Director of Events and Strategic Partnerships

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States.

📋 Description

• Propel brand value through prominent partnership initiatives and the establishment of new, high-value business collaborations across live events, entertainment, sports, and experiential marketing.

• Manage the entire lifecycle of top-tier partnership programs, from strategic planning and contract alignment to field execution and performance enhancement.

• Direct brand activation initiatives with major hospitality firms, global sports entities, large-scale event ownership groups, unique exclusive brand events, and brand loyalty initiatives.

• Oversee the strategic vision, operational execution, and financial performance of brand activation initiatives.

• Maintain a CRM and business development pipelines, tracking prospects, opportunities, relationship activities, proposals, revenue forecasts, and conversion metrics.

• Handle contract alignment, budgeting, forecasting, labor modeling, expense management, and P&L performance.

• Keep abreast of industry intelligence, sponsorship opportunities, consumer trends, competitor actions, media developments, and brand investment strategies.

• Optimize resource allocation and ensure measurable ROI aligned with client-defined objectives.

• Utilize KPIs, reporting dashboards, and operational analytics to uncover growth opportunities and enhance efficiency.

• Provide executive-level financial reports and strategic insights to the VP of Client Services and client stakeholders.

• Ensure that activation programs adhere to brand, legal, and regulatory compliance standards.

• Address performance issues, operational risks, and challenges encountered in the field.

• Design staffing models, scheduling strategies, and coverage plans.

• Conduct in-market evaluations to assess execution quality, coach teams, and identify areas for improvement.

• Lead cross-functional planning and executive alignment discussions.

• Establish communication frameworks among internal teams and external partners.

• Identify, nurture, negotiate, and finalize new high-value strategic partnerships.

• Assist in client-led negotiations, renewals, and the structuring of partnership agreements with legal counsel and client leadership.

• Generate qualified new business opportunities through an established industry network and existing relationships.

• Conduct consultative, executive-level sales discussions.

• Collaborate with creative, strategy, and operations teams on brand experience proposals.

• Develop and present business cases, partnership proposals, and account growth strategies.

• Mentor and develop direct reports while building a scalable leadership pipeline.

⛳️ Requirements

• Over 15 years of experience in business development, strategic partnerships, sponsorships, experiential marketing, hospitality, sports, entertainment, or related fields.

• Proven track record of securing and expanding partnerships with major hospitality groups, global sports properties, significant event ownership organizations, loyalty platforms, or similar enterprise partners.

• Established network of executive-level industry connections.

• Demonstrated ability to cultivate, negotiate, and enhance high-value strategic partnerships.

• More than 9 years of experience managing multi-market or national activation programs.

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or a related discipline preferred.

• Proven capability to build and manage executive-level strategic partnerships with leading brands, venues, and event properties at a national level.

• Extensive expertise in multi-market operational strategy, governance, and field execution.

• Strong commercial acumen, including P&L management, financial forecasting, and ROI-driven decision-making.

• Solid analytical and strategic evaluation skills, encompassing audience insights, valuation methodologies, ROI analysis, and long-term business impact assessment.

• Experience with CRM platforms and pipeline management tools.

• Executive presence and stakeholder management capabilities at the C-suite and senior client level.

• Ability to stand, walk, and engage in on-site event execution activities.

• Willingness to work extended hours during peak activation periods.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook), CRM and pipeline management platforms (Salesforce, HubSpot, or equivalent), reporting and analytics platforms, and workforce scheduling and management tools.

🏝️ Benefits

• Significant flexibility in scheduling based on program requirements.

• Frequent travel for field oversight and program evaluation.

• Availability for nights and weekends as dictated by the event calendar.