Director, CES Digital Platforms

The Director of Product, CES Platforms is the dedicated product leader for the technology ecosystem that powers CES, including registration, exhibitor and speaker workflows, credentialing and access, mobile and mapping experiences, and the integrations and digital services that connect them. This role owns the product vision, strategy, and multi-year roadmap for the CES platform portfolio across vendor-delivered and internally developed capabilities. The Director manages the portfolio as one product: setting direction, defining success, making disciplined build, buy, or retire decisions, holding vendors accountable to outcomes, and identifying opportunities for CES digital products to create value for attendees and exhibitors and generate revenue year-round. This is a strategy and portfolio leadership role with delivery accountability. The Director must pair long-range product thinking with sound judgment and disciplined execution in a complex, cross-functional environment where deadlines are fixed and platform reliability is essential to the success of CES., Product Vision, Strategy and Roadmap - 40%

• Own the product vision, strategy, and multi-year roadmap for the CES technology ecosystem, spanning vendor-delivered and internally developed capabilities.
• Manage the CES platform portfolio as an integrated product, aligning investments and priorities across participant journeys, business operations, data, and technology.
• Define measurable outcomes for product initiatives and track performance across customer experience, adoption, platform reliability, operational efficiency, portfolio cost, and revenue.
• Prioritize initiatives based on customer and business value, organizational strategy, operational risk, delivery capacity, and show-critical timing.
• Develop clear business cases for significant platform investments and recommendations.
• Identify, validate, and pilot digital products and services that can create new value for CES participants and generate year-round revenue in partnership with Sales, Marketing, Conferences, and Finance.
• Evaluate emerging technologies, including AI-enabled solutions, based on demonstrated value, implementation risk, security, data implications, and total cost of ownership.

Platform and Vendor Portfolio Governance - 30%

• Serve as the accountable business owner for the CES platform portfolio and its key vendor relationships.
• Lead technology evaluations, vendor selections, and end-to-end RFP processes, including business requirements, evaluation criteria, stakeholder participation, and recommendations.
• Manage vendor contracts, renewals, service levels, product roadmaps, and performance; hold vendors accountable to commitments, timelines, quality standards, and business outcomes.
• Treat each significant renewal or platform investment as a build, buy, enhance, or retire decision supported by documented analysis.
• Establish clear ownership, decision rights, governance, documentation, and support models for CES platforms.
• Own product requirements for platform data and integrations so information flows reliably into CTA’s shared data infrastructure, in close partnership with Data & Analytics and IT.
• Partner with IT to ensure CES platforms meet CTA requirements for security, access, infrastructure, and technology risk management.
• Monitor portfolio health, cost, dependencies, and risks and communicate material decisions or concerns to business and technology leaders.

Product Delivery and Change Management - 15%

• Provide portfolio-level direction and oversight for the implementation of platform capabilities and releases across the CES planning cycle.
• Translate product strategy into sequenced initiatives, clear requirements, success criteria, and accountable delivery plans.
• Lead change management and release planning, ensuring affected teams understand upcoming changes, timing, responsibilities, and business impacts.
• Coordinate with business teams, technical teams, and vendors to reduce operational risk to registration, credentialing, exhibitor onboarding, content delivery, and participant experiences.
• Ensure participant journeys and product funnels are appropriately instrumented so decisions and improvements are grounded in reliable data.
• Establish feedback loops with attendees, exhibitors, speakers, staff, and other stakeholders and use those insights to guide product improvements.
• Provide elevated leadership and decision support during critical CES preparation, on-site operations, and post-show evaluation.

