Audio Visual Event Service Manager

Brief Description of PSU/School/Dept.

Portland State University (PSU) seeks to enhance the intellectual, social, cultural, and economic qualities of urban life by providing access to a quality liberal education for undergraduates and an appropriate array of professional and graduate programs especially relevant to the Portland metropolitan area. PSU is located in beautiful, vibrant downtown Portland. Easily accessible by bike and public transit, PSU is surrounded by many restaurants, food carts, parks, and local businesses. We hope you will consider joining us and experience our motto in action: Let Knowledge Serve the City.

The Audio Visual Event Services Manager leads a team in the delivery of sound and visuals for PSU-hosted events. As the team lead, this position will be responsible for the planning, organization, and implementation of all audio-visual components for small to mid-sized events, with occasional coordination with outside contractors for larger-scale events. This individual will work closely with a variety of campus partners who coordinate events on campus.

A typical day for the AV Event Services Manager will begin by checking the week’s schedule of events, checking for any open event support requests, and preparing sound and projection equipment for a student group’s meeting in the mid-morning and another PA system for the School of Business Open House over the lunch hour in the grand atrium of the Karl Miller Center. Once the gear is carted up and ready to deploy, you check the AV Event requests queue for new items, responding for clarification or providing cost quotes for services as appropriate. At 11 am you have a coordination meeting with the Campus Events group to review upcoming events occurring throughout Smith Student Union. Once that is over head to the Business Open House to do a final pre-event system check with the client and run the soundboard for the duration of the event. After lunch, you review the team’s past events and confirm the billing is correct within the event management system. As you near the end of your day, you take the feedback from your team check-in to finalize supplies and equipment needs. This involves creating a spreadsheet of items from the usual vendors and submitting a formal request for approval and ordering.

Position Summary

This role will be a hands-on and active participant in the delivery of successful campus events. It requires both technical skill and understanding of sound, video, and event flow, as well as project coordination, relationship management, billing/accounts receivable, and flexibility.

• AV Event Support (55% of total time) - Direct setup, breakdown, and support of AV during live events. This also includes providing client consultation, quotations, and invoicing for events.
• Team Management (20% of total time) – Oversee and coordinate the day-to-day operations of a small team of AV consultants including interviewing, hiring, professional development, training, process improvement, and general management. Act as the primary point of contact and point of escalation for AV Event Service delivery.
• Booking, Billing, and Accounts Receivable (10% of total time) – Ensure event billings are consistent and accurate. Follow up with clients to ensure payment. Develop and maintain a team budget.
• Equipment Management (10% of total time) – Track and reconcile physical equipment inventory with the event management system. Develop equipment testing and replacement plans.
• Other Duties As Assigned (5% of total time)

Minimum Qualifications

A successful candidate will have experience and knowledge in all of the following:

• Ability to coordinate activities, events, projects, and outcomes with peers, supervisors, and clients.
• Several years of work experience in supporting, installing, or deploying AV technology including microphones, video projection, streaming video, PA systems, etc.
• Experience running successful live sound in a variety of venues.
• Experience using equipment inventory and billing systems.
• Excellent troubleshooting skills.
• Experience providing customer service under time-sensitive or resource-constrained circumstances.
• Experience working in a live event production environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Coaching: you appropriately give, accept, and incorporate feedback from others.
• Communication: you exchange information and ideas well, verbally and in writing; communication is an essential tool for productivity and strong working relationships in OIT.
• Emotional Intelligence: you possess the capacity to be aware of, manage, and express your emotions; you handle interpersonal relationships with empathy and safety, enabling diverse types of people to work together.
• Proactive: you recognize and initiate opportunities to take action and prevent potential problems or threats.
• Teamwork: you identify with the larger organizational team and your role within it; you share resources, respond to requests, and support our organizational strategy.

Key Cultural Competencies

• Create an environment that acknowledges, encourages, and celebrates differences.
• Function and communicate effectively and respectfully within the context of varying beliefs, behaviors, orientations, identities, and cultural backgrounds.
• Seek opportunities to gain experience working and collaborating in diverse, multicultural, and inclusive settings with a willingness to change for continual improvement.
• Adhere to all of PSU’s policies including the policies on Prohibited Discrimination & Harassment and the Professional Standards of Conduct.

Environmental Stewardship

Contributes to a culture of environmental stewardship, practices resource conservation, and actively works toward achieving long-term sustainability goals.

Total Compensation Range & Benefits