Director of Strategic Partnerships
Location: Remote (United States or Canada)
Compensation: Performance-Based (Retainer + Commission + Bonus Opportunities)
About Venice Blvd Productions
Venice Blvd Productions is the creator of The Venice Fest, one of Southern California's largest community-driven festivals. Through immersive events, experiential activations, live entertainment, wellness experiences, local business showcases, and cultural programming, we bring together over 20,000 attendees annually while supporting artists, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and community organizations.
Over the past five years, The Venice Fest has grown into a highly recognized event platform with a 90%+ vendor return rate and a strong foundation for continued expansion.
As we enter our next phase of growth, we are seeking a seasoned sponsorship and partnership leader to help scale our sponsorship portfolio and build long-term relationships with brands, agencies, and strategic partners.
The Opportunity
This is not an entry-level sales position.
We are seeking a highly connected sponsorship professional with a proven track record of securing significant sponsorship revenue, developing strategic partnerships, and creating meaningful brand activations.
The ideal candidate has existing relationships with brand decision-makers, agencies, marketing executives, and experiential marketing teams and understands how to create partnerships that deliver measurable value for both sponsors and audiences.
This role is ideal for someone who has sold sponsorships for festivals, entertainment properties, sports organizations, experiential marketing programs, conferences, media companies, or large-scale consumer events.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and execute sponsorship and partnership sales strategies
- Identify, prospect, and close new sponsorship opportunities
- Secure title sponsors, presenting sponsors, and category-exclusive partnerships
- Build and maintain relationships with brands, agencies, and marketing leaders
- Create customized sponsorship packages and activation opportunities
- Negotiate contracts and partnership agreements
- Manage sponsorship pipeline, forecasting, and reporting
- Collaborate with leadership on sponsor fulfillment and ROI
- Grow multi-year partnerships and recurring sponsorship revenue
- Help position Venice Fest and future properties for long-term growth
Qualifications
- 10+ years of sponsorship sales, partnerships, experiential marketing, media sales, sports marketing, entertainment marketing, or business development experience
- Demonstrated track record of closing significant sponsorship deals
- Existing network of brand, agency, and marketing relationships
- Experience developing and selling sponsorship programs for events, festivals, sports properties, media platforms, conferences, or experiential campaigns
- Strong negotiation, presentation, and relationship-building skills
- Self-starter with an entrepreneurial mindset
- Ability to work independently in a remote environment
Preferred Experience
Experience working with brands and agencies in:
- Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)
- Beverage
- Technology
- Automotive
- Financial Services
- Telecommunications
- Health & Wellness
- Lifestyle & Consumer Brands
- Travel & Hospitality
Compensation
We are open to structuring compensation around performance and results, including:
- Monthly Retainer
- Commission on Sponsorship Revenue Generated
- Performance Bonuses
- Long-Term Growth Opportunities
To Apply
Please include:
- Brief introduction
- Relevant sponsorship and partnership experience
- Largest sponsorship portfolio managed
- Largest sponsorship deal personally closed
- Examples of festivals, entertainment properties, sports organizations, media platforms, or experiential programs you've represented
- Existing industries or brand categories where you maintain active relationships
Bonus Points
Tell us about a sponsorship opportunity you personally originated, negotiated, and closed that generated $100,000+ in revenue.
We're looking for a proven relationship-builder and revenue generator who can help take an established event platform to the next level.