Senior Production Manager
14 hours ago
Santa Clara
Who We Are At TRADEMARK, we transform bold ideas into jaw-dropping experiences. As a global corporate event production agency, we collaborate with leading brands across technology, entertainment, and beyond to design events that captivate and inspire. From large-scale conferences to intimate brand activations, we deliver the extraordinary. With over 25 years of experience, TRADEMARK has partnered with industry leaders such as Adobe, Slack, Pfizer, Clay, and Lucasfilm to engage the most discerning audiences. We balance big-picture strategy with flawless execution, drawing on insider expertise from the brands we serve and a deep understanding of what excellence looks like in the real world. TRADEMARK upholds sustainability, diversity, equity, and inclusion across all regions where we operate, ensuring our solutions are mindful of social impact at every stage of the process. The Role TRADEMARK is seeking a Senior Production Manager (Contract) to lead the planning and execution of high-impact experiential programs, with a strong emphasis on large-scale corporate events, conferences, and complex multi-day productions. In this role, you will partner closely with an Executive, Senior, or Lead Producer to translate creative vision into structured plans, aligned teams, detailed production systems, and seamless onsite execution. You will play a key leadership role across project planning, logistics, vendor coordination, budget tracking, client communication, documentation, and onsite operations. This role requires someone who can confidently manage complex production workstreams with limited oversight, anticipate risks before they become issues, and bring clarity to fast-moving, high-stakes programs. You understand the operational rigor, stakeholder management, and production discipline required to deliver large corporate programs while also contributing to elevated, memorable experiential outcomes. You are highly organized, proactive, collaborative, and calm under pressure. You bring structure to ambiguity, momentum to every phase of a program, and confidence to teams, clients, and partners. What You’ll Do Project Leadership & Team Alignment • Lead day-to-day project execution across internal teams, ensuring timelines, deliverables, dependencies, and communication remain aligned, • Partner with the Executive, Senior, or Lead Producer to define project scope, schedules, budgets, workstreams, and success metrics, • Manage multiple production workstreams simultaneously, ensuring each area is moving forward with clarity and accountability, • Drive internal meetings, status updates, and follow-ups to keep teams aligned and informed, • Help identify resourcing needs, gaps, risks, and decision points throughout the project lifecycle Client & Stakeholder Management • Participate in client meetings, status calls, and working sessions, contributing clear updates, next steps, and recommendations, • Build trust with clients through strong communication, responsiveness, and thoughtful follow-through, • Help manage client expectations by anticipating questions, surfacing risks early, and providing clear paths forward, • Serve as a reliable point of contact for assigned workstreams, ensuring stakeholders have visibility into progress, decisions, and dependencies, • Represent TRADEMARK with professionalism, polish, and confidence in both planning and onsite environments Budget & Vendor Management • Support budget tracking, reconciliation, and change management with accuracy and attention to detail, • Manage vendor sourcing, bid leveling, partner coordination, and production-related procurement, • Communicate clearly with vendors around scope, timelines, deliverables, expectations, and onsite requirements, • Identify opportunities for efficiency while maintaining the integrity of the creative vision and client experience, • Track vendor deliverables, costs, approvals, and production needs to ensure all elements stay on schedule and within scope Production Planning & Documentation • Own and maintain key production documents, including production schedules, run of show, staffing plans, contact sheets, vendor grids, onsite operations materials, and production timelines, • Manage logistics across venues, travel, labor, load-in/load-out, staffing, vendors, signage, catering, transportation, and onsite operations, • Ensure all details are organized, documented, communicated, and updated throughout the lifecycle of the project, • Create clear systems that help internal teams, clients, and partners understand what is happening, when it is happening, and who owns each piece, • Support the development of production plans that balance creative ambition, operational feasibility, budget, timing, and client goals Onsite Execution • Serve as a senior onsite lead, managing production logistics, vendors, staff, schedules, and real-time problem-solving, • Lead assigned onsite workstreams with confidence, urgency, and calm decision-making, • Ensure teams understand their roles, timing, priorities, and escalation paths, • Troubleshoot issues quickly and thoughtfully while maintaining a high standard of execution, • Help ensure the final experience reflects the creative vision, client expectations, and TRADEMARK’s standard of excellence Post-Event Wrap • Lead final billing reconciliation, vendor closeout, and project documentation in partnership with the Producer, • Ensure all final invoices, payment needs, receipts, and vendor follow-ups are collected, submitted, and tracked through completion, • Drive internal and client-facing post-event retrospectives, including preparation of recap materials, documentation of key learnings, and follow-through on action items, • Oversee crew and staffing closeout, including thank-you communications, final confirmations, and contractor deactivation where applicable, • Ensure the project hub, production documents, project records, and final deliverables are complete, organized, and accessible for future reference, • Coordinate final photo and asset handoff, including gallery links, internal uploads, client sharing instructions, and placement of select reference images in the project record, • Confirm all project communication channels, tools, and internal systems are appropriately closed or archived once the event has fully wrapped, • Capture operational insights, vendor feedback, process improvements, and recommendations to strengthen future programs What You’ll Bring • 7+ years of experience in event production or project management, with significant experience leading complex corporate events, conferences, experiential programs, or multi-day productions, • Proven ability to manage complex logistics across multiple workstreams, including run of show, staffing, vendor coordination, production schedules, budgets, and large guest counts, • Experience serving as a key production lead or senior workstream owner on large-scale programs, • Strong understanding of the planning, documentation, communication, and operational rigor required to deliver high-touch corporate events, • Experience managing vendors, production partners, venues, labor teams, and onsite operations, • Strong budget management skills, including tracking, reconciliation, vendor estimates, change orders, and cost controls, • Excellent communication skills across clients, internal teams, executive stakeholders, and external partners, • Strong organizational and time management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, and moving pieces simultaneously, • A detail-oriented mindset with the ability to manage both the big picture and the smallest executional elements, • A calm, adaptable approach to problem-solving in high-pressure environments, • Familiarity with production tools, project management platforms, and event planning systems, • A collaborative, team-first mindset and a genuine passion for live events, • The ability to bring structure, clarity, and momentum to ambiguous or fast-moving situations What Success Looks Like Success in this role means consistently leading highly organized, large-scale programs that run smoothly from planning through execution, resulting in exceptional client experiences and strong internal team alignment. You will: • Drive complex programs forward with clarity, consistency, and accountability, • Lead production workstreams with confidence, ensuring timelines, deliverables, budgets, and communication remain aligned, • Bring structure and organization to large-scale, multi-faceted events, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks, • Maintain control of budgets, logistics, vendors, and executional details while adapting quickly to change, • Build trust with clients, teammates, and vendors through reliability, responsiveness, and strong follow-through, • Anticipate needs, identify risks, and solve problems proactively before they impact the program, • Operate confidently onsite, managing teams and making real-time decisions to ensure seamless execution at scale, • Support Executive, Senior, and/or Lead Producers by helping turn strategy and creative vision into clear, executable plans, • Contribute to a strong, collaborative team environment that reflects TRADEMARK’s Wolf Pack mentality, • Identify opportunities to improve processes, increase efficiency, and strengthen how we deliver work Equal Opportunity Employer TRADEMARK is proud to be a minority-owned, woman-owned company and an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, including pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. We are committed to maintaining a workplace free from discrimination and harassment. This policy applies to all aspects of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, compensation, training, and advancement.