Design & Development Lead — Corporate Events

Cohera; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance coverage including?m?

401(k) with employer match

Discretionary PTO and paid holidays

Company-paid disability insurance

Company-paid life insurance

Paid DMCP CMP certification

Paid industry memberships

Job summary

Cohera is seeking a Design and Development Manager for our New York office. This role leads the complete proposal process for high-impact programs, coordinating with Sales and Strategic teams, vendors, and clients to ensure alignment with goals, budget, and brand identity.

The ideal candidate brings hospitality experience, strong writing and budgeting skills, and the ability to craft client-ready content and costed proposals.

Qualifications

• Minimum of six years work experience with a minimum of three years in hospitality.
• At least one year work experience in proposal writing, event design, creative marketing, or destination management.
• Proficiency in client relations, detailed budget management, event design, contract management, and vendor relations.
• Strong pricing, formatting, and creative storytelling abilities required.
• Advanced writing and creative storytelling skills.
• Ability to develop customized, client-specific content.
• Exceptional project management and organizational skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills.
• Knowledge of the local destination offerings such as restaurants, clubs, festivals, tours, and venues.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Canva.

Responsibilities

• Independently lead the full proposal process—from concept to delivery for custom, high-impact programs.
• Own all aspects of proposal development, including ideation, narrative writing, pricing, formatting, and presentation delivery.
• Accurately scope and price all program components including décor, entertainment, venues, staffing, transportation, and activities using strong editorial skills.
• Write and adapt creative descriptions for client-facing materials such as activities/tours, venues, and restaurants, customizing content when necessary.
• Conduct initial vendor outreach to confirm availability and collect service information aligned with proposal and contract parameters.
• Maintain direct communication with Sales and Strategic teams throughout the pre-sale phase, including discovery calls, meetings, site visits, and presentations.
• Maintain holds for venues and vendors during the sales process, ensuring timely release or confirmation based on program stage.
• Coordinate site inspections based on Sales team direction, including vendor bookings and payment logistics.
• Proactively manage workload and role responsibilities to meet deadlines and stakeholder expectations; adjust program details throughout the proposal phase.
• Attend turnover meetings with Event Management and Sales teams to ensure seamless handoffs and clear program documentation.
• Position requires flexibility to work late hours and weekends as needed to meet deadlines.
• Research, evaluate, and communicate with vendors to obtain accurate and cost-effective quotes.
• Introduce vendor vetting process and initiate onboarding through Vendor Manager.
• Update and maintain an organized tariff by archiving new services into the company tariff library.

Skills

Proposal writing

Event design

Budget management

Vendor relations

Creative storytelling

Project management

Organizational skills

Client relations

Communication skills

Pricing

Content adaptation

Tools

Microsoft Word

Excel

PowerPoint

Canva

Job description

Cohera is seeking a Design and Development Manager for our New York office. This role leads the complete proposal process for high-impact programs, coordinating with Sales and Strategic teams, vendors, and clients to ensure alignment with goals, budget, and brand identity.

The ideal candidate brings hospitality experience, strong writing and budgeting skills, and the ability to craft client-ready content and costed proposals.