Senior Marketing Events Specialist - Contractor

Forward was founded in 2013 by four Stanford Ph.D.s, building the industry's first network digital twin: a mathematically accurate model of the production network. It's the foundation for autonomous networking, giving engineers and AI agents the ability to know the impact of every change before it touches production. That founding instinct still defines how we work. We're accurate and evidence-driven, relentless about clarity, and we'd rather be certain than comfortable, building a groundbreaking platform that transforms how teams run and secure networks across every major cloud and vendor environment.

Global leaders like Goldman Sachs, PayPal, S&P Global, IBM, and Dell trust Forward, alongside fast-growing enterprises and government agencies, realizing an average of $14.2 million in annual benefits, according to IDC. Backed by top-tier investors, including A. Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Goldman Sachs, MSD Partners, Omega Venture Partners, Section 32, and Threshold Ventures, and headquartered in Santa Clara, we're most proud of our team: curious people who'd rather build what doesn't exist than accept how things have always been done.

We are looking for a passionate, detail-driven Senior Marketing Events Specialist Contractor to join our marketing team at Forward.

In this role, you will be a key team member supporting large scale industry events and execution of turnkey field events. This role will be the operational backbone of our events ensuring seamless execution, tracking budgets and deadlines and driving cross-functional collaboration with our peers and stakeholders. You bring prior tradeshow experience, a meticulous eye for detail, and the ability to independently own events end-to-end. You're the kind of person who catches the typo everyone else missed, notices a scheduling conflict before it becomes a problem, and takes pride in being the person a team can rely on. 

Position Responsibilities

• Independently plan and execute turnkey tabletop events from start to finish, owning logistics, timelines, on-site coordination and post-event data hygiene. This includes managing booth materials, shipments and on-site setup/teardown and ensuring a polished, professional presence at every event. 
• Support execution of larger tradeshows and corporate events including venue sourcing, budget tracking, overseeing lead list quality and updating event-related content for company website and promotional materials. 
• Maintain detailed project plans (like Asana) for multiple concurrent events, ensuring milestones and deadlines are tracked and communicated clearly across team members.
• Maintain and manage our warehouse supply of branded merchandise and event materials, including tracking inventory, coordinating restocks, and ensuring items are shipped and accounted for accurately.
• Build trusted relationships across marketing and the broader organization to keep event execution moving without friction.

Desired Skills and Experience

• Tradeshow Experience: You bring 2-3 years of hands-on tradeshow experience and are comfortable owning events independently. Federal/Public Sector experience is a bonus.
• Highly Organized and Detail-Oriented: You have a proven system for managing tasks and don’t let deadlines slip through the cracks. Your work is thorough, accurate, and consistent.
• Communication Pro: You are a clear and effective communicator, both in professional emails and verbal briefings.
• Tech Savvy: Proficiency in Google Suite and MS Suite is required, particularly building and maintaining spreadsheets for tracking budgets, lead data and inventory. Experience with Asana or similar project management software is a major plus. Familiarity with lead retrieval tools and event registration platforms are a plus. Experience with marketing automation and CRM platforms (e.g., Salesforce, Marketo or HubSpot) is a bonus.
• Growth Mindset: You approach every task with ownership and enthusiasm. You ramp up quickly and thrive in fast-paced environments. 
• Industry Experience: Prior experience in cybersecurity, networking, or infrastructure technology a plus. 
• Willingness to Travel: Comfortable with up to 25% travel to support events-as needed, especially tier 1 industry events such as Cisco Live and RSAC Conference.
  
  This is a contract position with an hourly pay range of $35–$45/hr. The final rate will be based on factors such as skills, experience, and location.