Manager of events

At The Obama Foundation, our mission is to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world. We seek to build an active democratic culture where people are equipped and motivated to make change in the communities where they live, work, and play. Right here on the South Side of Chicago, we’re building a home for this vision, a global center for change with a range of opportunities - coordinated programming, community outreach events, educational moments, and more - that invite visitors from down the block or across the globe to turn hope into action.

Achieving our ambitious goals starts with an exceptional team built on our Hope to Action Values - Courage, Empathy, Integrity, Accountability, Community, Inclusivity, Pragmatism, Resilience, Imagination, and Hope. A Framework that anyone, anywhere, can use to build trust, activate participation, and expand opportunity in their community.

Purpose of the Role

The Manager of Events will lead the steady-state sales strategy, pipeline management, revenue performance, and sales operating model for the campus. This role is responsible for driving event rental revenue through disciplined sales leadership, proactive business development, strong funnel management, effective forecasting, and client relationship management. The Manager will oversee a team of Senior Associates focused exclusively on event rental sales and Sales Coordinators focused on administrative sales support. This role will ensure that the team is consistently responding to inquiries quickly, advancing proposals, converting business, maintaining accurate pipeline records, protecting profit margins, and optimizing use of event spaces in alignment with revenue goals, operational feasibility, mission priorities and standards.

As the Manager of Events, you’ll be reporting directly to the Senior Director of Earned Income.

Core Job Responsibilities

• Lead the steady-state event rental sales function, including revenue strategy, sales planning, pipeline management, client cultivation, proposal activity, booking pace, forecasting, and achievement of annual event rental revenue goals.
• Manage, coach, and develop a high-performing event rental sales team, including Senior Associates responsible for event rental sales and Sales Coordinators responsible for administrative sales support, inquiry tracking, proposal preparation, site tour coordination, CRM updates, and handoff documentation.
• Develop and implement sales operating procedures that create consistency across inquiry intake, lead qualification, response time, site tours, proposal development, follow-up cadence, pricing recommendations, contract advancement, lost-business tracking, and sales-to-service handoff.
• Own the event rental sales funnel from inquiry through contracted business, ensuring that leads are properly qualified, prioritized, assigned, tracked, advanced, and converted in alignment with revenue goals and space availability.
• Maintain active oversight of the event rental pipeline, ensuring that all opportunities are accurately reflected in the designated CRM, tracker, or sales management system, including client details, event type, estimated value, stage, probability, next step, close date, space needs, and forecasted revenue.
• Manage event rental revenue performance against budget, forecast, and annual goals, identifying gaps early and recommending corrective actions related to sales activity, pricing, market outreach, packaging, minimums, event mix, or space utilization.
• Partner with Venue Management Operations to ensure clean, complete, and timely handoffs after contract execution, including contracted scope, client expectations, special commitments, operational considerations, known risks, and open questions.
• Maintain strong relationships with key clients, event planners, corporations, institutions, nonprofit organizations, civic partners, community organizations, and other market segments aligned with the Obama Presidential Center’s event rental strategy.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Key Deliverables / Outcomes

• Achievement of annual event rental revenue goals through disciplined sales leadership, proactive business development, strong pipeline management, and effective team performance.
• A high-performing event rental sales team with clear role expectations, consistent coaching, measurable sales standards, and strong accountability for follow-up, conversion, and revenue production.
• A reliable and transparent sales funnel that accurately reflects inquiry volume, qualified leads, proposals, site tours, contracts pending, contracted revenue, lost business, forecasted revenue, and pipeline risk.
• Consistent implementation of event rental sales SOPs, including inquiry intake, lead qualification, response standards, proposal process, follow-up cadence, CRM requirements, pricing escalation, and sales-to-service handoff.
• Improved sales velocity through timely inquiry response, efficient proposal development, disciplined follow-up, and effective use of Sales Coordinators to reduce administrative drag on senior sellers.
• Accurate revenue forecasting, booking pace reporting, and pipeline analysis that support leadership decision-making, budget management, staffing analysis, and financial planning.
• Strong P&L awareness and margin management for the event rental business, including visibility into revenue by event type, contribution margin, ancillary revenue, direct costs, and properly allocated shared costs.

Required Qualifications

• 4-6 years of progressively responsible experience in event rental sales, venue sales, hospitality sales, catering sales, cultural institution event sales, museum or attraction sales, conference center sales, destination sales, or a comparable client-facing revenue environment.
• Demonstrated experience managing or leading a sales team, including coaching sellers, assigning leads, reviewing pipeline, setting performance expectations, improving follow-up discipline, and holding team members accountable for revenue results.
• Proven experience managing a sales funnel or CRM process, including lead qualification, pipeline stages, proposal activity, conversion tracking, probability weighting, forecasting, and lost-business analysis.
• Strong financial acumen with experience supporting revenue forecasting, budget tracking, P&L review, margin analysis, pricing recommendations, revenue reporting, and profitability improvement.
• Experience developing sales operating procedures, team workflows, sales trackers, reporting tools, proposal standards, client follow-up processes, and handoff protocols.
• Experience selling or managing sales for a venue with multiple event spaces, complex scheduling needs, operational constraints, premium client expectations, and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of event rental economics, including room rental revenue, food and beverage minimums or commissions, parking, ancillary revenue, direct event costs, labor recovery, pricing strategy, and contribution margin.
• Flexibility of hours including but not limited to early morning, late night, weekends, and holidays across campus in both indoor and outdoor environments.

The salary range for this role is between $87,020 and $108,775.

This is an onsite role based at the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park.

For an overview of our benefits package, including insurance, paid time off, retirement & more, please visit https://www.obama.org/careers/.

Don’t check off every box in the requirements listed above? Please apply anyway! If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to still consider submitting an application. You may be just the right candidate for this role or another one of our openings!

Equal Opportunity Employer
The Foundation is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. The Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, parental status, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable laws. We encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply. If you are a qualified candidate with a disability, please e-mail us at careers@obama.org if you require a reasonable accommodation to complete this application.