Director, Operations Support

This position can be based in Denver, St. Louis, or Grand Rapids. 

At Unbridled, people matter. While we embrace AI as a tool to help us work smarter, we don’t use it to screen resumes or to conduct interviews on our behalf. Applications are reviewed by a real person on our team, and every interview is conducted by a real person(s). We believe every candidate deserves an authentic, respectful hiring experience.

Our Company

Unbridled is an event management, production, and creative agency delivering intentionally crafted events through our customer-focused approach to creative design, attendee management, program logistics, production, and travel. We believe that in an unbridled atmosphere, talented people are unleashed to imagine and intentionally craft solutions and services that amaze our customers. Our values drive everything we do....and differentiate the Unbridled Brand. We collaborate in each other's destiny, foster a culture of authenticity, and are a business of radical generosity. It's part of why we have a 99% client retention and less than 15% annual employee turnover.  You will thrive at Unbridled because we focus on relationships, keep clients first, and put people before process.

Job Description

The Director, Operations Support is responsible for building the operational infrastructure, capabilities, and ways of working that empowers Unbridled’s Commercial organization to scale and perform at its best.

This role leads enterprise workforce planning and resourcing, workflow management, sourcing and supplier relations, and strategic innovation by identifying opportunities to remove friction, improve capacity, strengthen accountability, and increase efficiencies across the organization.

Operating across Client Leadership, Program Delivery, and functional teams, the Director translates business needs into scalable systems and solutions, ensuring Unbridled has the right people, resources, partners, tools, and processes in place to deliver exceptional client experiences today while continuously improving how the organization works for the future.

Successful candidates will have the following: 

• Strong enterprise and systems thinking with the ability to see across teams, projects, people, and competing priorities. 
• Proven ability to lead organizational change and translate strategy into practical ways of working. 
• Deep understanding of event operations, workforce planning, resourcing, and the realities of delivering complex client programs. 
• Strong commercial and financial acumen with the ability to balance client needs, employee experience, capacity, and business performance. 
• Ability to build and lead high-performing functional teams while empowering subject matter experts to own their craft. 
• Experience translating a cross-functional analysis into an organizational structure or staffing recommendation
• Strong judgment and executive presence with the ability to make decisions across competing organizational priorities. 
• Curiosity about emerging technology, AI, automation, and new ways of working. Proven success leading multiple operational support functions within a complex organization. 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• 10+ years of experience in events, hospitality, agency operations, professional services, or a related industry. 
• Significant leadership experience across operations, account management, project delivery, workforce planning, resource management, or cross-functional organizational transformation. 
• Demonstrated experience developing supplier relationships and negotiation strategies. 
• Experience implementing or optimizing enterprise systems, workflows, automation, or AI-powered processes.
• Active participation in industry organizations such as SITE, MPI, or PCMA.

What you would be doing at Unbridled:

Workforce Planning, Resourcing & Capacity

• Build an enterprise view of current and future demand, capacity, skills, availability, and resource needs. 
• Establish a forecast-led resourcing model that helps leaders anticipate needs rather than react to staffing gaps. 
• Develop an integrated workforce strategy across full-time employees, contractors, Travel Directors, and other flexible resources. 
• Partner with functional leaders on staffing decisions while maintaining visibility across the needs of the broader organization. 

Workflow & Operational Excellence

• Own how work moves across Commercial Operations, identifying unclear handoffs, bottlenecks, duplicated effort, and unnecessary complexity. 
• Establish scalable workflows and operating rhythms that improve collaboration across Client Leadership, Program Delivery, and functional experts. 
• Create visibility into organizational performance, capacity, and operational risks. 
• Partner with teams to clarify ownership and decision rights where work crosses functions. 
• Continuously simplify how work gets done. 

