRM integration and exporting post-event data for analysis. Familiar with tools for virtual and hybrid events, having streaming knowledge and being able to understand AV needs.

• Social Media Awareness

Understanding the social media channels to support event goals and enforce brand guidelines. Knowing which platforms matter for our audience and timing content in conjunction with the event. Collaborating with marketing, to encourage attendee engagement, monitoring trends and mentions posted. Gather simple analytics to feed into post-event reports for overall improvement.

KPIs

Attendance and Audience Quality

• Conversion rate of invites sent versus accepted
• Total attendance rates, including no-show attendee tracking
• Target guest attendee percentage

Engagement and Satisfaction

• In-Person Guest Engagement
• Post-Event Feedback
• Event Satisfaction Score
• Interaction Volume

Lead Generation

• Contacts captured
• Lead-to-opportunity conversion rate

Financial Performance and ROI

• Cost control ratio
• Post-event client generation rate
• Marketing ROI

Brand Awareness

• Brand reach
• Social media engagement rate
• Returning attendee's rate

Operational Efficiency

• On-time delivery of key tasks
• Registration efficiency
• Post-event follow ups

Success of Event

• Client happiness and retention
• New client rate
• Donation percentage

Marginal Duties

• Be looped into cross-functional projects and ad hoc tasks, contributing event expertise and meeting assigned deliverables as needed.
• Remain flexible in supporting various portfolios with one-off initiatives, such as small activations, internal meetings, or special projects outside regular event cycles.
• Assist teams with basic administrative support, including scheduling meetings, creating calendar invites, taking and distributing notes, managing inventory and supplies, processing invoices and expenses, and organizing shared email inboxes.

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

Education and/or Experience:

Education & Experience:

• High School GED
• 5+ years of progressive experience in event coordination or hospitality management.
• Demonstrated experience leading all aspects of managing a full event lifecycle, from concept and vendor sourcing through on-site execution and post-event analysis, while providing organized administrative support, including scheduling, data tracking, and follow-up documentation.

Skills:

• Coordinate end-to-end event planning, logistics, execution, and post-event wrap-up.
• Manage timelines, budgets, venues, travel, registration, and day-of event operations.
• Maintain an annual calendar of event ideas and create proposals that support business goals.
• Provide administrative support through internal briefings, RSVP tracking, and CRM updates.
• Prepare proposal decks, sponsorship materials, and briefing documents for key meetings.
• Build and maintain strong vendor relationships to ensure quality and value.
• Act as main point of contact for vendors, handling selection, contracts, and expectations.
• Keep an organized, up-to-date preferred vendor list for future events.
• Oversee on-site event setup, execution, and breakdown to ensure a smooth and safe experience.
• Monitor event flow in real time and adjust plans as needed.
• Gather and analyze event data to inform planning and measure outcomes.
• Use surveys, budget tracking, and KPIs to report results and recommend improvements.