Sr. Director of Event Visitor Services & Central Planning

Job DetailsJob Location: Oklahoma City, OK 73102Position Type: Full TimeIn 2028, the Olympic and Paralympic Games are coming to the United States, and Team OKC will play a vital role in that global moment. As the organization responsible for delivering Canoe Slalom and Softball competitions in Oklahoma City, Team OKC will showcase the innovation, hospitality, and spirit of the American people while creating an unforgettable experience for athletes and fans alike. Delivering the Olympic Games is a team effort—one that requires creativity, collaboration, and exceptional leadership to bring the vision to life. The Sr. Director of Event Visitor Services & Central Planning will provide senior-level leadership for visitor services, venue partner coordination, and centralized operational planning across Team OKC’s Olympic and Paralympic Games responsibilities. Reporting to the President of Team OKC, this role is responsible for delivering an integrated operational and planning strategy that aligns with broader Games-time objectives, supports venue readiness, and ensures a seamless, high-quality experience for all Games visitors. This role will work closely with functional areas across LA28 and Team OKC, as well as with external venue partners and key stakeholders, to manage critical planning milestones, venue-related information flow, agreement coordination, operational readiness, and issue resolution. The ideal candidate will bring substantial leadership experience in large-scale event operations, venue planning, partner management, customer service, and visitor services operations in high-stakes environments. ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS  Lead the strategic planning, operational readiness, testing, and delivery of crowd management and venue services operations for assigned Olympic competition venues. Direct spectator flow, queue management, ingress/egress, venue access, and service delivery to ensure a safe, efficient, accessible, and exceptional experience for all Games visitors. Serve as a key liaison between Venue Services and functional areas including Venue Management, Transportation, Security, Accreditation, Ticketing, Hospitality, Workforce, Technology, Medical, and Spectator Experience. Lead the development and continuous improvement of venue operating plans, standard operating procedures, emergency response procedures, and event-day execution plans while ensuring compliance with Olympic and Paralympic standards, venue policies, accessibility requirements, and safety protocols. Provide leadership and executive-level decision-making support for venue issue resolution, escalation management, workforce deployment, and volunteer coordination during live operations. Prepare and present operational reports, executive briefings, readiness updates, debrief summaries, and post-event evaluations to support continuous improvement and informed decision-making. Lead project management efforts across multiple venue partners, ensuring seamless coordination and communication. Manage venue agreement contracting process with venue partners through agreement reviews, risk and issue identification and management, and solution implementation. Lead coordination, scheduling and materials preparation for cross-functional venue operational planning. Manage the receipt, aggregation, and internal distribution of venue-related in-formation from venue partners to support functional area workstreams as needed. Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Sports Management, Event Management, Hospitality, Business Administration, or related field preferred. Ten or more years of progressively responsible experience in large-scale event operations, venue management, sports events, hospitality, visitor services, central planning, or related operational environments, including leadership support for multi-day events, major sporting events, festivals, or live entertainment operations. Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional teams, volunteers, contractors, and external partners; Olympic, Paralympic, NCAA, professional sports, international event, or multi-venue planning experience is strongly preferred. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, executive-level presentation abilities, strong organizational and self-management skills, advanced project management capability, and the ability to travel independently with reliable transportation and a valid driver’s license. Experience managing venue partner relationships, planning schedules, operational documentation, risk and issue tracking, and agreement coordination in complex, deadline-driven environments. Ability to lift and carry up to thirty pounds.