Portfolio Commercial Manager

Montgomery Events, part of Montgomery Group, is looking for a Portfolio Commercial Manager to join our Food, Drink & Hospitality portfolio, leading the commercial sales strategy and delivery across the IFE and IFE Manufacturing brands. Taking place annually at London Excel, IFE and IFE Manufacturing bring together the global food, drink and manufacturing communities, connecting brands, buyers, suppliers and industry leaders through innovation, product discovery, networking and commercial opportunities across retail, hospitality and food production.

The Portfolio Commercial Manager will operate as a hands‑on "player‑manager", responsible for creating and delivering the commercial plan in line with the wider event strategy, while coaching and developing the sales team to drive performance, pipeline growth and revenue delivery. Alongside team leadership, the role will also retain responsibility for key accounts, sponsorship opportunities and new business generation across the portfolio.

THE POSITION & KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead, manage and train a sales team of 5 sales & senior sales executives.
• Develop & deliver robust commercial plans that align with wider business objectives, identifying revenue opportunities, setting clear sales targets, and driving strategic initiatives to maximise growth, customer retention, and long‑term commercial success.
• Lead & champion the effective use of the CRM system across the sales team, ensuring accurate data allocation, high‑quality pipeline management, accurate reporting and driving customer engagement & commercial performance.
• Key account and account management.
• Become a trusted authority in the industry and create valuable connections & relationships within market, attending industry events, immersing yourself in the market and keeping abreast of industry trends.
• Meeting with customers and prospective customers face to face, online and over the telephone.
• Embrace and champion the effective use of AI‑driven tools and insights to enhance sales performance, improve customer engagement, streamline processes, and support data‑led decision making, fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement across the commercial function.

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

• Integrity, transparency, communicative, collaborative, professional, approachable, curious, results driven, high energy.
• A champion of Montgomery Events.
• Willingness to continually learn, grow and improve.
• Always looking for an opportunity.
• Creative and strategic thinker.
• An approachable team player who can work on your own initiative and collaborate with colleagues.
• Ability to deliver to deadlines and targets.

COMPETENCIES

• Experience within the events (exhibitions) industry a priority.
• Management of sales team a preference.
• Self‑motivated and performance driven, with a desire to achieve goals and attain commercial success.
• Ability to demonstrate advanced objection handling, negotiation and closing skills both over the phone and face to face.
• Great verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent organisational skills, with an ability to prioritise tasks and manage workload with effective sales planning.
• Experience of writing detailed partnership and sponsorship proposals.
• Knowledge and experience using CRM systems (ideally Hubspot).
• Experience using or willingness to use AI in generating sales.
• Ability to nurture strong key client relationships.
• Creative, strategic thinking.
• Results‑oriented.

BENEFITS

• Company away days
• Cycle to work scheme
• Dog friendly office
• Enhanced maternity & paternity benefits
• Fundraising matching scheme
• Monthly social events