Building a Brand starts with a Story

FIRST is a leading global brand experience agency providing Content, Creative, Digital Technology, Management & Delivery, and Data & Insights services. For 30 years, we have utilized three flexible delivery models: Embedded teams, Corporate Campus operations, and a Full-Service Agency. Managing over 37,000 events & projects annually across 110 countries, FIRST serves 130+ brands, specializing in Fortune 500 companies within the Financial Services, Technology, Healthcare, Media, and Professional Services sectors. FIRST is part of the broader Encore family of companies. Encore is a global leader in event production and technology. Consistently recognized for excellence, recent honors include 2026 Chief Marketer Agency of the Year, the Ad Net Zero Award for sustainability, and more. 

Learn more at www.firstagency.com

Location: NYC office - Hybrid 2-3 days per week, subject to change to 5 at any time.  Travel up to 40%.

What You Would Get To Do:

The Vice President, Client Strategy & Growth  is a senior strategic and creative commercial leader responsible for turning complex client challenges into compelling propositions that win business and generate profitable revenue growth for FIRST. The role sits at the intersection of client insight, strategy, creativity and commercial leadership.

Reporting to the Chief Growth Officer, the VP leads the business development process for strategically important opportunities, from qualification and pursuit strategy through to pitch, negotiation and close. They develop the “strategy to win” first the RFP qualification and the conversion of that business.  The candidate will build and communicate  a clear understanding of the client’s underlying challenge they are trying to solve and event objectives.  This will need to be clearly presented in presentations with the customer and internally to the team assigned to the opportunity.  The VP CS&G will identify the insight and develop the strategy to win the opportunity, shaping a differentiated proposition, and mobilising the right strategic, creative and operational talent to bring it to life.

The VP provides the commercial leadership and creative judgement to challenge the quality of the thinking, sharpen the proposition and ensure the pitch is compelling, differentiated and commercially sound. They build senior client relationships, create confidence in FIRST’s capabilities and lead the pursuit with a clear focus on converting opportunities into valuable, long-term client relationships.

The role will have the ability to create connections across the Encore sales ecosystem, leverage creative talent across our brands and build bold, ambitious pitch solutions to acquire new client logos and increase share of wallet with existing clients. 

The role will build a broad but targeted prospect list, will consistently identify new prospect client opportunities and qualify FIRST for the RFP inclusion through to converting those qualified opportunities. Success is measured  by the pipeline generated, capture but also FIRST’s ability to compete more effectively, win more of the right business and convert those wins into sustainable, profitable growth.

Your Contributions 

Strategic Business Development & Opportunity Conversion

• Build and convert a robust pipeline of agency, project based new business opportunities with net new customer brands.  Target total pipeline with sufficient coverage to  achieve growth expectations.
• Prioritise opportunities where FIRST can differentiate through insight, strategy, creative thinking and integrated delivery; qualify rigorously; and lead opportunities from initial engagement through pitch, negotiation and close.
• Develop relationships with senior decision-makers across C-suite marketing, procurement and sourcing to understand business priorities and future needs.
• Develop opportunities beyond formal RFPs by creating executive access, identifying unmet needs and influencing the client's thinking before a competitive process is established and ideally working toward  a portfolio relationship model for their event activity.
• Own the commercial strategy with commercial team members for priority pursuits from initial opportunity through pitch, negotiation and close, then oversee a smooth transition over to the account management and delivery teams.

Strategic & Creative Pitch Leadership 

• Lead the pursuit strategy for major creatively led opportunities, establishing the client insight, proposition, competitive strategy and clear win themes.
• Work with strategy, creative, production, technology, data & AI and other service lines to translate the client's business challenge into a differentiated, compelling and deliverable solution.
• Challenge the proposition and the creative work constructively, ensuring that the idea is distinctive, relevant to the client and capable of creating meaningful business value.
• Ensure RFP opportunities and ideas presented are delivered on time and within the customers budget parameters.  On time includes the transfer of the creative concept over to the operating teams to price and package to bring together the whole event opportunity in the RFP.
• Shape the overall pitch narrative so that the strategy, creative idea, delivery model and commercial proposition form one compelling story.
• Lead  pitch presentations and client conversations, bringing together the right combination of executive, strategic, creative and commercial talent. If an existing account includes the assigned account manager to continue to build their new business capability, however this role is to spend the majority of their time on net new customer growth.

