About us

Joining the Hawthorn Football Club represents a unique opportunity to work in a fast paced, elite sporting environment where you can be yourself and thrive.

Our Club’s values and One Club philosophy across our men’s and women’s football programs ensures that inclusion and diversity are at the core of all we do. You will work and thrive in an environment that is committed to excellence and supported by a culture of wellbeing, work and family balance.

Our strategic priorities guide the Club to deliver long term objectives to continually grow, innovate and achieve on-field success. We are excited to be relocating soon to our new state of the art home Kennedy Community Centre in Dingley.

We are committed to creating a supportive environment in which people feel connected to our football club and to each other. Importantly we want to have fun!

About the role

Reporting to the Head of Events, we're looking for an experienced and passionate Senior Events Manager to lead the planning and execution of strategic, high-impact events that elevate our brand and deepen engagement with our audiences.

As a Senior Events Manager, you’ll oversee the end-to-end planning, production, and evaluation of Club events. You'll manage complex logistics, lead cross-functional teams, negotiate with vendors, and ensure every event delivers a seamless and impactful experience. This is a high-visibility role perfect for a creative, organized, and detail-oriented leader with a passion for stakeholder engagement.

A day in the life of our Senior Events Manager will include:

• Support the Head of Events in the overall management of the events team and department strategy. 
• Meet commercial / event KPI’s and revenue targets associated with events, including analysing event performance and ROI, using data to optimise future events.
• Lead the planning and execution of events from concept through completion, including logistics, budgeting, staffing, and post-event evaluation.
• Supervise and mentor junior team members, fostering professional development and high performance through regular feedback, performance reviews and training opportunities.
• Foster a collaborative, solutions-focused team culture that values creativity, attention to detail, and continuous improvement.
• Lead development and implementation of innovation and future planning
• Ensure all events comply with relevant OHS regulations, local laws, and venue-specific safety protocols.
• Conduct thorough risk assessments and develop safety management plans for each event, including emergency procedures, crowd control measures, and incident response plans.

Please note this role does include attendance at events outside of normal business hours and attendance at match days across the AFL/W seasons.

Our ideal candidate 

• 6+ years in event management, with 4+ years in a senior or leadership position
• Extensive experience in the planning, management and delivery of a wide variety of high calibre events with strong industry relationships.
• Proven experience in leading and inspiring teams to establish, meet and exceed expectations in performance, working to strict deadlines
• Proven relationship management, including the ability to interact with a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders
• Actively influence events and promote ideas into workplace environments, reflect on experience and open to new ways to improve practices.
• Solid understanding and use of CRM systems (Salesforce highly desirable)
• You’ll be highly organised with solid time management skills and outstanding attention to detail.
• You’ll hit the ground running with the confidence, with the ability to think on your feet and work autonomously.
• Promote a strong culture of safety, ensuring team members feel empowered to raise concerns and always follow best practices.

Tertiary qualifications in Events, Business, Hospitality, Marketing will be highly regarded.

Due to the nature of the industry, the ideal candidate must be flexible in their availability as weekend work will be required for this role.

Our offer to you 

As a Hawthorn Football Club employee, you will work in a supportive, values driven and harmonious team. You will be challenged and provided with opportunities to learn new things, grow, and develop. Our initiatives which drive wellbeing, connection and performance include:

• Emerging Leaders Development Program -bespoke inhouse program to develop our future leaders
• Club wide wellness days
• Access to gym facilities
• Summer Hours (Dec/ Jan) with half day Friday’s 
• Flexible work arrangements
• Special offers and discounts through our Corporate Partners
• Industry leading Parental Leave Policy
• Professional development opportunities - inhouse and external
• One Club memberships to enjoy games with your family and friends

 To apply, please send your cover letter and resume.

Applications close: Friday 25th July 2025

The Hawthorn Football Club is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages applications from suitably qualified and diverse candidates. We welcome applicants who reflect the diversity of the Australian community and encourages applicants from the following backgrounds to apply:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
• Culturally and linguistically diverse
• LGBTIQ+
• People with a disability
• People who live in rural and regional locations 

We provide a welcoming, safe, and flexible approach to work and provide an environment that benefits from and enables the best from everyone.

As an organisation we are committed to protecting children and young people from harm. It is essential that anyone involved with the Hawthorn Football Club understands their responsibility in relation to child safety. Our organisation requires all applicants to obtain a ‘Working with Children Check’ prior to appointment.