Beyond Sport Hiring Head of Business Development

HEAD OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Location: New York – with international travel required in order to fulfill work-related duties

Start date: August 2019

Salary: Competitive with commission incentive 

Reporting to: Director of Programs and Development, Beyond Sport 

Summary of the role 

Beyond Sport’s Head of Business Development will be responsible for leading on partnership management, partnership activation and ideation, delegate sales strategies and business development for Beyond Sport events and network concepts.

From a partnership management perspective, they will be mainly focused on attaining new partners and managing existing partners across the Beyond Sport portfolio. This includes finding funding opportunities for the Beyond Sport Foundation. In addition, they will be responsible for developing sales strategies for all events relating to sponsorship and ticket sales.

Finally, they will support the Strategy Director and the Account Director in identifying, pitching to and acquiring new clients for thinkBeyond - Beyond Sport's consultancy arm. From a wider business development perspective, they are responsible for leading on the development of new event concepts and joint ventures.

Main Activities and Responsibilities

Business Development 

• Achieve outlined sponsorship targets for individual event properties throughout the Beyond Sport calendar year
• Develop sponsorship strategies and delegate sales strategies for all Beyond Sport events alongside Beyond Sport’s senior management team
• Work with Beyond Sport’s graphic designer to build sponsorship proposals both generic and bespoke for each of Beyond Sport’s events in a timely manner
• Work with the Sr. Communications & Campaign Manager to stream partner coverage and social media requirements into Beyond Sport’s overarching social media strategy
• Identify and acquire new clients for Beyond Sport’s consultancy arm, thinkBeyond, through cold lead sourcing, drawing from your existing network and applying a consultative approach to existing organizations in Beyond Sport’s network
• Work with Beyond Sport’s graphic designer and thinkBeyond’s Director of Strategy to build bespoke pitch decks for prospective clients 

Partnership Management 

• Manage all existing commercial partners from start to end of agreement period, continuously monitoring, measuring and improving the effectiveness of partner interactions
• Manage all newly aquired clients from start to end of agreement period, continuously monitoring, measuring and improving the effectiveness of client interaction 

Concept Development 

• Lead on the development of new event concepts and joint ventures for Beyond Sport to pitch to Benchmark’s senior management team. Beyond Sport is part of Benchmark, a holdings company that invests in and creates purpose-driven businesses
• Build strong working relationships with other Benchmark companies to identify opportunities for mutually beneficial initiatives and activities
• Work with the thinkBeyond team to develop bespoke offerings for each prospect

Knowledge, Experience, Skills and Abilities

• An existing North American network of contacts across sport and business sectors 
• At least 3 years of experience in a sales focused role
• At least 3 years of experience working in the sport or similar industry
• A proven history in selling sponsorship in the B2B market
• Excellent networking and pitching skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong ability to think strategically and develop implementation plans to deliver key objectives
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent stakeholder management skills
• Ability to work efficiently, quickly and to deadline – there is an immediacy to our office that runs through everything we do
• Action orientated and goal focused
• Ability to work independently and without micro-management as well as collaboratively 

To Apply

Please send a cover letter and resume to [email protected]. 
Applications due by August 5, 2019. No phone calls, please.

About Beyond Sport

Beyond Sport is a global organization that promotes, supports and celebrates the use of sport to address social issues in communities around the world. We do this through convening, supporting and advising the worlds of sport, business, government, and development on how sport can be used as a tool to achieve both social and business objectives.  

Convene: Since 2009, Beyond Sport has held major events in London, New York, Chicago, Cape Town, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Glasgow and Johannesburg on key social issues where sport can play a major role, from ground-breaking action in child protection, girls education, urban communities, sustainability, STEM education and sport’s role in supporting refugees. Events range in audience, style, structure, constantly innovating, growing and experimenting. 

Support: The Beyond Sport Foundation has provided over $5.5 million worth of funding and support to projects through the Beyond Sport Awards across five continents addressing a range of social issues. Funders include Comic Relief, ESPN, Swedish Sports Foundation, and The Gates Foundation. 

Advise: Since 2013, Beyond Sport has been advising brands, charities, governing bodies and charities through our consultancy arm thinkBeyond, delivering strategies, content and activations all over the world. Clients have included prestigious brands including the IOC, SAP, Virgin Sport, ESPN and BT.  

Beyond Sport works on a partnership model, and thinkBeyond on a client based model. Beyond Sport event partners receive bespoke deliverables that typically include content, hospitality, brand warmth and employee engagement. thinkBeyond clients typically require the development of strategies and narratives, the identification of partners and implementation models and project management.  

What it’s like to work with us

We’re constantly growing, innovating, creating and delivering. And while we have offices on two continents (NYC and London) and do projects in cities all over the world, we are a team that is close-knit, caring and dedicated – both to our work and to supporting each other. We travel to amazing places together and deliver groundbreaking events for exciting clients or together with forward-thinking partners.

We witness first-hand how sport can change lives, but we are also ingratiated in the commercial and business side of sport and social responsibility, making our position unique. Since our inception in 2009, we’ve never had a year like the one previous. Every year is different – new cities, projects, partners. That said, every year, there is more and more to do – and yet we still deliver to our highest standard.

We want people to work with us who find this environment exciting and meaningful. Who see opportunities everywhere. Who always think we can do better. And who have fresh and new perspectives on how the world should be doing things. 

More about Benchmark

Beyond Sport is part of Benchmark, a holdings company that invests in and creates purpose-driven businesses.

The growth of the group has been driven by the importance that we attach to innovative thinking and our continuous investment in turning our ideas into tangible assets. Original idea creation ensures that we carve out niches in exciting and growing market sectors. As an entrepreneurial company, Benchmark has developed a reputation for building prestigious sports brands from the ground up and is now responsible for some of the biggest flagship events in sport, business, entertainment and philanthropy. 

Learn more about the Benchmark Group brands: www.benchmarksport.com/our-brands/