Sales Manager, Business Development

The Role:

As our Sales Manager, you’re not just responsible for driving revenue—you’re helping to translate vision into velocity.

This role blends strategy, cultural fluency, and business development. You’ll serve as a thought partner to the founder, helping shape the go-to-market approach, building systems of accountability and momentum, and identifying partnerships that feel inevitable in the best way.

You’ll lead and grow our business development efforts across six creative spaces in San Francisco—focused on private bookings, cultural activations, and corporate collaborations. You’re the human bridge between what people are looking for and what we’re uniquely designed to offer.

The Four Levers of Success in this Role

Strategy & Leadership

• Co-design sales strategies with the founder and help convert vision into tactical experiments

• Build tracking systems and accountability loops that keep momentum alive

• Develop segment-specific sales approaches (corporate, creative, community)

• Provide insights on where the market is heading—and how we should evolve with it

• Manage a current sales and events team of (3)

A Few Things We Want You Thinking About:

1. How do you translate a founder’s big-picture vision into real, testable sales experiments? Can you walk us through your process?

2. When building a system for momentum—what keeps it alive? What accountability structures have you built that actually worked?

3. If you had to create different sales strategies for corporate vs. creative vs. community clients, how would you approach each?

4. How do you track market shifts and cultural trends in your work? How would you advise us to evolve based on what you’re seeing now?

Sales & Outreach

• Drive bookings for events, offsites, tastings, afterparties, pop-ups, and onsite activations

• Use CRM tools (HubSpot, Clay, Apollo) to manage pipeline, sequences, and follow-ups

• Build lists, design outreach campaigns, and engage high-alignment clients

• Own the full cycle: discovery > proposal > close > relationship

A Few Things We Want You Thinking About:

1. Imagine we’ve launched a new venue with no existing client base—how would you go about generating qualified leads and bookings from scratch?

2. Which tools (CRM, AI prospecting, automation) do you swear by in your outreach flow—and how do you make them feel human?

3. Tell us about a recent outreach campaign you designed. What was your strategy, and what made it effective?

4. What’s your approach to managing the full sales cycle—from initial interest to lasting relationship? Where do you shine most in that journey?

Community & Partnerships

• Develop relationships with planners, office managers, venue brokers, and community orgs

• Represent BlockParty at walk-throughs, tastings, open houses, and showcases

• Identify cultural moments (Dreamforce, SF Tech Week, etc.) we should activate within

• Collaborate with programming and culinary teams to tailor custom experiences

A Few Things We Want You Thinking About:

1. You walk into a room full of planners, brokers, and creators—how do you make connections that go beyond business cards?

2. How would you identify the right cultural moments (e.g., Dreamforce or SF Tech Week) for us to plug into—and how would you pitch BlockParty’s value?

3. Have you ever co-created a custom experience with a partner or client? What was your role, and how did you balance logistics with creativity?

Tracking & Impact

• Own reporting: leads generated, conversion rates, booking volume, and partner growth
  Iterate on messaging, positioning, and packaging based on data and direct feedback

• Keep pulse on neighborhood, city-wide, and industry trends to stay ahead of the wave

A Few Things We Want You Thinking About:

1. How do you measure your own success in a sales or BD role? What metrics do you track—and how often?

2. Tell us about a time you had to shift your messaging or offering based on direct feedback or results. What changed, and what did you learn?

3. What methods do you use to stay tapped into local energy—whether that’s neighborhood changes, city events, or cultural undercurrents?

This Is For You If...

• You’re an energetic strategist—equally comfortable building processes & systems and showing up in the room

• You thrive in environments where structure needs to be co-created and you understand that sales isn’t persuasion—it’s alignment

• You’re curious, expressive, intuitive, and know how to close

• You believe great business development is about inviting people into a story they want to be part of and you’re hungry to build with purpose, and excited to help lead that build from the inside

Skills & Experience

Required:

• 5+ years in sales or biz dev—with parallel skills from hospitality, events, community, or creative industries - you do not need to come from the hospitality industry but your aptitude for learning and application of learning MUST be higher than your expertise.

• Proficiency in CRM platforms and AI-driven prospecting tools (Perfect Venue, ZoomInfo, SFPV, etc., etc.)

• Strong writing skills for personalized outreach, proposals, and pitch decks

• Track record of exceeding goals, building relationships, and creating scalable sales systems

• Deep familiarity with SF’s cultural, tech, and corporate ecosystems

Bonus Points:

• Experience supporting or co-building founder-led sales strategy

• A network in the event/experience space

• Creative background or storytelling sensibility

• Strategic thinker who thrives in ambiguity and builds clarity

Success Metrics

• Bookings closed & revenue generated

• Quality and quantity of outreach campaigns

• Growth of repeat and referral partnerships

• Sales systemization and reporting infrastructure

• Thought partnership with founder on vision execution

What We’re Not Looking For

This isn’t a cold-call factory or a transactional sales gig. We’re a team of people who care deeply about how we move, not just what we sell.

You might want to hold off if:

• You’re uncomfortable with ambiguity and need a rigid playbook to get started

• You’re driven only by quotas, not curiosity or collaboration

• You prefer solo execution over cross-functional creativity
  You see sales as “getting to yes” instead of discovering real alignment

• You’re looking for a traditional hospitality sales role—we’re doing something different

Ready to go? 

Based on what we are looking to accomplish with this role, here’s a forecast of what your first 30 days at BlockParty will look like. What would you add?

Week 1: Drop In & Discover

Theme: Get in the room. Feel the energy. Find the gaps.

• Shadow the founder and visit 2–3 venues to learn voice, vibe, and potential.

• Review CRM data (Perfect Venue, ZoomInfo, SFPV, etc.) to understand pipeline health + warm leads.

• Audit past inquiries, outreach messages, and proposals.

• Identify top 20 high-probability leads or partner targets from existing lists.

Goal:  Produce a 1-page “fast path” report of where early bookings could come from immediately.

Week 2: Launch & Outreach

Theme: Start the fire. Don’t wait for perfection—move with presence.

• Activate CRM tools with your messaging: start warm outreach to top 20 targets.
  Book 3–5 walkthroughs, tastings, or intro calls with office managers, event planners, or agencies.

• Draft and send the first outbound email sequence tailored to at least one key segment.

• Show up at one relevant community/industry event and rep BlockParty.

Goal: Secure first 2–3 bookings or serious prospects in motion this week.

Week 3: Proposals & Closures

Theme: Make it real. Turn conversations into contracts.

• Send out 3–5 proposals or concept decks based on activated leads.

• Work with programming + ops to customize offerings for at least two new opportunities.

• Close at least one paid booking or confirmed collaboration.

• Track metrics and update the team dashboard: what’s landing, what’s not.

Goal: At least one signed event. Build momentum around “BlockParty season.”

Week 4: Systematize & Expand

Theme: Lock in what’s working. Build rhythm, not just hustle.

• Codify what's worked so far—turn your flow into a mini playbook.

• Update CRM with feedback loops and active next steps for all leads.

• Pitch 1 new cultural moment or concept activation we should pursue in the next 60 days.

• Propose your ideal BD rhythm: weekly check-ins, KPIs, and dashboard visuals.

Goal: Deliver a simple sales system that works—and show how we scale it.

Perks & Culture

• Competitive hourly pay + tips

• Staff meals + venue discounts

• Access to industry events + cultural programming

• Room to grow within our collective of venues

• A radically human team that values authenticity and artistry