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Job Title: General Manager, Gameday Production Services (GPS)

Location: Chicago / South Bend (travel required)

Job Type: Full-time

Reports to: Gameday Your Way Leadership Team 

Leads: Producers, staffing/talent, ops coordinators, and contracted event teams

Gameday Your Way delivers premium hospitality and fan experiences for major sporting events and large-scale gatherings. We operate across South Bend, Chicago, and other Midwest markets, providing turnkey experiences that combine operational excellence, high-touch service, and consistent brand execution. Gameday is known for disciplined planning, strong vendor relationships, and field teams that treat the event, guests, and budget as their own.

GPS is the production arm of Gameday Your Way. We provide end-to-end event production services to organizers, brands, agencies, and venues—ranging from staffing and show calling to turnkey site operations, sponsor activations, and VIP hospitality builds. GPS is built to be the “field-ready team” that plugs into a client’s operation and executes cleanly, safely, and on time.

Role Summary:

The General Manager (GM) will run GPS like a standalone business line, accountable for revenue growth, margins, client success, and flawless delivery. This leader will own business development, manage key client relationships, oversee creative and production planning, and ensure consistent execution across simultaneous events. The GM will leverage Gameday’s shared infrastructure (finance, HR, purchasing, brand, and operations) while building GPS-specific systems, talent benches, and repeatable service packages.

Key Responsibilities:

1) Business development and growth

• Own the GPS revenue plan, pipeline, and forecasting; build and maintain a 12-month rolling pipeline.
• Develop and execute a go-to-market approach across target segments: event producers, agencies, municipalities, venues, and exhibitors.
• Create compelling proposals, scopes of work, and pricing models that protect margin and manage risk.
• Establish strategic partnerships that expand reach and enable joint delivery or co-produced events.
• Represent GPS in market-facing meetings, pitches, and industry events.

2) Client management and account leadership

• Serve as executive sponsor for GPS clients; lead discovery, expectations setting, and delivery alignment.
• Build repeatable client cadence: kickoff, production checkpoints, on-site leadership, and post-event debriefs.
• Maintain strong client satisfaction and drive renewals and upsells through measurable outcomes and consistent communication.

3) Creative direction and experience design

• Translate client objectives into actionable event concepts: layouts, run-of-show, guest flow, staffing plans, sponsor moments, and measurement approach.
• Oversee creative partners and internal production to ensure experiences are on-brand and operationally feasible.
• Maintain a library of repeatable “modules” (tailgate villages, VIP lounges, sponsor activations, exhibitor engagement pods) to speed planning and improve margins.

4) Production leadership and delivery

• Own production management from pre-production through load-in, show days, and strike.
• Ensure show calling discipline, safety-first operations, vendor coordination, and contingency planning (weather, access, crowd flow).
• Lead the development and enforcement of SOPs, checklists, and event reporting standards (including a 48-hour post-event wrap).

5) Team building and talent operations

• Recruit and manage GPS’s bench: producers, stage managers, emcees, brand ambassadors, ops crew, and specialty contractors.
• Build training and quality standards for field teams; coach leadership behavior and client-facing professionalism.
• Maintain staffing schedules, performance feedback, and readiness for peak weekends.

6) Financial and operational management

• Own GPS P&L performance: revenue, gross margin, labor ratios, vendor costs, and profitability by event.
• Establish pricing guardrails, billing terms, and change-order discipline to reduce margin leakage.
• Coordinate closely with finance on invoicing, collections, and vendor payments to protect cash flow.

Success Metrics (how performance will be judged):

• Revenue and margin vs. plan (monthly and quarterly).
• Pipeline coverage (target ≥ 3x next-quarter revenue) and win rate on qualified proposals.
• On-time opens, safety performance, and quality of delivery (zero preventable incidents).
• Client satisfaction (repeat business, referrals, post-event scores).
• Staffing fill rate and talent quality (bench depth, reliability, retention).
• Timeliness and quality of post-event reporting and operational learnings.

Required Experience and Qualifications:

• 8–12+ years leading live event production, experiential marketing, or venue operations with increasing responsibility.
• Proven ownership of business development and client management (selling and delivering).
• Demonstrated ability to run multi-event operations with multiple stakeholders, vendors, and timelines.
• Strong understanding of event economics: budgets, labor planning, vendor procurement, and margin management.
• Experience managing teams and building contractor/part-time talent benches.
• Confidence with on-site leadership: decisive, calm, organized, and respected in the field.
• Strong writing skills for proposals, scopes, and operational documentation.
• High integrity and reliability; represents the brand exceptionally.

Preferred Experience:

• Work with sports properties, festivals, municipalities, DMC’s and sponsor activations.
• Familiarity with Chicago/South Bend permitting environments and venue relationships.
• Experience with staffing-heavy programs (emcees, brand ambassadors) and measurable engagement outcomes.
• Comfort working inside an EOS-style operating cadence (Rocks, scorecards, weekly reporting).

Working Style and Values Fit:

• Builder mindset with high standards and low drama.
• Client-first and team-first; treats the event, guests, and budget as their own.
• Comfortable with ambiguity, fast change, and high-expectation environments.
• Clear communicator who keeps stakeholders aligned and informed.

Travel and Schedule Expectations:

• Frequent event-weekend work and irregular hours during peak seasons.
• Travel across the Midwest as needed; reliable transportation required.

Annual Revenue Targets:

• 2026: $1,300,000
• 2027: $1,900,000
• 2028: $2,500,000

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