Director of Events and Strategic Growth World Forestry Center Portland, OR
About World Forestry Center
Acumen Executive Search is again honored to partner with World Forestry Center (WFC) in recruiting a mission-driven, business-minded leader to help shape the next chapter of one of Oregons most beloved and iconic nonprofit event venues and public-facing institutions.
Located in Washington Park, WFC inspires people to understand the connection between forests, climate, wildlife, public health, education, recreation, and sustainable communities. The campus welcomes visitors through its Discovery Museum, Forest Pub Talks, rotating films and other exhibits, educational programs, community partnerships, and a robust calendar of private and public events.
WFC is also investing in a more compelling campus experience, including a refreshed mass-timber entrance, a stunning mass-timber outdoor event pavilion, facility improvements, and a café expected to come online in the next two to three years. This is an opportunity to help grow, market, and operate a venue whose visibility and revenue potential are expanding.
The Opportunity
The Director of Events and Strategic Growth will lead earned revenue growth, venue marketing, business strategy, and event operations for one of Portlands most unique mission-based venues. This role is not simply about selling space or managing a calendar; it is about serving as a revenue driver for growth, connecting strategy with operational reality, creating excellent guest experiences, and helping WFC realize the full potential of its campus.
Reporting to the Managing Director, the Director will oversee the full event lifecycle, including inquiries, bookings, planning, rentals, catering and food and beverage coordination, vendor relationships, on-site execution, and post-event relationship building. WFC currently hosts approximately 300 events annually and generates roughly $600,000 in event-related earned revenue, with meaningful opportunity to grow through stronger venue marketing, improved inquiry conversion, expanded cultural and community markets, and a more visible market presence.
WFC wants this role to stay connected to both events and visitor-facing campus operations at this stage. That may include senior-level coordination or light oversight of front desk, Discovery Museum visitor services, and gift shop operations in partnership with a strong existing visitor services and museum management lead. Over time, these responsibilities may remain connected to this role with additional staffing support, or they may shift under another leader if that becomes the more sustainable structure.
Every event booked at WFC directly supports a nonprofit organization advancing education, dialogue, and solutions at the intersection of forests, climate, and sustainable communities. For clients and community partners, WFC offers more than a beautiful venue; it offers the opportunity to gather with purpose.
Key Responsibilities
Revenue Growth, Venue Marketing, & Business Strategy
- Grow event-related earned revenue through stronger venue marketing, rental strategy, inquiry conversion, client relationship development, and mission-aligned market visibility.
- Expand WFCs reach across corporate, nonprofit, civic, cultural, arts, family, festival, and community event markets, including opportunities such as weddings, quinceañeras, cultural celebrations, and arts festivals.
- Own the events P&L, model financial scenarios, monitor revenue forecasts and KPIs, and apply business analysis to pricing, utilization, staffing, vendor partnerships, and growth opportunities.
- Position WFCs evolving campus, including the new mass timber entrance, future café, facility improvements, and planned mass timber outdoor event pavilion, as a distinctive venue for purpose-driven gatherings.
Event Operations, Venue Management & Guest Experience
- Lead venue operations, logistics, rentals, and on-site delivery for weddings, corporate events, nonprofit gatherings, cultural celebrations, arts and music events, family milestones, educational programs, community festivals, and public-facing venue rentals.
- Ensure excellent client, guest, vendor, and partner experiences from inquiry through post-event follow-up.
- Coordinate closely with facilities, caterers, vendors, programs, museum, visitor services, and gift shop staff to support events that activate WFCs campus and public-facing spaces.
- Build scalable systems, service standards, staffing models, and operational processes that support growth without sacrificing quality.
Leadership, Partnership & Team Development
- Lead, coach, and develop a team focused primarily on events, hospitality, venue operations, and revenue growth, while staying connected to visitor services and museum operations as WFC evaluates the most sustainable long-term structure.
- Partner with the existing visitor services and museum management lead to support a retail and visitor-facing hourly team with clear expectations, practical systems, training, and escalation support.
