Vice President of Sales & Services

Department: Convention Sales & Services

FLSA Status: Salaried, Exempt

Reports to: President & CEO

Prepared/Revised Date: 09/2025

About Visit Spokane

Visit Spokane is a Destination Management Organization (DMO). The mission of our DMO is to enhance the local economy by marketing our region nationally as a desirable destination for group, business and leisure travel, creating economic impact to the stakeholders, members and community we serve.

Job Summary

The Vice President of Sales serves as a key executive member of the Leadership Team. A forward-thinking leader responsible for driving convention sales, team performance, and destination visibility. This role requires a balance of strategic sales leadership, partner engagement, and adaptability in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

Success In This Position Comes From Someone Who

• Initiates change and thrives on uncertainty.
• Communicates benefits clearly and persuasively, strategizing alternatives and solutions.
• Maintains enough structure to align objectives and coordinate schedules, without being bogged down by rigid systems.
• Revise approaches and adapt quickly, thriving in dynamic environments by multitasking, staying flexible, cutting through bureaucracy, loosening rigid processes, and keeping information and systems accessible.
• Envisions and conceptualizes solutions, creating compelling presentations and future-focused strategies.
  
  

This role rewards a results-driven individual who embraces risk, works creatively under pressure, and motivates both internal teams and external stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic / Results Leadership

Convention Sales & Business Development

• Achieve Visit Spokane sales goals by generating qualified leads and securing group bookings over 80,000 total room nights.
• Research and qualify prospective group opportunities, actively soliciting business for Spokane hotels and facilities.
• Represent Spokane at tradeshows, sales trips, destination reviews, and site visits.
• Maintain strong working relationships with Spokane Convention Center staff, hospitality partners, and stakeholders.
• Develop and implement innovative strategies that highlight Spokane as a premier convention destination.
  
  

Leadership & Team Management

• Lead, coach, and develop the Sales & Services team, setting goals, assigning markets, and ensuring accountability.
• Oversee lead distribution, monitor booking pace, and maintain a healthy pipeline of convention opportunities.
• Provide weekly progress updates and strategic insights to the CEO.
• Foster a culture of creativity, urgency, and accountability within the sales team.
  
  

Strategic & Administrative Responsibilities

• Partner with Convention Services to ensure seamless client experiences.
• Develop citywide sales training sessions, storytelling strategies, and collaborative prospecting efforts.
• Monitor and manage departmental budgets.
• Provide reports and analysis on sales activity, market performance, and ROI.
• Represent Visit Spokane in industry associations and at key national events.
  
  

Adaptive Challenges

This position requires the ability to tackle adaptive challenges. These challenges refer to complex problems or opportunities that require a pivot in the plan, a shift in mindset, requirements for new deliverables, or a process that needs to be met immediately. Unlike technical challenges which can be solved with expertise, adaptive challenges demand learning and collaboration across teams to navigate ambiguity and implement lasting solutions.

• In-office workdays may adjust based on workload, project needs, and team priorities. Flexibility and adaptability are key as schedules evolve to support collaboration and success.
• Hoteliers: Navigating relationships with diverse hotel stakeholders, each driven by quarterly performance metrics, while aligning them around long-term destination goals and shared community impact.
• Flexibility vs. Structure: Balancing consistency with agility—pivoting strategies in real time, addressing inconsistencies, and making quick, calculated decisions in response to shifting needs and opportunities.
• Innovation with Outcomes: Driving new ideas and creative solutions without losing focus on execution, ensuring innovation translates into measurable, actionable results.
• Cross-Department Communication: Breaking down silos to foster transparency and collaboration across departments, ensuring priorities are understood and aligned while managing competing interests.
  
  

Work Environment: Special Considerations

This role generally requires 40 hours per week.

Work Location

Visit Spokane is a hybrid work environment requiring at least two in-office days. Team members are asked to reserve most of the in-office hours to collaborate and complete administrative tasks.

Because this position requires out-of-office appointments and occasional after­hours and weekend engagements, you should anticipate additional time in the office or in the field relative to other positions that may allow for more work-from-home opportunities.

Physical Requirements

While performing the duties of this position, the employee is frequently required to walk, bend, reach, stand for extended periods of time at events, trade shows or receptions, and sit for extended periods. Extensive use of a keyboard and typing required.

• The individual must be able to travel to domestic and international destinations via commercial airlines.
• The employee must be able to communicate effectively, speak clearly and hear well over the telephone, via virtual meetings and in person.
• Noise level in the work environment is moderate.
• You must be able to lift and carry 40 pounds.
• Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
  
  

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and/or minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible positions in Sales, Hotels or industry related roles.
• Minimum of five (5) years of successfully managing a Sales team.
• Proven success and examples of developing strategic plans into key alignment of short and long-term goals.
• Knowledge of Spokane hotel community a plus
• Current industry knowledge of Spokane or the ability to immediately engage in learning quickly about the city venues, attractions and hotels.
• Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of sales processes related to convention markets in a major marketplace.
• Demonstrated skill and comfort in building relationships with board members, partners, clients and hospitality community.
• Innovative thinker, with a track record for translating strategic thinking into action plans and results
• Excellent judgment and creative problem-solving skills, including negotiation and conflict resolution
• Strong existing client relationships preferred.
• Experience with CRM systems (Simpleview, Delphi, Tempest) and Microsoft Office Suite.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, and negotiation skills.
• Ability to balance multiple priorities in a high-energy, deadline-driven environment.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred; experience may substitute.
• Must have a valid driver's license with a clean driving record and
  
  

Nothing in this job description restricts management’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. Visit Spokane believes that each employee makes a significant contribution to our success. That contribution should not be limited by the assigned responsibilities. This position description is designed to outline primary duties, qualifications, and job scope, but not limit our employees nor the organization to just the work identified. We expect that each employee will offer his/her/their services wherever and whenever necessary to ensure the success of the company.

Visit Spokane provides Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) to all people regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status about public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by individuals with disabilities.