Company Name: Salesforce
Location: Chicago, IL (Hybrid)
Type: Full Time
Job Description:
Salesforce Strategic Events is searching for an experienced Strategic Events Coordinator, focusing on Housing to join our team. This role will be responsible for the day-to-day management of housing strategy and operations, and hotel and venue strategic sourcing strategy within our events portfolio, ensuring operational excellence for pre, on-site, and post planning.
This individual will be a detail-oriented, data-driven professional who, as a key member of the Housing Center of Excellence team, will provide tactical execution and strategic oversight for housing and venue sourcing and room block management. This role supports the end-to-end process – from initial research and RFP development to contract negotiation, block management, and post-event analysis – while serving as a central partner for cross-functional teams, agencies, and city and hotel partners. The position requires a self-starter who can work both independently and with guidance from Strategic Events leadership, and will involve onsite travel to ensure all facets of housing management run flawlessly.
Responsibilities
Strategic Sourcing & Contracting:
- Develop and execute sourcing strategies for hotels and venues, from RFP management and bid analysis to contract negotiation.
- Oversee the negotiation of key contract terms to ensure favorable rates, mitigate risk, and secure value-added amenities.
- Collaborate with Agency Partners, Legal, Procurement, and Finance to ensure all contracts comply with company policies and financial guidelines.
Agency & Operational Management
- Act as the primary liaison, providing strategic guidance and oversight to our housing agency to ensure all deliverables are met on time and with accuracy.
- Oversee the optimization of hotel blocks by our housing agency, providing strategic guidance on monitoring pickup, adjusting block sizes, and reconciling rooming lists.
- Provide strategic direction to our housing agency in their collaboration with event technology partners to configure, test, and launch housing assets within the registration platform.
- Contribute to the team’s operational excellence and organization by maintaining detailed documentation, SOPs, industry best practices, and templates.
- Provide housing support and communications to employee attendees and their workstream leads.
- Maintain an active understanding of internal policies (e.g., event communications, data privacy) to ensure compliance.
- Travel onsite when needed to manage housing execution.
Cross-Functional & Partner Collaboration
- Act as a trusted partner to internal stakeholders (e.g., Event Leadership, Registration, Sponsorships, Employee Engagement) to align on event housing needs and provide strategic guidance.
- Serve as the main point of contact for hotel, CVB, and DMO partner escalations, addressing issues related to inventory, reservations, and event goals.
- Develop and implement strategies to drive attendees into contracted room blocks.
- Maintain a strong understanding of industry trends and market conditions to inform sourcing and housing decisions.
Financial Management & Reporting
- Forecast and track key housing metrics, including room block pickup, attrition exposure, commissions, and rebates.
- Identify opportunities for cost savings and avoidance throughout the sourcing and housing lifecycle.
- Contribute to post-event analysis to evaluate hotel performance and inform future sourcing strategies and negotiations.
Required Qualifications
- 3+ years in event or hotel operations
- Experience working with CVBs, hotels, and housing agencies.
- Highly organized, detail-oriented, with excellent project and time management.
- Exhibits basic statistics, and then clearly show what the data means using easy-to-understand charts, graphs, and dashboards to help everyone make smart decisions
- Possesses strong interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to influence and engage effectively with leadership and key stakeholders.
- Thrives in fast-paced, complex environments, effectively managing multiple projects, competing priorities, and last-minute changes.
- A proactive, “can-do” attitude, with a proven ability to problem-solve and contribute under pressure.
- Comfortable with organizational ambiguity
- Ability to travel domestically and internationally, approximately once every 2-3 months
- Knowledge of Salesforce, Slack, Google Suite, Excel, Cvent, and RainFocus highly preferred
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience working in a corporate events environment.
- Experience with large-scale, city-wide events.
- Knowledge of legal and financial principles related to contracting.
- Certification in event management (e.g., CMP) or procurement (e.g., CPSM).
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