Director, Indy NXT

POSITION TITLE: Director, INDY NXT

DEPARTMENT: INDY NXT

REPORTS TO: President, INDYCAR

POSITION LOCATION: Indianapolis, IN

FLSA STATUS: Exempt

WORKER CATEGORY: Full-Time

COMPANY SUMMARY:

Penske Entertainment is a leading provider of world-class sports and entertainment. The organization consists of three prominent entities:

• Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the world’s largest spectator sporting facility and annually hosts the world’s most prestigious auto race: the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
• INDYCAR is the Indianapolis-based governing body for North America's premier open-wheel auto racing series, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, and its developmental series, INDY NXT by Firestone.
• IMS Productions is a multifaceted broadcast and multimedia division that helps bring INDYCAR and IMS events to life for global audiences.

The Penske Entertainment experience is fast-paced, diverse and impactful. Through its business units, the organization reaches audiences on an international scale, focused on delivering exceptional experience from start to finish. Employees of Penske Entertainment are challenged daily in a demanding, yet rewarding environment that is best suited for dedicated professionals who want to reach their ultimate potential amid the excitement, tradition, and pageantry of the World’s Greatest Race Course and the premier open-wheel racing series.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Director, INDY NXT is responsible for the overall operations and leadership as it relates to the INDY NXT by Firestone series, which is the official development series of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. In this position, the Director will oversee the success of INDY NXT, with a focus on areas such as team and driver participation, strategic planning, overseeing the financials of the series as well as the regulations governing the on-track competition. The Director, INDY NXT will work directly with individuals in the engineering, race control, operations, marketing and communications departments to ensure the growth and success of the series.

SPECIFIC DUTIES:

Management

• Develops, proposes and implements INDY NXT competition related strategies, programs, planning, forecasting, budgeting, resourcing and monitoring functions.
• Provide leadership for all INDY NXT business activities.
• Responsible for all operations for INDY NXT, including, but not limited to, sporting and technical regulations, event operations, budgeting, soliciting team and driver participation and devising a strategic roadmap for the series.
• Represent INDYCAR to INDY NXT partners and business entities.
• Directly manage INDY NXT operating budgets.
• Approve INDY NXT track testing schedule, and testing distribution list.
• Oversee the INDY NXT supplier partnerships for the series and its teams.
• Travel to all INDY NXT race locations for pre-race safety and operations certification of facilities.
• Fosters a culture that reflects the organization’s values, encourages superior performance, and rewards productivity.
• Evaluates the performance of the INDY NXT staff on a regular basis.

Planning

• Collaborates with the President to support and articulate INDY NXT vision and develop strategies for achieving that vision.
• Develop a five-year plan for the series with a focus on containing costs, while increasing the quality of participation by teams and drivers.
• Creates annual operating plans that support strategic direction set by the President and correlates with annual operating budgets.
• Directly supports the establishment or renewal process for all agreements or contracts related to INDY NXT suppliers.
• Coordinate and implement equipment purchases and maintenance.
• Other duties as assigned by the supervisor.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Supervisory Responsibilities

• This position oversees the seasonal employees that assist INDY NXT as well as limited full-time staff (2-3 positions).

Education

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent education and experience.

Skills/Experience

• Eight to ten years of relative experience in motorsports racing operations.
• Proactive, efficient, flexible, resilient, organized, team player.
• High integrity and confidentiality. Ability to handle sensitive information.
• Effective leader with strong people skills.
• Innovative thinker and self-starter with perseverance to lead teams to success.
• Effective communication skills.
• Must be able to exercise good judgment and decision-making ability and be able to prioritize conflicting needs and have a strong sense of urgency when performing tasks.
• Proficiency in managing details. Must be highly organized; with the ability to multi-task, be detail oriented with strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Commitment to working with people from diverse backgrounds and commitment to cultural competency.
• Ability to uphold and consistently demonstrate the Penske Entertainment Standards.

Travel/Work Hours

• This position requires travel to all race events during the INDYCAR and INDY NXT racing season as well as occasional additional travel requirements. Flexibility and adaptability are key skills needed for this role.
• General office hours are Monday – Friday, 8:30am – 5:00pm.
• Longer hours and weekends required for the Month of May and other major racing events.
• Penske Entertainment acknowledges that the need for flexibility varies across all companies/departments and is not best addressed by a one size fits all flexible work policy. As such, the company encourages supervisors to work with their employees to leverage flexibility as needed to support a healthy balance.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

• Must be able to lift up to 25 lbs.
• Must be able to see and hear in the normal range with or without correction and communicate verbally and in written form with great facility and must be able to be understood.
• Must have the stamina to work long hours and must be willing to work an irregular schedule, which may include weekends or evenings.
• Work outdoors requires physical strength and stamina to endure extreme heat, cold, rain, dust, and other conditions.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Work may be performed in an office environment and in close proximity to other workers. Incumbent shall be exposed to those conditions normally encountered in a business office environment.
• Employee will also be required to work outdoors, especially during the racing season. This requires physical strength and stamina to endure extreme heat, cold, rain and other conditions.
• Incumbent is faced with frequent interruptions and must meet with others on a regular basis.
• The noise level in the work environment can be loud, due to professional racing events.

COMPANY BENEFITS:

Full-time employees enjoy a very competitive benefit package. Benefits include: Medical (including tax-advantaged Health Savings Account), Dental, Vision, 401(k) with 100% company match up to 5%, Paid Vacation, Personal & Sick Days, 12 Paid Holidays, Company Paid Life Insurance, Pet Insurance, Tuition Assistance, Short-Term & Long-Term Disability, Generous Paid Parental Leave, On-site Workout Facility, and more.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER:

Penske Entertainment provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. The Company complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities and/or events.