Associate Vice President, Event Strategy

About the American College of Surgeons

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is a professional and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 90,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. For more information, visit

Our Mission
The American College of Surgeons is dedicated to improving the care of the surgical patient and safeguarding standards of care in an optimal and ethical practice environment.

Our Vision
To create a healthcare landscape where surgeons thrive and every patient has access to and benefits from the highest standards of surgical care, driven by innovation, education, leadership, and trust.

Summary: The Associate Vice President, Event Strategy serves as a leader responsible for strategic oversight, financial governance, contract authority, and operational excellence across the ACS Clinical Congress, Trauma Quality Improvement Program (TQIP), Committee on Trauma (COT), Quality and Safety Conference (QSC), educational meetings, industry relations, exhibits and national conferences.

This role provides executive-level leadership and direction to multiple senior meetings managers and planning teams, ensuring consistent excellence in program delivery, financial performance, innovation, contract negotiation, vendor management and financial reporting.

The Associate Vice President functions as one of two primary strategic partners to the Vice President, Convention & Meetings, supporting organization-wide strategy, enterprise planning, and cross-department alignment for ACS’s live, virtual, and hybrid events ecosystem. This role must have the skills to manage Board-level and all staff reporting, executive presentations, and performance analytics for ACS’s portfolio of events.

This exempt position will report to the Vice President in the Department of Convention and Meetings. It is based in our Chicago office and is a hybrid role: 3 days per week in the office/2 days per week remote.

The anticipated salary range for this position is $185,000 - $210,000 (commensurate with related experience).

Key Responsibilities:

Enterprise Strategy, Board-Level Reporting & Program Authority

• Serve as the enterprise strategy owner for all ACS conferences including Clinical Congress, TQIP, COT, QSC, and educational meetings.
• Lead strategy and execution for all ACS conferences, overseeing planning, operations, programming, and the full on-site experience.
• Build and execute a multi-year growth plan that expands audience reach, engagement, and financial performance.
• Prepare and deliver Board-level reporting, executive summaries, forecasting, and analytics.
• Act as a senior organizational representative on executive and governance teams, as assigned.

Financial Strategy, Budgeting, Analytics & Business Performance

• Direct and oversee fiscal management of revenues and expenses across all enterprise ACS meetings.
• Lead financial forecasting, accruals, and long-range budgeting.
• Create and access analytics, dashboards, and performance reporting.
• Partner with the Finance department on audit, compliance, and forecasting.
• Direct standardized financial workflows.

Contracting, Negotiation & Supplier Strategy

• Serve as senior contracting authority across all major vendor partners.
• Lead high-level negotiations for high value high-cost agreements.
• Partner with Legal to mitigate risk and reach compliance standards
• Oversee insurance and related claims, if any.

Staff Leadership, Delegated Authority & Operational Excellence

• Lead senior meeting managers responsible for ACS events
• Develop high-performance leadership standards.

Industry Leadership & External Relations

• Represent ACS as a senior executive within the national meetings industry.
• Maintain executive-level supplier and destination relationships.

Other Responsibilities

• Provide supervision and professional development for staff.
• Proven culture-setting and inclusive management experience.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Education and/or Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, hospitality, communications, finance or related field required. At least one professional certification (CMP, CAE) required.
• 12-15 years of progressive leadership in enterprise meetings and operations.
• Minimum 5 years’ medical or healthcare association experience.
• Extensive experience with large-scale conventions.
• Demonstrated Board-level reporting and executive strategy experience.
• Advanced contract negotiation, budgeting, and financial modeling background.
• Strategic, data-driven, and execution-focused leader.

Additional Job Requirements:

• Executive judgment and financial accountability.
• Advanced leadership, diplomacy, and project management skills.
• Strong technical proficiency.
• Operational excellence; business acumen.
• Ability to provide direction clearly.
• Change management skills.
• Travel and weekend work required.

Comprehensive Benefits:
We’re committed to attracting and retaining top talent via valuable benefits!

• Vacation, personal, and sick hours including 13 paid holidays per year
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Medical—comprehensive coverage through BlueCross BlueShield
• Dental, Vision, and Prescription drug program
• 403(b) Matching Program
• Pension Plan
• Flexible Spending Medical/Dependent Care
• Employee Assistance Program
• Short Term/Long Term Disability
• Life Insurance
• Domestic Partner Coverage

The American College of Surgeons is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please send an e-mail to [email protected] or call (312) 202-5000 and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities


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