Business Development VP

About Us

Sparks is a leading global brand experience agency, specializing in the design and execution of award-winning experiences that forge deep connections between brands and audiences. Recognized by Adweek as Experiential Agency of the Year, we bring a unique blend of strategic insight and execution excellence to every brand activation, corporate event, trade show exhibit, and immersive experience. Our commitment to creativity, innovation, and flawless execution drives us to craft impactful experiential marketing solutions that deepen relationships, inspire action, and build trust-all around the world.

Summary

This position will focus on strategic sales and engagement with net new clients and banners. The position will work with some of the world’s leading brands to understand their needs, audiences and challenges, and then deliver smart, strategic, results-driven sales recommendations across the Retail, SEE and Freeman Enterprise portfolio with a focus on creative and fabrication services that build long lasting and engrained relationships which can grow into other areas of our business.

This role will be responsible for adhering to the overarching growth strategy through prospecting, event attendance, lead identification, proposal management, and the facilitation of a smooth handover to Account Directors and relevant teams.

The position requires an advanced level of business acumen and ability to maintain and report on pipeline progress in addition to other analytics as required. The position will manage multiple competitive proposals and projects per year in varying capacities and may work on projects independently or as part of a larger team.

This position will support our Business Development Group under our Growth (Sales) team. It is eligible to work a hybrid schedule, generally requiring work in-office and/or show site 2-3 days per week. Preferred locations for this role include the following; however, qualified candidates outside of these markets will also be considered.

• Philadelphia, PA
• Los Angeles, CA
• Chicago, IL
• Grand Prairie, TX
• Royal Oak, MI
• New York, NY
• San Francisco, CA
• St. Paul, MN
• Milwaukee, WI
• Fort Wayne, IN
• Las Vegas, NV

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Learn Sparks’ complete portfolio of products and services and have the ability to present our complete portfolio offering with special emphasis on professional services (creative and strategy), events, conferences, activations, exhibits and retail
• Proactively hunt net new banners and logos (in context and beyond the Agency growth strategy)
• Hunt for both agency professional services in addition to enterprise solution selling
• Create strong relationships with key client stakeholders at both senior and mid-management levels to support pre and post sales opportunities
• Understand the competitive landscape and market trends for large market events, corporate events, special events and tradeshow sales
• Selling is a “team sport” at Freeman - the ideal team mate is a strong individual performer who thrives on a strong team of hunters
• Attend and represent Freeman and multiple industry events annually.
• Records all contact and activity in Salesforce.
• Responsible for the development and/or creation of sales materials-prospectus, PPT presentations, etc. This means leading new business pitches with resources sourced from within Freeman as well as outside partners
• Understand and effectively communicate the company's value proposition, process and current partnerships
• Help implement marketing strategies; analyzing trends and results for a consultative sales approach
• Desire to own projects and exceed expectations, with ability to find solutions and deliver results within a rapidly changing, entrepreneurial, technology-driven culture
• Ability to identify and solve client issues strategically
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with management and cross-functional teams, for both technical and non-technical audiences
• Work with the Sales, Account Management and Operations, teams to implement targeted sales strategy
• Develop relationships and process that allow for seamless transition to account team once new banners are onboarded
• Work collaboratively with the sales and marketing teams and fosters a culture of continuous process improvement and a more sophisticated Go-To-Market process
• Report on key KPIs related to pipeline and professional growth
• Provide peer coaching and development as necessary

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree (B.A.) from a four-year college or university
• Twelve (12) or more years of related experience
• Has proven ability to manage their own book of accounts in the profitable production of revenue opportunities totalling approximately $10M or more
• MUST be willing to consistently cold call and solicit new business
• Knowledge of sales systems such as Salesforce.com is required
• Working knowledge of all Microsoft Office Software applications
• Excellent customer service and organizational skills are required

Travel Requirements

Travel 25% to 50%

What We Offer

The Freeman Company provides benefits that aim to empower our people and their families to thrive mentally, physically, and financially. These are a handful of the types of programs and benefits our full-time people may be eligible for. There may be some variances in specific benefits across regions.

• Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Paid Parental Leave
• Life, Accident and Disability
• Retirement with Company Match
• Paid Time Off++
• Salary range of $150,000-$200,000 based upon experience
• Eligible for a growth commissioned bonus

Diversity Commitment

At The Freeman Company, our commitment to diversity and inclusion is helping us to create not only a great place to work, but also an environment where our employees, our customers and our communities around the world can reach their goals and connect with each other. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status and other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.