The posting
HI! WE'RE FORERUNNER.
Stronger, more resilient communities are built by the people inside government and regulated industries who keep critical infrastructure running. But they're working against real headwinds: fragmented data, field crews without the right tools, and high-stakes decisions made without a complete picture.
Forerunner exists to fix that. We build intelligent software that connects the systems these agencies and firms already rely on, fills the gaps those systems can't, and turns fragmented information into decisions and actions that reduce liability, surface revenue, and prevent small problems from becoming emergencies.
ABOUT THE POSITION:
We're looking for our first dedicated Sr Manager - Events. Our market gathers in person: state floodplain, stormwater, asset management, construction, and grant conferences; association chapter meetings; lunch and learns; client dinners. That's where the people we serve learn, compare notes, and decide who to trust. We're hiring someone to own that channel end to end: the strategy, the budget, and the execution. Most of these events are run by associations we want long-term relationships with, so the role is part events and part partner management. You'll own how we show up at each event and how we work with the organizations that host them, year over year.
WHAT YOU'LL DO:
- Own the event portfolio and its budget. You'll build the annual plan — which conferences and association meetings we attend, at what level of investment, and which ones we walk away from. You'll bring the recommendation and the numbers behind it, not a list of options.
- Run conferences end to end. Booth presence, collateral, speaking and panel submissions, pre-booked meetings, and on-site execution. You'll be the person who makes sure nothing about our presence is left to chance.
- Manage the vendors and the physical footprint. Booth, swag, print, shipping, and event-services vendors — sourcing, negotiating, managing quality and timelines, and keeping inventory ready for the next show.
- Build our smaller, higher-intent events. Lunch and learns, association sessions, themed dinners, and regional gatherings.
- Make our sales team effective at events. Playbooks, pre-event briefs, meeting targets, and follow-up expectations, built with our demand generation team — so the pipeline our AEs and BDRs build on-site gets followed up.
- Build our association partnerships. You'll own the relationships with the state and national associations whose members we serve: sponsorship negotiations, speaking slots, co-hosted webinars and training, and placement in their member communications. The goal is to turn one-off sponsorships into standing partnerships that keep us in front of their members between conferences.
- Own the number. You'll set targets for meetings booked and pipeline generated per event, report against them, and use the results to reshape next year's plan.
Expect to travel 30–40% of the time.
WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE:
Within your first year, we have an event portfolio built on evidence instead of habit — we know what each event costs, what it produces, and why it's on the list. We show up as the most credible team in the room at every event we attend. We have standing relationships with the associations that matter most in our market, and those relationships get us more than a booth.
Sales walks into each conference with meetings booked and walks out with a pipeline that gets followed up. And when leadership asks "should we renew this sponsorship?", you have the answer.
ABOUT YOU:
You'll define how Forerunner shows up in person. You might be a good fit if you:
- Have 6+ years of marketing, B2B events, field marketing, or partnerships experience with a record of hitting goals you were accountable for. Experience in govtech or public sector SaaS is preferred, though not required.
- Have run events or partner programs where the goal was pipeline, not attendance — and you can talk about what you cut after it didn't work.
- Pair a strong point of view with hands-on execution. You have a clear view of where the channel should go, and you're just as happy bringing it to life: shipping the booth, writing the brief, running the follow-up yourself.
- Know how to work with associations or channel partners. You've negotiated sponsorship or partnership agreements and you understand that the relationship with the organizer is what makes the event pay off, not the booth location.
- Are a strong writer and a strong project manager. Events are equal parts judgment and follow-through, and this role calls for both.
- Like the travel. Conference season is real, and you'd rather be on the floor than watching it happen over Slack.
- Are interested in selling to the government — or already do. Public sector experience helps, but what matters more is genuine curiosity about the people doing this work.
- Work fluently with AI. You use AI tools in your day-to-day work and have a point of view on where they accelerate field marketing and where they don't.
- Are comfortable with ambiguity. We're a small, fast-moving team. Much of this program will be built by you — you'll set direction with limited precedent and take on responsibility beyond your job description.
If you're motivated by purpose, complexity, and impact, you'll feel at home here.
OUR TEAM HAS A LOT TO OFFER
Forerunner is an early-stage company with an interdisciplinary team. We are motivated by seemingly intractable problems and work hard to support one another.
- We're mission-driven. Our mission orients our business strategy and pushes us to work with a sense of urgency. We’re in the weeds - our entire team spends time engaging with our partners in the field to better understand the real-world problems they face.
- We're a small team. As a member of our growing team, you will quickly become an invaluable part of our organization and have a meaningful impact on our business and technical direction. We welcome unique perspectives and backgrounds. Your opinion matters and we hope you'll share it.
- We build each other up. A team works best when its members are adequately equipped with the tools to tackle the problems they are facing. Forerunner strives to provide adequate feedback and appropriate learning opportunities to help all its team members expand their skills.
- We value in-person collaboration. Some of our best work happens when we're solving problems together in the same room, so this role is hybrid and based near one of our offices: New York City, San Francisco, or Portland, Maine.
- We want you to be happy and healthy. Forerunner offers competitive compensation, health/vision/dental coverage, a 401k plan, and one expensed lunch per week. We also have a quarterly wellness reimbursement so that you can have flexibility in defining what “health” means to you.
The salary range for this position is $145,000–$165,000. Salary is one component of Forerunner's total rewards philosophy. Other components may include equity, professional development allowance, and more. This posting may span more than one career level. Compensation is determined based on a variety of factors, including an individual's skills, experience and qualifications.
Forerunner is an equal opportunity employer committed to embracing diversity and the perspectives of individuals from all backgrounds.
