Senior Director, Partnership Strategy

The Senior Director, Partnership Strategy will be an integral member of the LA Dodgers Global Partnership team responsible for leading the Partnership Strategy vertical. This role maximizes a combination of creative, strategic, and analytical skills to support our partnership sales team and to drive short & long-term partnership revenue success.

Responsibilities to include but not limited to; creation of best-in-class & compelling sales collateral, overseeing ideation and storytelling of potential and existing partnerships, managing CRM & sales management system, leading all elements of audience research and ROI metrics (broadcast performance, social/digital impact, brand sentiment reporting, etc.) and assisting with prospect lead list development rooted in bespoke brand research, industry trends and emerging categories.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities:

Employee Management:

• Supervision of two (2) or more full-time employees
• Manage the pipeline of projects and associated deadlines and assign to team based on workload.
• Assign and track assignments for any graphic design or research needs based on workload.
• Implement and own third-party research and departmental efficiency tools and vendor relationships.
• Develop strong working relationship with LA Dodgers’ Business Intelligence division to deepen understanding and utilization of first and third-party data.
• Conduct weekly Partnership Strategy team meetings and bi-weekly one-on-one employee meetings to maintain consistent quality product and timely workflow, while also developing team members and guiding their talent optimization.
• Support SVP in department/revenue management & tracking, reports to executive leadership, etc.
• Assist SVP, Global Partnerships in business calendar/revenue forecasting.
• Assist SVP, Global Partnerships in formulating performance and growth goals and conducting mid-year and end-of-year reviews with Partnership Strategy team members.

Department Strategy:

• Play a lead role in all department strategy and success by:
  • Elevating the sales prospecting approach, enhancing sales pitches, and creating unique sales narratives for potential new partners and current clients.
  • Researching and discovering new opportunities for the partnership team by identifying best practices, performing category analysis, identifying innovative new assets, and tracking trends across the sports/entertainment industry.
  • Spearheading the creative direction of data-led and visually compelling partnership presentations, case studies, and communications for current and prospective partners.
  • Collaborate with Partnership Development and Partnership Marketing teams to maximize partner value; develop innovative and high-impact marketing, media, experiential, B2B and community platforms that help all parties achieve their goals.
  • Support Partnership Marketing’s activation, growth, and retention by creating metrics to measure client success, deliver on KPI’s, and maximize client investment.
  • Implement qualitative and quantitative best practices for the department to amplify our position and brand to the marketplace.
  • Tracking & identifying new, emerging, and growing industries/brands that lead to potential new partnership opportunities for the organization.
  • Assisting the Partnership Development team navigate potential current partner considerations/conflicts and recommend potential deal structures and assets based on deep understanding current contracts and assets.
  • Manage CRM system (Kore, Salesforce) and build data sets for reporting and analytics.

Organizational Support:

• Support EVP/CMO in various projects for other departments/ownership as needed, including, but not limited to:
  • Baseball Operations
  • Business Analytics/Dodgers 365
  • Planning & Development
• Perform all other duties as assigned.

Basic Requirements/Qualifications:

• Undergraduate and/or graduate studies in marketing, business, sports business management, communications.
• 10+ years of experience in sponsorship, agency, marketing or advertising, roles with a specialization around strategy, research, consumer insights and/or analytics.
• Strategic and critical thinker who is dynamic, forward-thinking, analytical, and extremely well-organized.
• Positive can-do attitude with the ability to manage long-term projects and well as quick turnaround assignments.
• Strong written, verbal communication, and storytelling skills with strong attention to detail.
• Willingness to be an outstanding teammate and excited to encourage and support those around them. Desire to be part of a team.
• Experience in developing compelling and impactful integrated marketing partnership platforms that have resulted in significant revenue.
• History of managing and tracking inventory, budget, and developing category approach strategy.
• Strong research and analytical skills. Proficiency working with Salesforce, KORE and other research/CRM tools.
• Broad knowledge of partnership activation, sponsorship sales, and sports/entertainment marketing partnerships standard methodologies.
• Possesses a proactive approach, excellent reasoning, problem-solving, creative thinking, and communication skills.
• Ability to create and maintain productive, positive relationships through strong communications and interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated ability to generate significant value in an entrepreneurial environment
• Excellent Microsoft Office skills
• Able to work evenings, weekends and holidays as needed.