Executive Relationship Development

• Build trusted, multi level relationships within prospective client organisations and establish credibility as a strategic advisor.
• Lead executive discovery meetings, workshops and consultative conversations that uncover the client's business context, ambitions, constraints and decision criteria.
• Develop a deep understanding of how each client makes decisions, how the buying group is structured and what will ultimately determine the award of business.
• Maintain all customer relationships throughout the sales process and create a strong platform for long-term partnership following a successful pitch.
• Represent FIRST at executive forums, industry conferences, networking events, and strategic client engagements to strengthen market visibility and relevancy for future opportunities.

Strategic Solution Development

• Translate strong ideas into commercially compelling propositions with clear value, scope, economics and delivery implications.
• Partner with Commercials to negotiate for major opportunities, balancing client value, competitiveness, profitability and long term strategic value.
• Partner with Finance and operational leaders to ensure proposals are commercially sound, achievable and aligned with profitability objectives.
• Own the conversion plan from pitch outcome through contracting and handover, ensuring momentum is maintained until revenue is secured.

Market & Client Insight

• Use market, industry and client insight to improve the relevance and competitiveness of FIRST's propositions and identify attractive growth opportunities.
• Share relevant intelligence on client needs, buying behaviour, competitors and market developments to improve future pursuit effectiveness.
• Act as an external facing source of insight that helps FIRST anticipate where clients' needs are heading and where the organisation can create distinctive value.

Global Collaboration & Strategic Partnerships

• Work closely with FIRST leaders and Encore's Global Sales  Organization (GSO) to leverage relationships, capabilities, insight and enterprise opportunities.
• Bring the right FIRST and Encore capabilities together around major opportunities without compromising clarity of accountability for the pursuit.
• Share winning approaches, client insights and best practices to strengthen FIRST's overall commercial capability.

Leadership & Capability Development

• Raise the standard of strategic selling, storytelling,  pitch leadership and executive engagement across the organisation.
• Coach business development, client services and commercial colleagues through major pursuits and share practical approaches to winning complex opportunities.
• Build energy, momentum and growth mindset culture setting the example of others. 
• Act as a visible ambassador for FIRST's values and its commitment to innovative, insight led and client focused solutions

What We Are Looking For:

• Bachelor's degree preferred or equivalent practical/technical experience
• Position requires more than 15 years of experience
• Proven success leading and scaling new  business development in a complex, multi-market organization.
• Demonstrated experience managing large-scale client acquisitions and strategic partnerships, particularly within Fortune 500 or equivalent enterprise-level organizations.
• Strong commercial acumen with a track record of meeting or exceeding revenue and profitability targets.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation skills; comfortable engaging at C-suite level.
• Deep understanding of consultative selling methodologies and strategic account management.
• Skilled in leveraging data, CRM tools, and performance analytics to drive decision-making and continuous improvement.
• Collaborative and strategic mindset, able to balance short-term wins with long-term growth initiatives.
• Resourceful, adaptable, and calm under pressure with excellent organizational and time management skills

At FIRST, we believe that our success is driven by the passion, creativity, and commitment of our teams. That's why we offer a range of benefits and perks to support your personal and professional growth:

• Medical, Dental & Vision which includes the option of a high deductible health plan (HDHP) with a health savings account (HSA)
• 401 (k) 
• Five Flexible Spending Accounts Options
• Generous Paid Time Off Allowance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Life, Disability & Pet Coverages
• Wellness Stipend
• Complimentary access to Headspace, Teladoc, Maven, Rocket Lawyer, Mobilo & more
• Aura Identity Theft Protection
• Discretionary Bonus Structure
• Global Opportunities: With a presence in 7 countries worldwide, including headquarters in London, New York, and Singapore, you may have the opportunity to work on exciting projects across different locations.

United States Residents: The base pay for this position ranges from $195,560.00 - $254,227.00   This role is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus.

Please note that the national salary range listed in the job posting reflects the new hire salary range across various U.S. locations that would be applicable to the position. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. 

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