Event Sales Manager

Vanderbilt University•Nashville, TN

About The Position

The Event Sales Manager manages intake, sales, contracting, and logistical coordination for an assigned portfolio of campus or athletic events. The role serves as a primary client contact, guiding inquiries from initial qualification through contracting and operational transition while providing timely, accurate, and responsive service. It works across Vanderbilt Enterprises, university departments, Athletics, Vanderbilt Catering, food and beverage partners, event operations, and other campus service providers to coordinate the client experience, contribute to revenue growth, promote Vanderbilt venues and services, and ensure event requirements are documented and handed off clearly. For campus events, the manager handles intake and sales. Confirmed events using Vanderbilt Catering are transitioned to the assigned Event Manager for space, catering, and logistics through completion; for events not using Vanderbilt Catering, the manager retains responsibility for sales, contracting, and logistical coordination. For athletic events using athletic facilities, the manager handles sales, contracting, and logistical coordination, transitioning food and beverage requirements to the designated lead and operational requirements to the Operations Manager while maintaining clear communication. The role uses departmental platforms, including Momentus and other event, registration, or customer-management tools, to maintain records and track sales activity, conversion, contracted revenue, event status, and other requested measures. It also supports centralized intake and lead routing and identifies improvements to sales, contracting, handoff, and client-service processes.

Requirements

Two years of experience in event sales, venue sales, event management, hospitality, or a related professional area.
Excellent sales, customer-service, time-management, and project-management skills.
Strong written and verbal communication, attention to detail, organization, and sound judgment.
Ability to manage multiple clients and events simultaneously, meet deadlines, and maintain accurate records.
Ability to build positive relationships and collaborate with internal and external customers, service providers, and cross-functional partners.
A process-driven, collaborative, proactive, and solutions-oriented approach.
Availability to work early mornings, occasional evenings, and weekends based on event needs.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field.
Experience developing proposals, pricing events, negotiating services, and managing contracts.
Experience working in university, athletic, hospitality, catering, or complex multi-venue environments.
Proficiency with event-management, CRM, registration, or similar technology platforms.

Responsibilities

Respond promptly and professionally to event inquiries, Requests for Proposals, and other sales leads.
Qualify prospective clients, assess event needs, recommend venues and services, and conduct site visits as needed.
Develop proposals, estimates, pricing, and event agreements in accordance with approved rates, policies, and revenue goals.
Manage contracting for assigned events and maintain accurate records of client approvals, event requirements, and contractual obligations.
Maintain prospective and confirmed business records in event-management or customer-relationship systems, including lead status, event details, and follow-up.
Build and maintain a sales pipeline, support revenue goals, and identify opportunities to expand use of Vanderbilt venues and services.
Coordinate final billing information and documentation with billing and invoicing support.
Serve as the primary sales and logistics contact for assigned clients and communicate consistently throughout event planning.
Collect and document event requirements, including space, setup, food and beverage, audiovisual, parking, transportation, security, guest services, accessibility, and other operational needs.
Coordinate availability, event holds, room assignments, diagrams, timelines, and service-provider requirements with internal and external partners.
Ensure proposed events comply with university policies, venue requirements, contractual standards, and applicable safety and risk-management procedures.
Prepare timely, complete handoffs to event management, food and beverage, and operations partners, and support clients and internal teams as needed.
Provide on-site sales or event support when required by event scope and complexity.
Cultivate relationships with university departments, Athletics, campus partners, external organizations, and service providers.
Manage intake and sales for campus events, transitioning confirmed events using Vanderbilt Catering to the assigned Event Manager and retaining sales, contracting, and logistics for events that do not use Vanderbilt Catering.
Manage sales, contracting, and logistical coordination for events using athletic facilities, transitioning food and beverage and operational requirements to designated leads.
Use Momentus and other event, registration, or customer-management platforms to maintain accurate, current records.
Track sales activity, conversion, contracted revenue, event status, and other performance measures as requested.
Support development of a centralized intake process, shared inbox, website inquiry form, and consistent lead-routing procedures.
Identify opportunities to improve sales, contracting, handoff, and client-service processes across Catering and Events.