Sourcing + Housing Project Manager

About B Line: 

B Line is a boutique agency that runs on a self-motivated mantra. B Line is a woman-owned, small business headquartered in San Francisco. Our employees are the face of our business and love what we do. We are a team-oriented culture and support each other through all projects - big and small.

The Role:

We are looking for an experienced Sourcing + Housing Project Manager who will be the team lead for all venue and hotel sourcing. We are looking for someone who will thrive in our self-starter culture of get-things-done, working parents, animal lovers, travel aficionados, coffee cravers, foodies, and a team that likes to live life to the fullest.   

This role will be responsible for all aspects of hotel and venue sourcing. You will be in charge of managing all sourcing for full-service and sourcing-only clients. Your primary function will be sourcing, negotiating, and contracting hotels in our client’s preferred destinations for events, meetings, incentives, and conferences. In addition, you will provide ad-hoc housing and planning support to the team.

About You:

You love to travel and learn about new hotels and venues, keeping up with the latest openings, renovations, and rebrands. You have expert-level knowledge of the leading conference and event destinations and a comprehensive understanding of all major hotel brands.

• You love to negotiate and are always looking out for cost savings for our clients
• You love wrangling all the tiny details of an event and bringing it all to life
• You enjoy being client-facing and can work with all different types of personalities
• You accomplish amazing amounts of work efficiently
• You love building relationships with national account reps, clients, venues, and hoteliers
• You can be counted on to follow through on a project no matter what because you are part of a team
• You are happy to jump in when needed if that means working outside of normal business hours or role
• You are organized and can find any email or document within seconds
• You create beautifully detailed proposals and spreadsheets
• You are a perfectionist, proofreader, and test like crazy
• You love efficiency and are not afraid to fix a process where you see improvement
• You are a professional, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a good time
• You love to travel and get people together. Put you on a plane to anywhere…
• You are calm in any storm.

Sourcing Project Manager Responsibilities:

Develop sourcing strategy for hotel sourcing for meetings ranging from 10 to 10,000 people

Your immediate focus will be on hotel site sourcing. This includes: 

• Direct communication with clients throughout the hotel and venue site selection process to develop sourcing strategy for hotel sourcing for meetings ranging from 10 to 10,000 people
• Cvent Management: Uploading RFP information, managing cvent as a tool, updating national reps, downloading responses
• Manage the RFP process (in Cvent) to secure appropriate room blocks, logistical needs, and pricing from hotels and suppliers through Cvent and other avenues
• Creating proposals with detailed hotel availability - to include detailed decks with photos and destination information, detailed spreadsheets with all the nitty-gritty details of each property
• Provide recommendations and guide clients in making the best selection to achieve their business objectives and advise on contractual responsibilities
• Draft detailed comparison budgets (and decks as needed) for short-listed properties
• Organizing site inspections (leading in person if needed)
• Hotel space holds, releasing, and moving to contract process
• Be a single contact for all questions related to RFP responses from hotel management.
• Hotel contract negotiation
• All hotel selection process details and follow-up. Communicate results to suppliers and hotels ensuring business relationships are maintained.
• Going on-site to execute programs
• Housing management for various projects to include - managing rooming lists and complex housing blocks including concession allocation, VIP rooming management, function space allocation, and set-ups, in the planning and/or on-site. 
• Negotiating attrition and cancellation as needed
• Oversee program change re-negotiations or cancellation negotiations as needed 
• Draft and negotiate appropriate contract addendum as needed to ensure agreements are contractually sound and updated with the client’s current needs
• Analyze new laws, regulations, and contract trends for potential impact
• Translate complex clauses into easy to break down terms to aid in the stakeholder's understanding of the contract language
• Keep up to date on hotels and vendor relationships through targeted activities and attendance of familiarization trips, office presentations, and site visits
• Responsible for accurate cost savings documentation post-event in conjunction with the project manager
• Manage post-event follow-up with hotels to ensure contractual commitments are met or rectified
• Participate in the creation and improvement of templates and playbooks under the supervision of the Event Operations Manager 
• Mentor and train team members 

– You understand hotel site sourcing is a foot in the door to offer our clients additional services. 

– You are good at upselling.  

– Your strategy is to refine B Line’s hotel site sourcing service into a well-oiled machine that frees other team members of the team to concentrate on other aspects of planning.  

– You understand B Line is a small business and we work in an environment where it’s all hands on deck at certain times.

– You live in the Bay Area and can work from our San Francisco office one to 2 days per week. 

Remote employees will be considered.

Skills / Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Prior experience with corporate events, catering, administration, hospitality or equivalent experience (minimum 7 years preferred)
• Experience in a project manager role and being the main client interface for multiple projects 
• Must be organized, work well with others, and able to plan and manage competing timelines and prioritize tasks autonomously
• Highly detailed and able to absorb information from multiple sources (emails, calls, Slack, etc.) 
• Must have excellent customer interaction and strong verbal/written communication skills
• Must have the ability to review, understand, and write summaries of research, calls, and meetings
• Organization is your middle name
• Proactive, self-starter who can prioritize tasks and own a project without strong supervision
• Lift up to 50 pounds
• Ability to travel (up to 25%)
• In office-desk based position (sit/stand desk provided) 
• Standing for extended hours during events

Software

• Google Workspace is your home base - Google Drive, Google Slides, Google Calendar, etc. preparing proposals, checking formulas, filing documents, and keeping files organized
• Asana will be your favorite project management tool. Everyone loves to check off tasks. B Line uses Asana for all project management
• CVENT sourcing tool

Additional Software (a plus)

• Zoho CRM
• Registration platforms: Swoogo, Cvent, Eventbrite, etc., Splash, Zkipster 
• Basic HTML 
• Slack

Benefits:

• Health Insurance 
• 401K with profit sharing
• $85 - 105k, contingent on experience

B Line Values: 

• Humble Calm Confidence. We aim to maintain an egoless positive outlook. Our team has confidence because we have the skills, experience, and expertise to tackle any event. Calm confidence also means a high professional social intelligence of being able to “read the room” and act accordingly. Any mistakes made can be fixed because you have a team and a company backing you.  \
• You Shine, We Shine. The events we plan are not B Line’s events, they are our client’s events. We work behind the scenes. 
• Do The Right Thing. We are a drama-free zone, We hold the highest level of trust between our team. We always act in our client’s best interest, B line’s best interest, and the team’s best interest.  
• Sweat the Details. The details are our job We work hard, we are thorough, and we always follow through. 
• Find Solutions, Find Fun. There are no problems, only solutions. We are solutions-oriented, and we can’t do this work if we can’t have fun

Please submit your resume and cover letter to hello@blineevents.com