Sourcing & Supplier Relations

• Lead the strategy and evolution of Unbridled’s sourcing and supplier ecosystem. 
• Develop the Sourcing & Supplier Relations team, leadership structure, service model, tools, standards, and processes needed to scale sourcing effectively across Unbridled and become a recognized center of excellence within Unbridled. 
• Establish a clear commercial model for sourcing, including revenue opportunities, performance measures, supplier economics, and visibility into the financial contribution of the department. 
• Enhance sourcing standards, negotiation strategies, technology, and market intelligence that improve speed, consistency, commercial value, and risk management. 
• Build a strategic supplier ecosystem, including preferred partnerships and commercial agreements that generate meaningful financial value for Unbridled while creating additional benefits for clients. 
• Strengthen supplier relationships across hotels, venues, DMCs, and other key industry partners to improve negotiating leverage, access, concessions, market intelligence, and overall client value. 

Transformation & Innovation

• Identify opportunities to use AI, automation, technology, and redesigned workflows to eliminate transactional work and increase team capacity. 
• Lead cross-functional pilots and transformation initiatives, measure their effectiveness, and scale successful approaches. 
• Partner with Event Technology and other functional experts to evaluate emerging capabilities and new ways of working. 
• Create an intentional pathway from idea → pilot → proof → scale. 
• Ensure innovation solves meaningful client or employee problems rather than becoming innovation for innovation’s sake. 

Leadership & Organizational Capability

• Develop leaders and subject matter experts within the functions this role supports. 
• Build organizational depth and succession plans for critical capabilities. 
• Create an environment of clear accountability, continuous improvement, collaboration, flexibility, and fun. 
• Serve as a connective leader across Commercial Operations, helping individual functions operate as one system rather than independent teams.

Core Competencies

• Executive Leadership 
• Organizational Development 
• Operational Excellence 
• Shared Services Leadership 
• Financial Stewardship 
• Technology & Process Optimization 
• Strategic Thinking 
• Cross-Functional Leadership 
• Executive Communication 
• Organizational Influence 
• Change Leadership 
• “Unreasonable Hospitality” Mindset
• Partnership & Relationship Management

 

​Comprehensive Benefit Package

Unbridled provides a comprehensive benefits package to all Unbridled employees, as well as other perks and work-life integration. The package includes:

• Denver Salary Range: $90K - $100K 
• St. Louis Salary Range: $81K - $90K 
• Grand Rapids Salary Range: $81K - $90K 
• Health & Dental Insurance 
• Vision Insurance, FSA & HSA Plan Options
• Life, Short-Term & Long-Term Disability Insurance
• 401k Plan with Discretionary Company Match
• Employee Loan Program
• Generous PTO Including: 
  • 4 Weeks of PTO/Sick Leave
  • 7 Holidays 
  • 3 Floating Holidays 
  • Flex Holiday Week 
  • 3 Days Community Service Leave
• Milestone Anniversaries & Sabbaticals
• PTO Exchange Program
• Paid Family & Medical Leave
• Monthly Parking Pass
• Professional Therapy Benefits
• Voluntary Pet Insurance
• Cell Phone Allowance

In addition to our extensive benefits package and the ability to take up to 37 days of paid time off per year, we also offer things like a company advocate program for new hires, wellness days, company social events, awards to empower employees to recognize colleagues, and more. We also have monthly Friday Forums where employees have a chance to hear from different members of the company regarding important updates and communications. 

AN UNBRIDLED COMMUNITY TAKES ALL KINDS
We hire top talent from various backgrounds and intentionally cultivate a workplace of belonging where every team member is celebrated for who they are and where differing perspectives are valued. We are committed to creating a diverse, caring community where everyone can feel like they belong, no matter their race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, or ability. Come “Be you” with us.

Wage differential is based on seniority, merit, geographic location, education, training and experience. Talk with your recruiter to learn more. 

There is no application deadline for this position. 
 
Unbridled provides reasonable accommodation and/or modification to disabled individuals to assist in the application process.  Any individual requiring accommodation/modification to complete this application should contact us at [email protected].