Senior Manager, Events Corp - MUST BE LOCAL TO DENVER

Performance Food Group; Englewood (CO); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Day 1 health & wellness benefits

Employee stock purchase plan

401K employer matching

Education assistance

Paid time off

Job summary

Vistar, part of Performance Food Group, seeks a Senior Manager of Meetings & Events to lead planning, development, and execution of its national meetings and events portfolio. You will shape event strategy, manage budgets, and cultivate vendor and hospitality relationships to deliver engaging, brand-consistent experiences.

The role partners with Marketing, Sales, leadership, and external partners to ensure high-quality attendee experiences and strong financial controls, with ~25% travel and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in hospitality, business, communications, or related field.
• 5–7 years of progressive experience in corporate meetings, events, trade shows, or related fields.
• Experience leading complex corporate meetings and events from strategy to execution.
• Experience budgeting, forecasting, reconciliations, and vendor expenses.
• Experience negotiating hotel, venue, production, technology, and event-service contracts.
• Strong presence and communication skills to lead meetings and interact with executives and partners.
• Excellent project management and organizational skills for multiple events and deadlines.
• Ability to travel ~25% and lift 20–30 lbs as needed.

Responsibilities

• Lead planning and execution of national meetings and events calendar.
• Manage events from concept through post-event evaluation and financial reconciliation.
• Set tone and experience for meetings, aligned with Vistar brand.
• Serve as onsite representative for attendees, partners, and vendors.
• Coordinate logistics: speakers, AV, food & beverage, transportation, accommodations, signage, attendee experience.
• Develop and manage budgets, forecasts, and approvals; track expenses.

Skills

Project management

Communication

Leadership

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Hospitality Management, Business, Communications, or related field

Job description

Company Description

Vistar customers are everywhere people work, play, and shop. Vistar is America's leading candy, snack, and beverage distributor with more than 25 distribution centers delivering everything from popcorn to healthy meal replacements anywhere in the U.S. The company has thrived by innovating, exceeding customer expectations, and fostering a collaborative culture built on teamwork, doing what's right, and giving back to the communities they serve.

Job Description

We Deliver the Goods

• Competitive pay and benefits, including Day 1 Health & Wellness Benefits, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, 401K Employer Matching, Education Assistance, Paid Time Off, and much more
• Growth opportunities performing essential work to support America's food distribution system
• Safe and inclusive working environment, including culture of rewards, recognition, and respect

Position Purpose

The Senior Manager, Meetings & Events will lead the planning, development, and execution of Vistar's national meetings and events portfolio, including industry trade shows, customer events, internal meetings, leadership events, and other strategic experiences. This role will serve as a highly visible representative of Vistar, helping establish the tone, professionalism, and overall attendee experience from planning through onsite execution. The Senior Manager will own event strategy and logistics, budgets, vendor and hospitality relationships, contract negotiations, and the technology solutions required to execute successful events. The role will partner closely with Marketing, Sales, leadership, suppliers, customers, and external partners to deliver engaging, brand consistent experiences with strong financial and operational discipline.

Major Functional Responsibilities

• Lead the planning and execution of national meetings and events calendar, including industry trade shows, customer events, internal meetings, leadership events, and other strategic gatherings.
• Manage events from initial concepts, venue selection, and contracting through planning, onsite execution, post-event evaluation, and financial reconciliation.
• Establish the tone and overall experience for meetings and events, ensuring programs are engaging, well organized, and representative of the Vistar brand.
• Serve as a primary onsite representative and point of contact for attendees, partners, vendors, and internal stakeholders.
• Coordinate programming, run-of-show, speakers, production, audiovisual services, food and beverage, transportation, accommodations, signage, and attendee experience.
• Develop and manage annual and event-specific budgets, forecasts, purchase commitments, approvals, expense tracking, and final reconciliations.
• Lead negotiations with hotels, venues, convention properties, production companies, technology providers, and other hospitality and event partners.
• Manage key commercial terms including room blocks, food and beverage commitments, meeting space, attrition, cancellation provisions, audiovisual services, and related event costs.
• Identify opportunities to improve event economics while maintaining high-quality attendee experience and appropriate financial controls.
• Evaluate and support technology solutions used for event registration, attendee communications, mobile experiences, event management, lead capture, and reporting.
• Partner with Marketing to connect meetings and events with broader brand, customer engagement, supplier, and lead-generation efforts.
• Support vendor selection, contracting, budgeting, implementation, and ongoing management of event-related technology solutions.
• Serve as the central point of coordination across Marketing, Sales, leadership, suppliers, customers, and external event partners.
• Lead planning meetings and communicate clear timelines, roles, decisions, deliverables, and expectations.
• Anticipate challenges, resolve issues independently, and maintain continuity before, during, and after events.
• Establish repeatable processes, tools, standards, and post-event reporting that improve event consistency, effectiveness, and efficiency.
• Performs other duties as assigned
• Complies with all policies and standards

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Hospitality Management, Business, Communications, or related field
• 5 - 7 Years of progressively responsible experience in corporate meetings and events, hospitality, trade shows, experiential marketing, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex corporate meetings, customer events, conferences, or trade shows from strategy through execution.
• Experience developing and managing event budgets, forecasts, reconciliations, and vendor-related expenses.
• Experience negotiating hotel, venue, production, technology, and event-service contracts.
• Strong presence and communication skills, with the ability to lead meetings, engage audiences, and represent Vistar with customers, suppliers, executives, and industry partners.
• Strong project-management and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple events, deadlines, vendors, and stakeholders simultaneously.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, take ownership, anticipate needs, solve problems, and move projects forward with limited direction.
• Ability to travel approximately 25% of the time for site visits, trade shows, customer events, internal meetings, and other company-sponsored events. Including occasionally weekend travel for events.
• Physical capability to meet role demands, including the ability to lift and handle objects ranging from 20 to 30 lbs.

Preferred qualifications

• Direct experience negotiating hotel and venue agreements, including room blocks, food and beverage commitments, attrition, cancellation terms, meeting space, and audiovisual services.
• Experience presenting to and working directly with senior executive leaders, customers, suppliers, and industry partners in highly visible settings.
• Experience partnering with Marketing and Sales teams to connect event execution with brand, customer engagement, supplier, and lead-generation objectives.
• Working knowledge of event measurement, attendee feedback, post-event reporting, and continuous improvement practices.
• Experience leading cross-functional project teams and external agency, production, hospitality, or technology partners.
• 2+ years of direct people management experience.
• Certified Meeting Professional

EEO Statement

Performance Food Group and/or its subsidiaries (individually or collectively, the "Company") provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all applicants and employees, regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and any other characteristic protected by applicable local, state and federal laws and regulations. Please click on the following links to review: (1) our EEO Policy; (2) the "EEO is the Law" poster and supplement; and (3) the Pay Transparency Policy Statement.