Director, Events

Job Title: Director, Events

Department: Development

Location: Hybrid within Washington D.C. Metro area

Reports to: Chief Development Officer

Direct Reports: No

Classification: Exempt

Position type: Full-Time Employee

Anticipated Pay Range at Commencement of Employment: $87,000 - $120,000 per year

Blue Star Families

Blue Star Families is the largest nonprofit dedicated to making military life better for families. Each year, we support over 1.5 million military- and veteran-connected family members through a national network of 300,000+ members and local chapters in communities across the country.

Our mission is simple and bold: We make military life awesome for families.

We listen, share, partner, and act to deliver evidence-based, data-driven solutions that work for real people. We’re a lifestyle organization, a friend and neighbor, and a trusted partner. Our approach is collaborative, human-centered, and designed with the whole family in mind.

A Blue Star Family is one with an immediate family member — a spouse, parent, or child — actively serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, including the Guard and Reserves. These families face unique challenges: frequent relocations, deployments, career disruption, and isolation. We respond with research-informed programs that create connection, build resilience, and foster a true sense of belonging.

We serve with urgency but build trust over time — because change happens at the speed of trust. Whether we’re driving spouse employment, supporting caregivers, or helping communities welcome military families, we strive for upstream solutions.

Who We’re Looking For:

Bold thinkers. Fast movers. Smart collaborators. People who want to build, lead, and drive measurable change — and who care deeply about making an impact that matters.

What You’ll Do Here:

Solve complex challenges with data, heart, and humility

Build cross-sector partnerships that get things done

Help military families feel at home wherever they live

If you're ready to work in a high-performance, mission-driven environment — and to make life better for those who serve — Blue Star Families is where you belong.

General Description

Blue Star Families is seeking an organized, detail-driven Director, Events to manage the day-to-day planning and execution of the organization's national portfolio of large-scale, high-profile, and regional events, and to lead the Events Team. This role ensures that both in-person and virtual events align with Blue Star Families' mission to support military families, while fostering engagement with key stakeholders, including military leaders, government officials, corporate partners, and the broader community.

Reporting to the Vice President, Engagement & Advancement, the Director, Events executes the event strategy, budget, and stewardship priorities set by organizational leadership, ensuring that event and department milestones and goals are met on schedule and in adherence to approved budgets. This role manages Events Team staff in the day-to-day performance of their jobs, with full authority over personnel actions, and collaborates across departments to carry out event plans, while maintaining and nurturing relationships with critical partners to elevate the organization's outreach and impact. This role does not own strategy or budget development, which are set by the Vice President and organizational leadership. The ideal candidate has an active, Washington, DC-based network of senior military and government officials/staff, community leaders, corporate/individual donors, and top-tier venue managers.

As a fully remote organization, we rely on regular in-person gatherings to fulfill core business functions, including strategic planning, cross-functional collaboration, and culture-building. This role requires the ability to travel overnight several times per year to attend team offsites, leadership sessions, and company-wide events. These events are critical to performing the essential functions of the role, enabling team alignment, effective decision-making, and strong interpersonal connection. Attendance and participation in these gatherings is a non-negotiable component of the position.

*The Director Events must reside in the DC Metro area

Key Job Functions

Directs the day-to-day planning, coordination, and execution of high-profile national events, including guest lists and invitations, ensuring each event is flawlessly executed from concept to completion.

Ensures that event and department milestones and goals are met on schedule and in adherence to approved budgets, escalating risks or budget variances to the Vice President as needed.

Manages Events Team staff in the day-to-day performance of their jobs, with full authority over personnel actions, including hiring, coaching, performance management, and separations.

Builds and maintains relationships with event partners and stakeholders, managing expectations within the vision and priorities set by leadership to deliver excellent experiences.

Coordinates development of digital and print event materials, in line with approved brand guidelines, that highlight Blue Star Families' mission and values.

Executes stewardship and protocol programs approved by senior leadership, ensuring that key stakeholders (e.g., senior military, donors, government and elected officials, partners, and celebrities) are effectively stewarded and engaged at BSF events.

Manages the planning and execution of special guest/VIP invitations, including overseeing ethics and security protocols.

Partners with Marketing Communications to execute the approved event vision, manage vendors, and track expenses against approved budgets to ensure seamless execution.

Oversees procurement of donated goods and services (e.g., food, gifts in kind, photography) for events, working closely with Brand Partnership and Development teams to enhance event offerings.

Identifies potential new collaboration opportunities and brings proposals to senior leadership for review and approval.

Identifies and resolves day-to-day operational challenges in event planning and execution, escalating to senior leadership when a decision falls outside approved plans or budget.

Maintains comprehensive invitation lists, collaborating across departments to ensure key individuals are engaged in strategic events.

Supports the Development department in identifying opportunities for donor engagement and stewardship through events.

Provides oversight of the event registration process, including attendee experience, website content, registration, social media engagement, and email marketing.

Prepares post-event and budget-adherence reports, providing updates and recommendations to the leadership team.

Coordinates with the Technology team to track event analytics and metrics, using data to drive improvements for future events.

Manages vendor and contractor relationships and executes contracts within approved budget parameters.

Provides guidance and support for high-profile Chapter-based events and Brand Partnership events to ensure consistent, high-caliber event experiences across the organization.

Performs other duties as assigned.

Required Experience, Skills & Background

Bachelor’s degree in a related field, or commensurate experience

5+ years experience conceiving and managing large-scale in-person events in the Washington DC area for a national non-profit, corporation, trade association, e.g., directly managing events for the organization.

3+ years experience directly managing an internal events team that creates and executes events for an organization. Event agency or hospitality experience considered.

Experience coordinating and managing virtual events, including webinars, town halls, etc.

Ability to quickly and effectively gather information, and organize information for effective presentation in publications and other media

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