Event and Venue General Manager (Director)
LA28 · Los Angeles · $126,000–$160,000 (stated in the posting)
LA28 does not provide relocation assistance for any positions. If you are based outside the Los Angeles area, we still welcome your application — we value talent from all geographic backgrounds and want to hear from you if you are able to work on-site in LA.
Role Purpose
As Event and Venue Management (Director), you will lead the planning and delivery of venue operations across multiple competition venues for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In the lead up to the Games, you will expand venue operations planning and readiness, building the plans, teams, and partnerships that turn the venue into a world-class field of play. You will oversee functions and stakeholders, manage budget and risk, and take each venue from planning through Games-time delivery.
Key Responsibilities
- Collaborate cross-functionally, lead the development, optimization, and delivery of venue-based Event Operations plans for the venue.
- Lead the venue team to achieve objectives, venue readiness, and deliverables to stakeholders, and venue owner / operator.
- Build strong, productive, and respectful relationships with the venue partner and related stakeholders and serve as the day-to-day venue leadership contact.
- Work cross-functionally to ensure an efficient and effective engagement process with venue partners including managing meeting cadence, stakeholder site visits, venue planning, and operational readiness.
- Work closely with venue infrastructure, technology, and other technical teams to track deliverables.
- Manage venue service levels, identify risks, develop risk mitigation strategies, and leverage opportunities to create efficiencies and savings.
- Hire, train, motivate, and lead a diverse, high-performing venue team capable of developing and executing venue operations plans efficiently and effectively.
- Coordinate with venue owners and local authorities to manage the Venue Use Agreement (VUA), ensuring compliance with contractual terms and operational requirements.
- Prepare and deliver written and oral reports on venue status to senior leaders and other stakeholders as required including tracking, reporting and solving issues at all phases of the project (planning, readiness and operations).
- Manage venue operations supporting the needs of all stakeholders including athletes, workforce, spectators, marketing partners, and media focusing on a comprehensive, inclusive, fully accessible venue.
- Establish working relationships and coordinate activities with local authorities and security representatives specific to the venue and the venue approach.
- Lead Functional Areas to create the Event Operations Plan and other tools for planning and delivery.
- Champion and embed the LA28 values and behaviors into all facets of engagement, planning and delivery.
Required Competencies
- Bachelor's degree in sport management or complementary field
- 8+ years of experience leading venue, event, or operations delivery for major, complex, live sporting or entertainment events at scale.
- A strong track record of building and leading senior, cross-functional operational teams to fixed, immovable event deadlines, holding a high delivery bar.
- Excellent stakeholder and vendor management skills, coordinating many partners and functional areas simultaneously across multiple venues at once.
- Proven experience directing budgets, master schedules, and comprehensive risk registers across multiple concurrent operational programs.
- Decisive, calm leadership and sound judgment when information is incomplete and the delivery timeline is genuinely fixed.
Valued Experience
- Direct experience delivering venues at an Olympic, Paralympic, or other major international Games.
- Familiarity with temporary overlay, infrastructure, and field-of-play operations at competition venues.
- A background coordinating sport, broadcast, security, accreditation, and commercial venue partners.
- A collaborative, co-creative approach to solving complex operational problems under demanding timelines.
What We Offer
- The opportunity to build and operate a competition venue for a once-in-a-generation Games.
- A collaborative, co-creative culture grounded in inclusion, integrity, and accountability.
- High-impact, highly visible delivery work with a lasting community legacy.
- Genuine professional growth alongside a diverse, world-class Games-delivery team.
What This Role Means for the Games
The Games happen at venues — where athletes compete and the world watches. In this role, you lead the teams and plans that turn sites into fully operational fields of play, holding the standard that keeps every competition day safe, accessible, and seamless.
Physical Requirements & Working Conditions
- Available to work onside in our Downtown Los Angeles-based office.
- The majority of work will be conducted in an office setting, requiring extended periods of time using computers, phones, and other office equipment.
- The LA28 office is an open floorplan working environment; employees must be able to work efficiently in an open cubicle environment.
- Hours of work may vary, including evenings, weekends, and holidays, especially during peak event periods.
- Perform other duties as required; the role will evolve over time and may include operational responsibilities during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
- This role supports multiple venue sites, with travel across venues and to our Los Angeles-based office as required.
Compensation
The annual base salary range for this position is $126,000.00 - $160,000.00. The pay scale provided is the range that LA28 reasonably expects to pay as starting base compensation for this role. All LA28 compensation remains subject to final determination based on individual candidate qualifications, experience, or other reasonable criteria consistent with LA28's operational business needs and applicable law.
Accommodation
LA28 is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you require an accommodation at any stage, please let us know and we will work with you to meet your needs.
Equal Opportunity
LA28 is committed to fair and unbiased recruitment procedures allowing all applicants an equal opportunity for employment, free from discrimination on the basis of religion, race, sex, age, sexual orientation, disability, color, ethnic or national origin, or any other classification as may be protected by applicable law. LA28 will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance and all applicable laws. We strive to build a team that is inclusive and encourage qualified candidates of all backgrounds, perspectives, and identities to apply. We assess applications based on relevant skills, education, and experience a candidate can add to our team.