Events Marketing Manager

Today, 67% of students and 82% of low-income students can’t read at grade level by the end of third grade. That’s when students are supposed to go from learning to read to reading to learn. It’s America’s number one education crisis and we know how to fix it.

Ignite Reading delivers one-to-one virtual tutoring that teaches every student the foundational skills they need to become a confident, fluent reader. We pair students who need extra support with expert reading tutors who provide daily, 15-minute, Science of Reading-based instruction that rapidly closes their decoding gaps. We focus on the foundational reading skills—phonics, phonemic awareness, and sight words—kids need to master so they can decode a sentence. Students in Ignite Reading’s program achieve over 2 weeks of reading skills growth per week of instruction, and notably all students achieve the same outstanding results including students with IEPs, multilingual learners, students of color and those receiving free or reduced-price lunch.

Ignite Reading is a mission-driven public benefit corporation. We believe we can do well for our team members and shareholders while we solve one of the nation’s biggest challenges. We believe we will be more successful with a diverse team and are seeking candidates who have lived experience related to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Your Role

As the Events Marketing Manager, you will own the planning and execution of Ignite Reading's event marketing strategy — spanning both virtual events and webinars and in-person conference activations. This role sits at the intersection of sales support, brand presence, and pipeline generation.

A critical part of this role is our virtual and digital event program. We run webinars and online events as a core channel for reaching school and district leaders, and we need someone who brings real expertise in building and scaling virtual event experiences that generate qualified leads. You'll work closely with the sales team to ensure every event — whether a targeted webinar, a national conference, or a regional dinner — drives measurable results for their territories.

The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker, a problem solver, and a detail-oriented project manager who brings equal comfort and skill to digital and in-person formats. You'll manage everything from the events strategy and calendar to webinar production to trade show logistics and you'll be able to point to clear examples of events that converted to pipeline.

Core Responsibilities

Virtual Events & Webinar Program

• Design and lead Ignite Reading's webinar and virtual event strategy, including audience targeting, support with topic development, speaker coordination, promotion, and follow-up

• Produce high-quality virtual events that create meaningful engagement with school and district leaders and generate qualified leads for the sales team

• Develop post-event nurture sequences in partnership with marketing, sales and system operations to ensure leads convert

• Track and report weekly on virtual event performance, including registration, attendance, and pipeline contribution

Conference & In-Person Activations

• Lead the complete event strategy for Ignite Reading, including the calendar of events in partnership with sales

• Oversee end-to-end planning and execution of national and regional conference presence, including budgeting, sponsorships, registrations, speaker scheduling and logistics, booth design and setup and vendor management, effectively communicating Ignite Reading to our ICP in an event setting

• Develop territory-specific event strategies in collaboration with sales team members to ensure conference investments drive leads in the right markets

• Organize smaller-scale activations including dinners, meetups, and roundtables that deepen relationships with key prospects and customers

• Prepare internal team members for in-person conference attendance, ensuring readiness and flawless execution at each event

• Attend every conference and event to support the team, conducting event retrospectives afterwards for cycles of continuous improvement

Partner Engagement

• Identify and prepare partners customers to participate in events as speakers, panelists, or advocates, ensuring they feel confident, prepared, and valued

• Build and maintain strong relationships with event vendors, conference organizations, and external partners

Measurement & Operations

• Conduct rigorous post-event analysis, capturing data on lead generation, pipeline impact, and areas for improvement

• Manage Ignite Reading's swag inventory for sales and customer success teams, including budget, ordering, and vendor selection

• Work closely with marketing and sales leadership to ensure event messaging is aligned with broader company objectives

Competencies

• Minimum 5 years of experience in virtual and in-person event marketing, ideally in the K-12 sector, with a proven track record of measurable results driving qualified leads and pipeline for sales teams

• Demonstrated expertise in virtual and digital event production — this is not a secondary skill; you are equally confident running a webinar series as you are managing a conference booth

• Strong project management skills and obsessive attention to detail; you can manage multiple events simultaneously without dropping anything

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience crafting speaking proposals, event descriptions, and presentation materials

• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills; you're comfortable working across sales, marketing, and leadership to keep events aligned and on track

• Discerning instinct for identifying which events are worth the investment and envisioning new formats that will resonate with Ignite Reading's audience

• Hands-on experience with Hubspot and Asana

• Willingness to travel at least 50% of the time, to all in-person conferences and events

Compensation & Transparency

At Ignite Reading, we embrace transparent compensation for a few reasons: to promote fairness and equity, to reduce pay discrimination based on gender, race, or negotiation skill, and to build trust within our team. The same role receives the same compensation — no negotiation.

Salary: $95,000 (Full-time, exempt role)

We also ensure you have the tools you need to thrive both in and out of work.

📈 Employee Stock Options - we want our success to be yours too

🩺 Medical, Dental, and Vision plans to support you and your well-being (80% employee coverage, 70% dependent coverage)

🏥 Short-term Disability (100% employer paid)

🏦 401(k) retirement plans with company contribution

👶 12-weeks paid parental leave

🌴 Unlimited vacation days (+ 12 paid holidays)

💻 Technology Stipend

🧘 Wellness Stipend

🛟 Voluntary Life Insurance

👩‍💻 Professional Development Stipend

We believe in building and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace environment. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer where all applicants are considered for employment without attention to color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status. Research shows that candidates from underrepresented backgrounds often don't apply for roles if they don't meet all the criteria – unlike majority candidates meeting significantly fewer requirements. We strongly encourage you to apply if you’re interested!

We are seeking candidates who have lived experience related to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are a virtual organization with headquarters in the California Bay Area.