Head of Event (EMEA)

About: The Rolex SailGP Championship is the most exciting racing on water, where anything can happen in short, adrenaline-fueled battles between national teams at iconic stadium destinations worldwide. Top athletes fly in identical high-tech F50 catamarans faster than the wind, at speeds approaching 60 mph. Founded in 2018, SailGP is one of the world’s fastest-growing sports and entertainment properties, now in its fifth season. SailGP also races for a better future, championing a world powered by nature. In 2020, SailGP set a new standard as the first climate positive sports and entertainment property and began delivering actions and innovations that advance the global adoption of clean energy. Underpinning the organization’s purpose-driven agenda is a diversification of the league, with the goal of immediately progressing gender equity and inclusivity. SailGP is a global organisation with defined values that shape the culture of its team – deliver quality, break boundaries, make an impact, stand together and strike a balance.

Summary: We are seeking an experienced, driven, and collaborative Head of Event to lead the planning, execution and delivery of up to two SailGP events across our host cities. You will own the full event lifecycle, working closely with our Global and Local teams, and orchestrating a wide range of operational, commercial, and stakeholder functions to deliver a world class sporting spectacle.

Key Responsibilities

• Project Management: Lead the end-to-end project management of the event, maintaining a robust project plan aligned with the One Event Plan (OEP) framework and utilising the governance tools provided by the Event Readiness team to ensure strict compliance with SailGP processes, stage gates, and timelines. Drive effective communication across teams and stakeholders to ensure smooth coordination, cross-departmental alignment, and successful delivery. Maintain a rigorous, high-frequency reporting cadence, providing regular updates on milestone progress, active risks, and operational readiness through the Championship Dashboard to guarantee total accountability and visibility throughout the event lifecycle.
• Stakeholder & Host Venue Management: Act as SailGP’s in-market representative, managing all local stakeholder relationships and obligations within the Host Venue Agreement. Organise and report on key stakeholder meetings and maintain strong local engagement.
• Operations & Infrastructure Alignment: Ensure seamless alignment and integration between the specialist Infrastructure and Operations teams, guaranteeing that venue design, infrastructure planning, build, and dismantle activities are perfectly synchronised with the overarching event timeline. Facilitate continuous cross-functional coordination across all localised site operations and services—including health & safety, crowd management, catering, ticketing, branding, and accreditation—to maintain a unified, macro view of event readiness. Act as the central integration point on-site, ensuring that the physical footprint delivered by Infrastructure perfectly meets the commercial, fan experience, and operational requirements of all internal and external stakeholders.
• Finance, Legal & Procurement: Lead on the event budget development and financial oversight, maintaining strict budget accountability across all assigned functions. Maintain a rigorous financial reporting cadence, providing regular updates on forecasting, tracking budget-versus-actual spend, and flagging variances early to ensure total transparency for the Finance team and leadership. Ensure absolute adherence to global procurement, finance, and legal policies.
• Risk, Safety & Compliance: Oversee the development and execution of key safety, risk registers, and emergency management plans. In conjunction with the SailGP Risk function, ensure compliance across local regulations and internal risk and safety protocols.
• Permits & Licensing: Lead the local team on all permitting and licensing processes, acting as the primary liaison with local authorities to ensure legal deadlines are met. Manage documentation, tracking systems, and briefings related to all required permissions.
• Fan Experience & Engagement: Partner with and support the specialist Experience team in curating and delivering a compelling and inclusive fan experience program, including ticketing, localised spectator showcases, and content creation tailored to the local market.
• Marketing, PR & Communications: Coordinate the event announcement and ticket sales campaigns with regional and global marketing leads to aggressively drive local commercial metrics. Monitor and adapt ticketing and promotional strategies as needed.
• Commercial & Partnerships: Support partnership delivery and fulfillment on-site in line with commercial objectives and contractual obligations.

About You: Proven experience in large-scale event planning, staging, and operations, preferably in an international or high-performance sporting environment. Strong leadership, stakeholder management, and cross-functional project coordination skills. Direct experience managing complex event budgets with a track record of commercial accountability. Ability to thrive under pressure and navigate complex, fast-paced live event environments.

Location: This role will be regionally based in one of our host cities and will serve as the Head of Event for a minimum of two SailGP events per season. Some travel to London HQ will be required.

SailGP is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace committed to building a team culture that celebrates diversity, equity and inclusion.