Position Summary
The Director of Sales will drive the Long Center’s event-space rentals program, building lasting relationships with clients who choose the Long Center to gather, celebrate, perform, connect, and bring events to life. Working collaboratively, this role leads the venue rental sales process from prospecting and proposals through contracting, event execution, settlement, and follow-up while strengthening existing client relationships and developing thoughtful event packages that enhance the client experience.
This role will establish and achieve venue rental revenue goals, maintaining a healthy pipeline and continuously improving the rental process. Working closely with internal teams and processes, this role ensures successful events from first conversation through completion and serves as a knowledgeable, welcoming representative of the Long Center within the Austin community.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The essential functions include, but are not limited to the following:
Venue Rental Sales
- Develop and execute strategies to grow venue rental revenue and achieve annual sales goals.
- Generate new business through prospecting, networking, referrals, community relationships, and industry engagement.
- Build relationships with event planners, corporate clients, nonprofits, promoters, community organizations, and other prospective renters.
- Manage internal staff and resources to ensure proper handling of incoming inquiries; guiding prospects to spaces and event solutions that meet their needs.
- Create compelling proposals, presentations, pricing, and event packages; lead negotiations through signed contracts.
- Maintain an accurate sales pipeline, including prospects, opportunities, projected revenue, and next steps.
Client Relationship Management
- Serve as a responsive, knowledgeable point of contact throughout the rental sales process.
- Understand client goals and recommend creative, feasible solutions within the Long Center’s spaces and capabilities.
- Build long-term relationships that encourage repeat business and referrals.
- Identify opportunities for added services, experiences, sponsorships, or partnerships in collaboration with internal teams.
- Represent the Long Center at community and industry events to strengthen relationships and generate business.
Revenue Leadership
- Establish effective sales practices, tools, and processes that support lead development, conversion, and exceptional client service.
- Monitor pipeline health, sales activity, conversion rates, revenue projections, and other key performance indicators.
- Report regularly on sales performance, forecasts, opportunities, and challenges.
- Assess market conditions, client needs, and competitive activity to identify growth opportunities and inform strategy.
Cross-Departmental Collaboration
- Partner with Event Services, Operations, Marketing, Programming, and other teams to ensure sales commitments can be delivered successfully.
- Lead clear handoffs from sales to event execution and remain engaged as needed to support the client relationship and internal teams.
- Collaborate on creative event packages aligned with the Long Center’s mission, spaces, capabilities, and operational needs.
- Follow up after events to confirm fulfillment, client satisfaction, and identify repeat-business opportunities.
- Participate in staff, departmental, and leadership meetings as necessary.
Community & Organizational Engagement
- Represent the Long Center professionally in the Austin community and build relationships that advance our mission and goals.
- Maintain strong knowledge of Austin’s events, hospitality, nonprofit, corporate, and entertainment sectors.
- Foster a culture of collaboration, responsiveness, creativity, and excellent customer service.
- Support broader revenue initiatives through cross-departmental collaboration while retaining primary responsibility for venue rental sales.
- Perform other related duties as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)
- Bachelor’s Degree in sales, marketing, business, hospitality, event management, or a related field preferred.
- At least 7 years of experience in sales, business development, venue rentals, hospitality, events, or a related field with direct experience selling venues, event spaces, hospitality services, or comparable experiences strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated success generating new business, managing a sales pipeline, building client relationships, and achieving revenue goals.
- Experience managing the full sales cycle, from prospecting and proposal development through negotiation, contracting, and follow-up.
- Strong knowledge of the Austin market and the ability to build and maintain community relationships.
- Excellent verbal, written, presentation, negotiation, and interpersonal communication skills.
Physical Demands and Work Environment
This is a flexible onsite position with an office on the Long Center campus in Austin, TX. Evenings, weekends, holidays, and some local travel may be required. The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions.
Benefits
In addition to salary, we offer a competitive benefits package including health, dental, vision, 401k plan with employer match, generous paid time off, and unparalleled access to arts and cultural programming.
The Long Center is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and we strive for a team that reflects Austin’s diverse culture. All applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, creed, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, sex or age.