US Sport & Events Department Director

Meent is supporting the creation of the Sport & Events department for a major international group (present in 15 countries and nearly 4 billion in revenue) by recruiting its future US Director on a permanent contract. 

Are you ready to join an ambitious project under development within a renowned global organization? This is a unique and exciting opportunity!

It is essential that you have been a high-level US OLYMPIC ATHLETE (able-bodied or para-athlete) with national and international achievements. 

Reporting directly to the Group’s CEO and the President leading the project, you will oversee this business unit in USA. 

You will be responsible for building our offering at the national level and expanding it internationally in the numerous countries where we operate.

Challenges

You will structure, develop, and manage the Sports & Events business across the United States to grow our business, ensure excellence, overall consistency, and adherence to deadlines and budgets.

• Establishment of the structure and activities.
• Contribute to strategic planning while maintaining a hands-on, operational approach.
• Development of services/solutions at the national level, followed by international rollout once French operations are successfully implemented.
• Leading responses to RFPs and actively contributing to securing key projects.
• Building a team by mobilizing existing internal resources during the launch phase.
• Budget management and development of a P&L, as well as implementation of the overall strategy defined by the Group’s governance.
• Steering both strategic and operational planning of activities and coordinating the various departments.
• Setting up internal structuring, recruiting teams, developing their skills, and driving their engagement.
• Establishing a mobilizing managerial policy aligned with Olympic values and those of the organization.
• Optimizing financial resources, controlling costs, and ensuring sound and sustainable budget management.
• Supervising communication activities.
• Developing and monitoring projects.
• Driving CSR-related topics and commitments.

• Higher education degree with at least 10 years of proven experience.
• A natural leader and manager, able to inspire, mobilize, and unite expertise around shared objectives.
• Strong ability to work in and lead collaborative, multidisciplinary teams.
• Energetic, entrepreneurial mindset, resolutely positive and highly curious.
• Excellent adaptability and interpersonal skills to engage with stakeholders at all levels.
• Fluent in English.

Expected experience

• Successful background in business, sport, and/or event management.
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to oversee the full lifecycle of events and coordinate autonomous teams.
• Proven experience (or strong potential) in managing large-scale international structures with fixed deadlines and strict financial constraints; experience in major sporting events is a strong asset.
• Recognized track record in leading complex organizations, including key management functions such as finance, operations, revenue generation, communication, and human resources.
• Ability to understand the dynamics of the Olympic and Paralympic movement and the event industry, and to build partnerships with key stakeholders.
• Significant achievements in revenue development and budget management, enabling organizations to reach financial and growth objectives.

Skills

• Strong sense of priorities in managing complex projects, with the ability to handle multiple tasks while meeting tight deadlines.
• Proven managerial skills to lead, motivate, and inspire multidisciplinary teams.
• Organizational mindset, methodical and pragmatic vision, with the ability to instill efficient working methods within teams.
• Ability to manage and coordinate departments and areas of expertise, foster engagement, and bring people together to work collaboratively.
• Ability to combine strategic thinking with organizational agility.
• Capacity to grasp both complexity and detail.
• Strong negotiation skills and management of external service providers.
• In-depth knowledge of the international major sporting events sector.
• High-level professional network and contacts.
• Excellent command of English as a working language, with the ability to operate in an international environment.

Leadership

• As the project leader, you define with the presidency and executive management the pace of development, as well as the internal processes required to ensure efficiency and smooth information flow.
• You guarantee the successful execution of operations through your expertise, commitment, and management skills, as well as your deep knowledge of the event industry, its stakeholders, and the public-private ecosystem.
• You maintain close professional proximity with your teams, guiding and directing their actions while ensuring overall coherence.
• You bring vision and the ability to design and deploy strategy, working effectively with external stakeholders while leveraging internal strengths to achieve the project’s goals.

Qualities

• Alignment with the values of sport, Olympism, and Paralympism.
• Integrity and exemplarity.
• Ethics and loyalty.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Ability to listen, demonstrate diplomacy, and make sound decisions/arbitrations.
• Results-oriented mindset and problem-solving culture.
• Resolutely positive personality.
• Visionary, with the ability to foster collective work, federate, and engage the ecosystem gathered around the project.
• Team player.

• Contract Type : Permanent, full-time
• Location : Ideally Houston, Texas (USA)
• Starting date : ASAP
• Salary : Competitive package (base salary + bonus) + other benefits

Committed to seeking all talents, Meent promotes equality. All applications will be considered regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, or genetic data.