Director of Event & Tourism Sales

Heritage Foundation, Williamson County, TN

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Job Summary

Do you have a passion for nonprofit work? Are you an entrepreneurial, events or tourism sales professional with at least five years of relevant experience? If so, your next job opportunity is waiting for you – come join us! The Heritage Foundation of Williamson County, TN is actively recruiting for a Director of Event & Tourism Sales.

POSITION SUMMARY: The Director of Event & Tourism Sales oversees the event and tourism sales shared service department, which is responsible for selling approximately 300 rental events annually across the Foundation’s portfolio of historic properties (The Franklin Theatre (13,000 sq. ft.), the LeHew Magid Big House (4,000 sq. ft.), and the new History & Culture Center (6,400 sq. ft.)) as well as developing and selling tourism products for The Franklin Theatre, History & Culture Center (opening for tours in Fall 2023), and eventually Franklin Grove Estate & Gardens (opening in 2025).

At hiring, the Director has one direct report, an Event Sales & Service Manager.

Vital revenue from private events and tourism products goes directly to support the overall nonprofit mission of the Foundation and its divisions.

Job Responsibilities

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES: To perform this job, an individual must perform each essential function satisfactorily with or without a reasonable accommodation.

• Leads efforts to sell event space and travel/tourism products, negotiate contracts, and communicate event details to service team members across the organization’s divisions.
• Prepares accurate and timely proposals for clients, including sound price estimating.
• Prospects, qualifies, and serves event and tourism clients in order to increase revenues across the organization. Responsible for reaching revenue goals and managing expenses set forth in annual budgets.
• Creates attractive and integrated sales packages that leverage many of the Foundation’s various offerings.
• Actively pursues new business for the organization and identifies opportunities to acquire new leads, including making cold calls, attending and producing industry events, and delivering effective presentations.
• Develops and enhances partnerships with CVBs, hotels, DMCs and other event- and travel-related organizations to increase visitation and venue usage.
• Manages site visits and tours of the facilities and discusses booking logistics, and event options across the organization.
• Collaborates with the COO and business division heads to develop sales plans, policies and procedures; assists with efforts to market and promote services, programs, and offerings.
• Establishes holistic and centralized event and tourism sales processes including necessary software, internal workflows, billing, etc.
• Collaborates with other shared service areas to achieve goals and operate effectively including the marketing department, finance department, programming departments of various divisions, etc.
• Leads the development of sales tools/materials including profile sheets, sales kits and videos
• Provides accurate revenue information to accounting as well as issuing deposit and settlement invoice and collecting necessary funds from clients.
• Utilizes databases to input and monitor data, compiles sales reports and monitors progress toward established sales goals • Resolves customer complaints and assists with monitoring the quality of customer service operations
• Alongside all full-time staff, act as day-of event staff for various weekend and evening events such as street festivals, key fundraising events, etc.
• Regular and reliable attendance, including some evenings and weekends.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Education and/or Experience: Bachelor’s degree required. 5 – 7 years of progressive experience, preferably in sales, events, or tourism. Demonstrated leadership experience within a complex and multidisciplinary institution.

Other Qualifications:

• High reasoning ability and emotional intelligence; critical thinker.
• Strong ability to interpret complex information and clearly communicate messages simply to others.
• Ability to act as a brand ambassador of the Heritage Foundation and its divisions and demonstrate confidents in knowledge of the history, brand values, vision, and direction.
• Outstanding negotiating ability.
• Substantial portfolio of successful event sales and industry client contacts.
• Strong self-starter with impeccable problem-solving abilities.
• Must be a hands-on, “roll up your sleeves” team player.
• Outstanding leadership skills and ability to lead and manage cross-functional teams. Ability to work seamlessly with team members at all levels.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills required.
• General knowledge of computer applications for the frequent use of electronic mail, word processing, data entry, spreadsheets, graphics, etc.
• Must be able to handle multiple, simultaneous tasks effectively and efficiently.
• Must be detail oriented and organized with the ability to perform duties under pressure, prioritize workload, and timely meet deadlines.
• Ability to work irregular hours and weekends.

Additional Information

Benefits

How to Apply

If you are interested in this exciting opportunity, please send your resume and cover letter to bbeasley@williamsonheritage.org.

Details

• Date Posted: May 26, 2023
• Type: Full-Time
• Job Function: Fundraising / Revenue Development
• Service Area: Community Development
• Salary Range: Market
• Working Hours: 40 hours per week