Leadership and Cross-Functional Partnership - 15%

• Directly manage the Integration Engineer, setting priorities, providing coaching, and ensuring high-quality technical delivery and documentation.
• Build trusted partnerships across Marketing, Conferences, Sales, Finance, Operations, IT, Data & Analytics, and other CTA teams.
• Translate business needs and stakeholder feedback into product decisions rather than treating requests as an undifferentiated backlog.
• Communicate product direction, priorities, tradeoffs, and decisions clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Represent CES Platforms in organizational planning, budgeting, vendor, data, and technology discussions.
• Promote disciplined product management practices and a shared, enterprise view of the CES technology ecosystem., * Responsible for planning and managing assigned CES platform budgets, vendor contracts, renewals, and product investments., * This position is based on-site in CTA’s Arlington, Virginia office.
• Travel to Las Vegas for CES each January is required, along with periodic planning meetings and other business travel as needed.
• The role requires flexibility during critical CES planning and execution periods, including occasional extended or nonstandard hours.

• Seven to ten years of progressively responsible experience in product management, platform ownership, enterprise applications, or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated accountability for the vision, roadmap, performance, and business outcomes of vendor-delivered or enterprise technology platforms.
• Experience developing product strategies, multi-year roadmaps, success measures, and investment business cases.
• Experience delivering products or platforms against fixed, high-stakes deadlines.
• Strong technical fluency, including the ability to evaluate architectures, integrations, data flows, and implementation tradeoffs and engage credibly with engineers and vendor technical teams.
• Commercial fluency, including experience with pricing, contract terms, vendor performance, portfolio cost, and financial analysis.
• Experience leading technology evaluations, vendor selections, and RFPs for enterprise SaaS or comparable platforms.
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional initiatives and translating among business, customer, operational, and technical perspectives.
• Experience managing or leading technical team members, formally or informally.
• Excellent strategic thinking, written and verbal communication, prioritization, and decision-making skills.

Preferred

• Experience supporting large-scale conferences, trade shows, associations, or similarly time-critical operating environments.
• Experience with Eventbase, MapYourShow, EventPoint, Salesforce, or comparable event and enterprise technology platforms.
• Experience with user research, customer journey mapping, service design, or digital product strategy.
• Experience with AI-enabled technologies, enterprise integrations, data platforms, and analytics instrumentation.
• Experience identifying or launching revenue-generating digital products or services.
• Hands-on software development experience is beneficial but not required.
• CSPO, PSPO, PMP, or a comparable product, project, or service-management certification., * Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Business Administration, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

Pulled from the full job description

• Loan assistance
• Tuition reimbursement
• Paid parental leave
• Parental leave
• Health insurance
• 401(k) matching

• Paid time off, CTA has been recognized for its strong workplace culture, including honors such as the CARE Award (for 16 consecutive years), Washingtonian Best Places to Work, and the Cigna Healthy Workforce Designation (Gold Level). Compensation & Benefits CTA is committed to transparency and equitable pay practices. The anticipated salary range for this position is $150,000 - $160,000, with final compensation determined based on experience, skills, and internal equity. This role may be eligible for bonus or additional compensation, where applicable. CTA offers a comprehensive benefits package supporting your health, financial well-being, and work-life balance, including:

• Health & Wellness - Medical, dental, and vision coverage with telemedicine access, wellness programs, and an on-site fitness center
• Financial Benefits - 401(k) with 100% employer match up to 6%, student loan assistance, and commuter benefits. Unique to CTA - a mortgage assistance program that may include eligibility for a forgivable home purchase loan of up to $40,000.
• Time Off & Flexibility - Paid time off, holidays, paid parental leave, and a hybrid work environment with flexible scheduling options
• Family & Lifestyle Support - Fertility and adoption assistance
• Professional Growth - Tuition reimbursement and ongoing professional development opportunities

ABOUT CTA:

Want to work at the forefront of innovation and make an impact across the technology industry? The Consumer Technology Association (CTA)® is the leading voice of the technology industry, representing innovators and shaping the future through advocacy, insights, and global events like CES®. When you join CTA, you become part of a team that values collaboration, transparency, and meaningful impact. At CTA, our culture is built by our people. We are:

• Staff-Focused - We value every voice and seek input across teams