- Collaborate across marketing, facilities, finance, programs, philanthropy, and executive leadership to align event growth with mission, operations, and organizational priorities.
- Serve as an ambassador for WFC with corporate partners, nonprofits, cultural organizations, arts groups, community associations, and family celebration markets.
Who You Are
You are a mission-driven, business-minded events and venue leader who can connect growth strategy with operational reality. You may come from nonprofit earned revenue, cultural attractions, hospitality, museums, destination marketing, higher education, hotels, or distinctive event venues. Whatever your path, you understand that strong marketing and sales only work when the guest experience, staffing model, pricing, systems, and event execution can support the promise being made to the market.
- 710+ years of experience in event sales, venue operations, hospitality, rentals, destination marketing, cultural venues, hotels, attractions, nonprofit earned revenue, or other customer-facing revenue-generating environments.
- Experience growing event revenue, strengthening venue marketing, developing sales pipelines, managing rentals, overseeing budgets, evaluating KPIs, and ensuring high-quality event execution.
- Ability to bridge functions that are often separate in mission-based organizations, including venue operations, marketing, client development, business analysis, guest experience, and public-facing operations.
- Collaborative, emotionally intelligent leadership style with the ability to coach teams, improve systems, and build accountability in a fast-paced, high-touch environment.
- Comfort with the operational details behind excellent guest and visitor experiences, including staffing, admissions/front desk flow, retail or gift shop coordination, POS systems, visitor issue resolution, and cross-functional coordination.
Compensation & Benefits
The anticipated salary range for this role is $110,000$120,000, depending on experience. WFC will prioritize candidates who bring especially strong venue marketing, earned revenue growth, event operations, and business analysis experience. WFC does not offer commissions; however, the organization may consider a performance-based bonus tied to agreed-upon growth goals such as increased event revenue, stronger venue utilization, improved inquiry conversion, client satisfaction, and operational excellence.
WFC offers a generous benefits package including medical coverage, HSA, dental, vision, life insurance, long-term disability, supplemental insurance, 401(k) employer contribution and match, 13 paid holidays, PTO, sick leave, parking and TriMet passes, a REAP attraction pass, professional development support, and a hybrid work environment with three days per week on-site.
Procedure for Applying
To apply or see our other positions available, please go to Acumen Executive Search to submit a resume and brief cover letter indicating your interest in the opportunity. If our current open positions are not the right fit for you and you would like us to share relevant opportunities, please send your resume and a brief cover letter to [email protected].
About Acumen
Established in 2007, Acumen Executive Search is a three-time recipient of the Portland Business Journals Most Admired award and is recognized as the leading certified woman-owned Executive Search Partner in the Pacific Northwest with a global clientele. We deliver high-impact results and higher than the national average retention rates while nurturing genuine long-term relationships. Acumen works shoulder-to-shoulder with our clients to provide customized, meaningful, and proven leadership solutions that empower organizational success.
Keywords: Strategic Growth; Growth Strategy; Business Strategy; Business Analysis; Revenue Strategy; Venue Marketing; Event Marketing; Sales and Marketing; Sales Strategy; Sales Pipeline; Lead Generation; Inquiry Conversion; Client Development; Relationship Management; Community Partnerships; Partnership Development; Event Operations; Venue Operations; Venue Management; Event Production; Event Logistics; Corporate Events; Nonprofit Events; Cultural Events; Arts Festivals; Community Festivals; Weddings; quinceañeras; Cultural Celebrations; Private Events; Special Events; Venue Rentals; Event Venue; Campus Activation; Hospitality Leadership; Guest Experience; Visitor Experience; Public-Facing Operations; Museum Operations; Cultural Institutions; Nonprofit Leadership; Mission-Driven Leadership; Earned Revenue Growth; Nonprofit Earned Revenue; P&L Management; Budget Management; Financial Modeling; Revenue Forecasting; KPI Management; Pricing Strategy; Utilization Strategy; Operational Leadership; Cross-Functional Leadership; Staff Leadership; Team Development; Process Improvement; Systems Building; Portland; Oregon; Pacific Northwest.
