Job Description

The Event Planning Manager is responsible for planning and executing a portfolio of Nokia events, including key global trade shows, customer engagements, and corporate programs.

As a senior individual contributor, this role acts as a central orchestrator across global stakeholders, ensuring events are aligned to business priorities and delivered to a consistently high standard. This role is accountable for translating strategic business objectives into impactful event experiences for customers, partners, employees, and executives that drive measurable business value.

The role combines strategic thinking with hands-on execution, requiring strong stakeholder management and the ability to operate effectively in a complex, global environment.

Event Planning and Delivery

• Lead planning and execution of global events aligned to business priorities

• Translate business objectives into clear event plans and delivery approaches
• Develop and manage pre-event, onsite, and post-event plans
• Drive global standards while enabling regional flexibility

• Recommend event participation strategies, investment levels, and delivery approaches based on business objectives, target audiences, and expected outcomes.

Executive and Stakeholder Management

• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders, influencing cross-functional teams and driving alignment, accountability, and decision-making across global organizations.

• Lead event briefings, communications, and alignment processes

• Drive a One Nokia approach across events, ensuring alignment of messaging, demos, customer experiences, and business objectives.

Experience Execution & Audience Engagement

• Deliver high-quality event experiences aligned to defined messaging and campaign goals

• Partner with Brand and Creative teams to ensure consistent execution and messaging
• Drive strong attendee engagement across pre-event, onsite, and follow-up activities

• Support executive engagement formats, including hospitality, meetings, and thought leadership opportunities

Event Delivery and Operations

• Own end-to-end event delivery, providing strategic oversight across all event workstreams and serving as the central point of coordination for stakeholders, agencies, vendors, and partners.

• Lead onsite execution and act as the primary escalation point

• Ensure operational readiness across all stages of the event lifecycle including contingency planning, risk management and compliance

Budget and Vendor Management

• Own event budgets, including forecasting, cost control, financial governance, and post-event reporting.

• Manage vendor sourcing, selection, and contracts

• Build and manage a high-performing ecosystem of agencies and partners

Engagement and Business Impact

• Partner with marketing, sales, and campaign teams to align messaging, engagement strategies, and business objectives while ensuring events deliver measurable commercial and brand impact.
• Analyze event performance and provide recommendations to improve future execution and business impact
• Advise stakeholders on event investment decisions, participation strategies, and expected business value.

Technology & Innovation

• Leverage and evaluate event technologies, analytics, and engagement platforms to improve audience experience, operational efficiency, scalability, and measurement.

Key Interfaces

• Executive Leadership, global and regional business groups

• Global Marketing & Communications teams

• Sales and Customer Teams

• Product Management and Strategy

• External agencies, vendors, and event organizers

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Minimum 10+ years of experience in global event management, including internal and external events, trade shows, and customer-facing engagements within a complex, matrixed B2B organization

• Demonstrated experience leading executive-level customer engagements, thought leadership programs, hospitality programs, and strategic customer events.
• Proven ability to influence executive and senior stakeholders in a global matrix environment while developing event strategies that support measurable business and commercial objectives.
• Experience supporting executive-level event experiences, customer-facing programs, and high-visibility corporate events.
• Proven experience leading complex, large-scale high visibility global events in a corporate or B2B environment

• Extensive experience managing event logistics, operations, budgets, and vendor relationships

• Strong financial acumen with experience managing large budgets and vendor contracts

• Advanced project management skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives, priorities and stakeholders

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with a structured and professional approach for all stakeholders, customers and executives

• High level of organization and attention to detail combined with strong business acumen

• Ability to remain calm, adaptable, and solution-oriented in fast-paced environments

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office tools (Copilot, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams)

• Willingness and ability to travel as required

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading flagship global events with executive, customer, analyst, media, and partner audiences.
• Experience working directly with executive leadership teams and supporting high-visibility corporate initiatives.

• Experience within technology, telecommunications, or enterprise B2B environments

• Experience with large-scale industry events, trade shows, and corporate internal events

• Familiarity with event technology ecosystems. tools and data-driven event strategies

• Familiarity with customer and employee engagement strategies through events

• Established relationships with event vendors and production partners

• CMP or CTSM certification preferred