Senior Associate, Event Sales

BOF The Barack Obama Foundation; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 79,040 - 98,800; Full time

Job summary

The Obama Foundation in Chicago is seeking a Senior Associate, Event Sales to advance rental opportunities aligned with our mission and revenue goals. You’ll report to the Senior Manager of Event Sales and work with teams across the Foundation to optimize booking workflows and client experiences.

Responsibilities include managing inquiries, conducting site tours, and developing relationships with corporate, nonprofit, and educational clients.

Qualifications

• 4 years of professional experience in the event industry, with cultural institution a plus.
• Strong knowledge of sales practices, event logistics, and vendor management.
• Experience in venue rentals and coordinating with internal teams and third-party vendors.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and ability to manage multiple inquiries and deadlines.
• Willingness to work flexible hours and onsite at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.

Responsibilities

• Full-cycle inquiry and pipeline management from initial contact through contract.
• Respond to client inquiries with accurate information on spaces, pricing, and policies.
• Conduct site tours and present spaces to support revenue goals.
• Identify prospective clients and support outreach campaigns to cultivate repeat business.
• Maintain CRM records, revenue projections, and follow-up activity.
• Coordinate handoffs after contract execution to ensure smooth client experience.

Skills

Event sales

Sales process

Client relationship management

Communication

Organization

Job description

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.

The Senior Associate, Event Sales will be responsible for advancing event rental sales opportunities that are aligned with the Foundation’s mission, revenue goals, operational capabilities, and visitor experience standards. As the Senior Associate of Event Sales, you’ll be reporting directly to the Senior Manager of Event Sales.

Core Job Responsibilities

• Full-Cycle Inquiry & Pipeline Management: Manage assigned event rental inquiries from initial contact through proposal, follow-up, site tours, contract negotiations, pipeline tracking, and handoff to Venue Management after the agreement is finalized.
• Client Information & Inquiry Response: Respond to prospective client inquiries in a timely and professional manner, ensuring clients receive accurate information about available spaces, rental opportunities, capacity guidelines, pricing parameters, food and beverage requirements, parking considerations, vendor policies, and general event capabilities.
• Site Tours & Venue Presentation: Conduct site tours for prospective clients, corporate groups, community organizations, institutions, event planners, and other qualified prospects, presenting spaces in a manner that supports revenue goals while setting realistic expectations based on capacity, operational feasibility, visitor experience, and venue policies.
• Proactive Business Development & Relationship Management: Support proactive business development efforts by identifying prospective clients, researching market opportunities, building target lists, and supporting outreach campaigns to cultivate repeat business and build relationships with event planners, corporate clients, nonprofit organizations, community partners, educational institutions, civic organizations, tourism partners, and cultural institutions.
• Revenue Enhancements: Identify opportunities to capture additional revenue through auxiliary services, including food and beverage, parking, retail tie-ins, special access opportunities, tours, add-on experiences, or other approved revenue enhancements.
• CRM Maintenance & Sales Reporting: Maintain accurate pipeline records, client notes, lead status, proposal status, follow-up dates, revenue projections, and conversion activity in the designated CRM or tracking system to support sales reporting, revenue forecasts, market trend analysis, and booking pace tracking.
• Market Analysis & Benchmarking: Assist with competitive research, market analysis, pricing comparisons, and peer institution benchmarking to inform event rental strategy and revenue optimization.

Key Deliverables / Outcomes

• Consistent and timely follow-up with event rental inquiries, resulting in improved client responsiveness, stronger conversion, and increased revenue opportunity.
• Accurate and professional event rental proposals that reflect approved pricing, venue capabilities, operational considerations, and client needs.
• Improved sales conversion through disciplined lead tracking, consistent communication, timely follow-up, and effective coordination.
• Accurate and up-to-date CRM, pipeline, and sales tracking records that support forecasting, reporting, and revenue decision-making.
• Successful client site tours that present the venue professionally, set clear expectations, and support conversion of qualified prospects.
• Clean and complete handoffs after contract execution, reducing confusion, missed commitments, and client experience gaps.
• Reliable sales activity reporting, including inquiry volume, proposal status, conversion activity, revenue forecast, lost business trends, and market insights.
• A professional, client-centered sales experience that strengthens the reputation of the Obama Presidential Center as a world class, mission-aligned event venue.

Required Qualifications

• 4 years of professional experience in the event industry with experience at a cultural institution as a plus, and a track record of planning and executing successful events.
• Extensive knowledge of sales practices, event logistics and best practices for both large and small scale operations.
• Experience in venue rentals and working with multiple internal teams and third party vendors to meet or exceed sales targets or revenue goals of $2-4 million.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple inquiries, proposals, deadlines, site tours, and client follow-ups simultaneously.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to effectively collaborate with and influence a variety of internal and external partners.
• A resilient self-starter, detail oriented and highly organized individual with a bias for action and ownership Comfortable navigating ambiguity and ability to create structure and process in a fast-paced environment.
• Flexibility of hours including but not limited to early morning, late night, weekends, and holidays across campus in both indoor and outdoor environments.
• Ability to work onsite at the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park and/or other Obama Foundation locations in Chicago.

The salary range for this role is between $79,040 and $98,800.

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.

The Obama Foundation will never ask for payment or personal financial information during the hiring process or training.

At the Obama Foundation, we are guided by a core belief: that ordinary people working together can change history. We were founded by community organizers, so when we seek change, we do it by bringing people together. That approach begins at home, on the South Side of Chicago, where we are building the Obama Presidential Center. The Center represents a historic opportunity for Chicago: a chance to build a world-class museum and public gathering space that celebrates our nation’s first African American President and First Lady, steps away from where he began his career, where she was raised, and where - together - they made their home. But that approach extends to all our work, whether it’s holding leadership training sessions in communities throughout the U.S., bringing local leaders together in countries around the world, working to support the global education of girls, or ensuring young men of color have pathways to opportunity. As President Obama has said, "we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together." So join us. For more information, please visit www.obama.org.