Commercial Strategy Manager

FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT GROUP LLC•Itasca, IL

15h

About The Position

Family Entertainment Group (FEG) is an industry leader in designing, developing, and operating family entertainment centers and amusement experiences. It provides facility management and arcade operations for resorts, hotels, casinos, and amusement parks, and operates nearly 90 locations in the United States. The Commercial Strategy Manager owns day-to-day commercial relationships for one or more key partner brands, serving as an extension of the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). The role focuses primarily on driving same-store sales growth across an assigned partner portfolio and secondarily on shaping commercial strategy for new partner locations. The manager builds trusted relationships with partner operating and marketing leaders, translating strategy into execution across the partner’s locations. Executive relationships with partner presidents and C-suite leaders remain the CCO’s responsibility. The role develops commercial opportunities and initiatives based on partner and guest insights, FEG performance data, and location-level results. It oversees agreed initiatives from planning through rollout and measurement, prepares commercial go-to-market plans for new locations, and shares tested ideas and lessons learned across the portfolio. The position works closely with FEG operations, marketing, analytics, field leadership, New Store Opening, and Business Development teams. Minor travel to partner locations is required, with frequency varying according to portfolio size and initiative cadence.

Requirements

At least 5 years of experience in a commercial, brand management, account management, or partner-facing strategy role; ideally in retail, hospitality, entertainment, or franchise/multi-unit environments.
A track record of owning a P&L-adjacent metric, such as comparable sales, same-store sales, or revenue per unit, and improving it through disciplined execution.
Experience managing external partner or client relationships at the operating level, including navigating conflicting priorities.
Demonstrated project management skills, including managing multiple initiatives simultaneously and delivering them on time across a distributed, multi-location footprint.
Strong commercial and analytical instincts, including the ability to connect guest-experience insights with pricing and promotional strategy and an execution plan.
High ownership mentality and ability to operate like a business owner for an assigned brand.
Excellent relationship-building skills and the credibility to influence partner stakeholders without formal authority.
Clear, concise communication skills and comfort with both location walk-throughs and data-driven readouts.
Bias for action and commitment to deadlines.
Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, hospitality management, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Willingness to travel to partner locations as needed; travel is described as minor and varies by portfolio size and initiative cadence.

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain knowledge of partner business philosophy, strategic priorities, brand standards, and competitive positioning.
Understand the partner’s guests, visitation and spending drivers, and intended guest experience.
Track the partner’s promotional calendar, pricing strategy, and merchandising approach, and understand how FEG offerings fit within them.
Build trusted working relationships with partner stakeholders, including regional operators, marketing leads, and field teams.
Identify and prioritize pricing, packaging, promotional, and guest-experience opportunities that can increase same-store sales.
Work with FEG operations, marketing, and analytics teams to design initiatives using partner guest data and FEG performance data.
Monitor performance by location, diagnose underperformance, and adjust initiatives promptly.
Report on sales performance, initiative impact, and forward-looking recommendations on a regular cadence.
Develop commercial go-to-market plans—including pricing, promotional launch sequence, and guest-experience setup—for new partner locations.
Coordinate with New Store Opening and Business Development teams to integrate commercial readiness into opening timelines.
Capture lessons from new location openings and incorporate them into the partner brand’s standard playbook.
Own agreed initiatives end-to-end, including scoping, timelines, stakeholder alignment, rollout, and measurement.
Manage concurrent workstreams across the partner’s locations and meet deadlines.
Propose innovative commercial ideas, testing them at pilot scale where possible, and identify opportunities to scale them across locations.
Flag risks, resource gaps, and misalignment early, bringing potential solutions to the CCO.
Coordinate between the partner and FEG operations, marketing, analytics, and field leadership.
Lead a cohort group of general managers at partner locations to support learning and sharing of best practices.
Support the CCO with materials, data, and recommendations for partner executive-level discussions without owning those executive relationships.
Maintain consistent communication and follow-through across the partner’s location portfolio.