Director, Corporate Partnerships

Lead the commercial growth and strategic expansion of the Corporate Partnerships portfolio. The Director is responsible for developing the club's revenue strategy, identifying and securing high-value new partnerships, and working in lockstep with the President to establish annual financial goals, strategic milestones, and timelines. This role provides executive leadership and mentorship to the Partnership Marketing function to ensure the seamless integration of partner goals with club objectives to drive long-term financial sustainability and growth.

Specific Job Duties:

• Assume full accountability for the achievement of annual corporate partnerships revenue targets through a proactive and diversified sales and service approach
• Prospect new partners, and design and execute tailored, effective sales strategies and high-impact pitch presentations to secure new business, while maintaining a high standard of integrity and accuracy within the Club’s CRM and sales pipeline.
• Leverage experience to create and implement innovative partnership solutions in collaboration with other internal teams to ensure partners receive maximum brand visibility and engagement
• Provide strategic mentorship and professional development to the Manager, Partnership Marketing, ensuring the effective execution of existing partner agreements and the achievement of renewal targets
• Establish and nurture strong business relationships with decision-makers in the local business communities as well as regional and national companies to align club assets with corporate marketing and business goals
• Oversee the department’s budget, cost of sales, and business analytics to ensure efficient acquisition and accurate revenue reporting/forecasting
• Leverage the unique growth and value proposition of professional women’s football to attract partners committed to innovation and women’s sport in Canada
• Analyze partner performance data and ROI metrics to identify trends, gaps and opportunities, using these insights to develop partner-specific initiatives that increase contract value and longevity
• Review and optimize internal processes for proposal development, account stewardship, and reporting compliance to increase operational efficiency
• Oversee management of department’s external consultants, vendors and suppliers to ensure high-quality delivery of partnership assets as required
• Represent the Club at all home games, acting as the primary point of contact for partners to create meaningful touchpoints and ensure seamless execution.

Qualifications/Experience:

In addition to bringing a passion for the growth of women’s sports and a commitment to advancing the visibility and professionalization of the game in Canada, the ideal candidate will require a broad base of demonstrated experience as follows:

• 7+ Years experience in corporate partnership sales, business development, or strategic sales and marketing in sport, with a demonstrated ability to consistently meet or exceed high-value revenue targets
• Strategic thinker with a strong understanding of industry trends and strong execution skills as well as the ability to adapt quickly as needed to capitalize on partnership opportunities
• Significant experience navigating the Canadian corporate landscape, with an existing network of regional and national business contacts and the ability to build and maintain strong corporate relationships to assist in consistently maximizing revenue
• Previous experience in a leadership capacity, with the ability to successfully mentor and develop a reporting partnership marketing manager
• Strong communicator who can deliver compelling pitches to executive-level decision makers and engage, influence and build trust across all levels of an organization, working closely with Finance, Marketing, Legal, Business Intelligence, Ticketing Sales & Service, Community & Social Impact, People & Culture, and Facilities/Administration
• Experience managing complex, multi-year partnership agreements from initial prospecting through successful negotiation of mutually beneficial terms, final execution, servicing and renewals
• Strong financial skills, including budgeting, forecasting, P&L management and the use of data analytics to drive sales strategies and manage the sales pipeline
• Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to oversee multiple initiatives simultaneously, assessing opportunities and risks to make sound decisions
• Post-secondary education in Marketing, Business, or related disciplines is required
• Must be legally entitled to work in Canada
• Proficiency in CRM software (Salesforce is an asset)
• Previous experience within professional sports or entertainment industries is strongly preferred