Vice President - Corporate Strategy

About Us

The Freeman Company is a global leader in events, on a mission to redefine live for a new era. With a data-driven approach and the industry’s largest network of experts, The Freeman Company's insights shape exhibitions, exhibits, and events that drive audiences to action. The integrated full-service solutions leverage a 99-year legacy in event management as well as new technologies to deliver moments that matter.

Summary

As the Vice President of Corporate Strategy at The Freeman Company (TFC), reporting directly to the Chief Marketing Officer, you will be a hands-on strategic partner to the CMO, who drives Corporate Strategy. You will play a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of TFC's short-term success and long-term growth, working directly with the C-Suite. This role owns TFC's five-year strategy document: tracking it, pressure-testing it, and knowing before anyone else when a market shift or business change means it needs to be revisited.

This is also a connective role. TFC's Corporate Development and FP&A teams each own critical, distinct pieces of this work; you'll be the strategic partner who ties their output together into one coherent narrative and set of recommendations, rather than operating as a third, separate function. Where the model and the market signal disagree, this is the person who must have a POV on the why and what that means for our plan.

In this role, you will help drive the board agenda for strategy discussions, making sure our strategic priorities and CEO dashboard stay aligned with the five-year plan. This includes a documented, defensible answer for what's on track, what's changed, and what TFC has chosen not to pursue and why. You will communicate visible progress against TFC's growth goals, as well as relevant market shifts, that the team can trace back to decisions this role helped shape.

This position will support our Marketing team.  It is eligible to work a hybrid schedule, generally requiring work in-office and/or show-site 2-3 days per week.  This position is based out of Dallas, TX.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Strategic Planning & Board Reporting

• Own and evolve the strategy doc. Track performance against the five-year plan and know the leading indicators well enough to flag when a market shift or business change means an assumption needs to be revisited.


• Prepare the board-level strategy conversation. Build the materials that keep board sessions focused on the plan itself: what's shifted in the market, progress against goals, changes to the plan and why, and opportunities the team has deliberately chosen not to pursue and why. This ties directly to the CEO dashboard reviewed with the Board, so the numbers and the narrative stay in sync.


• Facilitate the annual strategic planning offsite, gathering input from the CEO, CFO, and CMO, setting the agenda and coordinating speakers, and keep the strategy doc a living reference the leadership team uses year-round.

Corporate Development & Due Diligence

• Grade and prioritize acquisition targets using the existing framework, building the strategic point of view and bringing a clear recommendation to the CMO, CEO, CFO, and Head of Corporate Development. Corporate Development owns the deal process; this role brings the strategic lens that connects each deal back to the broader growth thesis.


• Partner closely with TFC's Corporate Development team on potential acquisitions, partnerships, and new market entry, contributing to the diligence question set, synthesizing findings, and flagging risks and opportunities for leadership.


• Help the CEO, CFO, CMO and head of Corporate Development prepare for meetings with bankers, partners, and prospective acquisition targets, anticipating the right questions and thinking several steps ahead in the conversation.


• Participate in post-acquisition integration and onboarding.

Market Intelligence & Business Unit Partnership

• Work directly with the President or COO of each line of business to understand where growth is really coming from and what's shifting underneath it.


• Translate those dynamics into threats to mitigate and opportunities to move on, before they're visible in the market model or the news.


• Provide regular commentary on industry trends, customer segments, and market M&A activity to inform planning and adjust strategy as needed.

Market Model & Growth Analytics

• Collaborate with FP&A to maintain an up-to-date market model, providing insights into the overall industry, audience segmentation, and services. Offer actionable insights that inform strategic decisions and keep the organization agile in a dynamic business landscape.


• Analyze marketing and business performance data to identify where growth is coming from, track pacing against plan, and translate market drivers into recommendations leadership can act on.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required, with a strong preference for an MBA.


• 15+ years of relevant experience in a strategy role, including some management consulting experience. Corporate development, M&A, or due diligence experience strongly preferred; event industry and consumer insights experience a plus.


• Naturally curious, analytical thinker, and creative storyteller with a drive to succeed.


• Demonstrated mastery of strategic planning, annual business and budget planning, business modeling, project scoping, program management, data analytics and insights, and trends reporting.


• Experience building trusted advisor relationships and influencing others, including C-level executives, at all levels of an organization.


• Strong executive and board-level presence, with the ability to communicate strategy clearly and simply. Superior written and verbal communication skills, including strategy narratives and white papers.


• Ability to think future-forward and reason back; creative, out-of-the-box thinking that drives innovation and connects the dots leaders need to proactively drive the business.


• Relationship builder who is equally comfortable thinking big picture and rolling up their sleeves to project manage and execute.


• Experience partnering effectively with corporate development and finance/FP&A functions, understanding where those teams own the process and where this role adds strategic translation and connective tissue on top.


• Ready to take ownership from day one. This role is being built to offload strategic execution the CMO currently carries herself, so the ability to move fast with minimal ramp-up matters as much as strategic depth.


• Comfortable with ambiguity and change.

Travel Requirements

What We Offer

The Freeman Company provides benefits that aim to empower our people and their families to thrive mentally, physically, and financially.  These are a handful of the types of programs and benefits our full-time people may be eligible for.  There may be some variances in specific benefits across regions.

• Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance


• Tuition Reimbursement


• Paid Parental Leave


• Life, Accident and Disability


• Retirement with Company Match


• Paid Time Off

Diversity Commitment

At The Freeman Company, our commitment to diversity and inclusion is helping us to create not only a great place to work, but also an environment where our employees, our customers and our communities around the world can reach their goals and connect with each other. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status and other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

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