Strategic Venue Procurement Leader, Flexible Locations

Emerald; Alpharetta (GA); Hybrid; USD 51,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited vacation

Flexible working locations

401(k) plan with company match

Medical/dental/vision coverage

Job summary

Emerald seeks a Venue Procurement Manager to oversee strategic sourcing, contracting, administration, and ongoing management of hotel and venue agreements across our event portfolio.

In this role you will coordinate with event operations, third-party sourcing and housing partners, Legal, and Finance to drive sourcing from initial RFPs through contract execution and post-contract administration, ensuring compliance with templates and standards.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in venue sourcing, hotel sales, hospitality operations, meeting planning, or procurement.
• Strong understanding of hotel contracts, room blocks, attrition, cancellation, concession management, and group housing practices.
• Demonstrated experience utilizing Cvent technology solutions, including sourcing/RFP distribution, venue search and evaluation, and supplier relationship management.
• Experience working with hotel brands, convention centers, CVB/DMO partners, and housing providers.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel, Smartsheet, and data analysis/reporting tools.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple sourcing, contracting, and event support projects simultaneously.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience coordinating contract negotiations and stakeholder communications.
• Highly organized with strong attention to detail and the ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience developing and maintaining process documentation, templates, and operational best practices.

Responsibilities

• Review hotel, venue, and room-block agreements against approved organizational contracting standards and templates.
• Manage routine contract negotiations with hotels, venues, and third-party sourcing partners.
• Review key business terms including room rates, room blocks, concessions, commissions, rebates, attrition, cancellation, rate protection, construction/renovation provisions, and other commercial terms.
• Identify deviations from established contract standards and escal material exceptions to the Director of Venue Procurement and/or Legal as appropriate.
• Coordinate revisions, redlines, and clean agreements through final approval.
• Support hotel and venue sourcing initiatives across assigned events.
• Prepare and distribute RFPs and organize proposals and responses for review.
• Develop comparison summaries highlighting rates, concessions, financial terms, contractual obligations, and significant areas of risk.
• Conduct initial negotiations and follow-up with venues and sourcing partners.
• Maintain sourcing documentation and decision history.
• Serve as the primary quality-control checkpoint before contracts are escalated for final approval.
• Confirm approved commercial terms are accurately incorporated into final agreements.
• Track contract status, outstanding redlines, approvals, deadlines, and next actions.
• Coordinate signature routing and maintain executed contract documentation.
• Manage routine amendments and room block adjustments within established approval parameters.
• Serve as a day-to-day point of contact for hotel partners, cvb partners, sourcing agencies, and housing providers.
• Monitor outstanding deliverables and drive timely responses and contract turnaround.
• Ensure third-party partners follow established procurement procedures, templates, and contracting standards.
• Resolve routine issues independently and elevate significant negotiations or exceptions to the Director.
• Review contracted commissions, rebates, and other financial concessions for accuracy.
• Maintain visibility into contracted financial terms and supporting documentation.
• Coordinate with housing and sourcing partners regarding commission/rebate reporting and documentation.
• Support reconciliation, audit, and reporting initiatives as needed.
• Maintain contract templates, negotiation playbooks, SOPs, and procurement tools.
• Track assigned sourcing and contracting projects and proactively identify items requiring action.
• Maintain standardized documentation and contract records.
• Identify recurring negotiation issues and recommend improvements to templates and processes.
• Support development of preferred terms and repeat-use agreements with strategic hotel partners.

Skills

Venue sourcing

Hotel contracts

Hospitality operations

Meeting planning

Procurement

Excel

Data analysis

Education

CMP certification

Tools

Cvent

Job description

Emerald seeks a Venue Procurement Manager to oversee strategic sourcing, contracting, administration, and ongoing management of hotel and venue agreements across our event portfolio.

In this role you will coordinate with event operations, third-party sourcing and housing partners, Legal, and Finance to drive sourcing from initial RFPs through contract execution and post-contract administration, ensuring compliance with templates and standards.