Managing Director - Live Events

At Clarion, our people are at the absolute heart of what we do. We’re proud that our core values of PASSION , CARE , IMAGINATION , and TRUST define the way we carry out our work across all of our teams.

If you share our values and want to be a part of a successful, dynamic, and creative global business then we want to hear from you.

The Opportunity:

The Managing Director – Live Events serves as the operational lead across the events functions within the Defence portfolio. The role ensures the seamless delivery of established events, drives cross-functional performance, and provides strategic input to support the Managing Director, Defence. This position enables the Managing Director, Defence to focus on broader strategic and brand leadership while ensuring operational excellence, commercial performance and stakeholder engagement across the portfolio.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Strategic & Operational Leadership

• Lead the end-to-end operational and strategic delivery of established events, including DSEI, DSEI Japan, UDT and ITEC, acting as Senior Lead for DSEI UK and Japan.

• Translate portfolio strategy into clear, actionable event‑level plans with defined milestones.

• Ensure products remain relevant by anticipating market dynamics and driving continuous improvement.

• Collaborate closely with the MD Defence on long-term strategy and execution.

2. Commercial & Financial Management

• Manage P&Ls for established events, delivering performance on or above budget.

• Support budgeting, forecasting to improve commercial efficiency.

• Input to the financial reporting to ensure visibility of performance, risk, and progress.

3. Cross-Functional Leadership & Collaboration

• Lead, manage and develop functional Heads across Sales, Content, Customer Service (tbc), VIP & Defence Engagement, and the Confex Event Manager.

• Drive collaboration, cadence, and accountability across the portfolio, empowering functional leads to deliver strong team and event outcomes.

• Facilitate and chair the Defence Management Team, ensuring integrated planning and execution across all functions.

4. Event Portfolio & Confex Oversight

• Oversee the strategic direction and delivery of Confexes, providing leadership to the Confex Event Manager.

• Ensure Confex programmes align with the broader portfolio strategy and contribute effectively to commercial and strategic objectives.

5. Senior Stakeholder Engagement

• Represent DSEI UK/Japan/Confexes at key stakeholder meetings and ensure strong, credible, strategic relationships across the ecosystem.

6. People Leadership, Culture & Capability Development

• Coach and develop the management team to support capability building, succession planning and high performance.

• Foster a culture of clear communication, positive morale, accountability, and agile but data-informed decision‑making.

• Embed regular feedback, appraisal practices, and competency development across teams.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Demonstrable improvements in cross-functional collaboration through leadership of the Defence Management Board.

• Conversion of portfolio strategy into measurable event plans delivered on time.

• 100% on-time reporting with visibility of risk, commercial performance and strategic progress.

• Event P&Ls delivered on or above budget across all established events.

Knowledge, Skills & Behaviours:

Core Competencies

• Stakeholder Engagement: Proven ability to liaise with senior government, military and commercial partners.

• Financial Management: Strong track record owning or managing P&Ls and driving commercial outcomes.

• Strategic Planning & Execution: Ability to create multi‑year strategic plans and convert them into delivery.

• Operational Excellence: Experience delivering large-scale international events.

• Leadership: Demonstrated success leading senior managers and multidisciplinary teams.

• Industry Expertise: Extensive experience in major B2B events, ideally within Defence or adjacent sectors.

Experience Requirements

• Strong strategic and operational leadership experience with the ability to translate vision into delivery.

• High resilience, adaptability, and composure in fast-paced, complex environments.

• Excellent communication and influencing skills across internal and external stakeholders.

• Proven background in people leadership, coaching, and developing senior functional heads.

• Strong commercial acumen, including budgeting, forecasting and financial optimisation.
  

About Clarion Events

Clarion Events is one of the world’s leading event organisers, producing and delivering innovative and market-leading events since 1947. ()

Clarion Events embrace diversity and equal opportunities in all that we do. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.

Clarion is private equity backed and owned by Blackstone. Blackstone is one of the world’s leading global investment funds, investing capital for the long term in order to build successful, resilient businesses. ()

Our purpose is to deliver exceptional customer outcomes and experiences, by making every connection count.

Our vision is we want every one of our products to be a market leader in customer satisfaction and delight.

Benefits

• 25 days’ holiday plus bank holidays

• End of year wellbeing shutdown (closed for the last week of the year)

• Employees on a permanent or fixed-term contract are gifted an extra day of leave that can be used for a celebration of your choosing, e.g. birthday, Eid, Diwali, etc.

• Summer Hours in August (3pm finish on Fridays)

• Helping Our World (HOW) Days – one paid day per quarter to carry out charity work

• Pension Scheme

• Private Medical Insurance

• Health Cash Plan

• Wellbeing Library (MYNDUP)

• Mentoring Programme

• Season Ticket Loan

• Cycle to Work Schemes

• Free on-site gym and shower facilities

• Free eyesight tests

• Free flu vaccination – offered on site once a year for all employees

Our Values

PASSION

We deliver all our events with passion for people, the environment and businesses. We form connections with those who are just as passionate about what they do as we are. We always strive to exceed expectations and celebrate success. We love what we do, and it shows.

CARE

We care about our people and our products and work tirelessly to achieve lasting connections and satisfaction for ourselves, our customers and the businesses they support. We really get people - everyone is welcome.

IMAGINATION

Everything is possible. We constantly challenge the status quo and create amazing experiences and opportunities. We take huge satisfaction in solving problems. As open-minded and fun-loving people, the sky is our limit.

TRUST

We trust our skills, people and partners to deliver extraordinary events our customers have come to rely on. We support everyone around us and always learn through our experiences. We are honest and straight forward. You can always rely on us.

Equal Opportunities

We encourage employees to be open and confident and recognise that every member of the team makes a vital contribution.

Clarion embraces equality, diversity and inclusion and seeks to promote these principles in all of our business activities.

When recruiting new employees or providing opportunities for promotion, we will:

• Recruit, develop and retain the most talented people, regardless of background, and make the best use of their talents;

• Ensure that no person is unlawfully discriminated against;

• Select the best person for the role based on their skills, qualifications and abilities.

This statement sets out our commitment to equal opportunities and to preventing discrimination in the workplace.