Director of Corporate Partnerships & Business Development – Athletics

Job Description

Director of Corporate Partnerships & Business Development – Athletics | NCAA

The Tone:
This is a full-time role at Southeast Missouri State University, located in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The University provides student-centered education and experiential learning, emphasizing high-quality, affordable education and a diverse learning community. This Director position is crucial for growing business-to-business revenue opportunities for SEMO Athletics. The role directly contributes to the development of sustainable revenue streams through corporate sponsorships and strategic partnerships.

The TL;DR
• Role: Full Time
• Type: Full-time
• Location: In-person, Cape Girardeau, MO

• Team: Reports to the Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Operations with a dual-reporting relationship to University Advancement.
• Mission: This person solves the problem of generating and sustaining revenue for SEMO Athletics through corporate partnerships, business-focused ticket sales, and strategic business development.
• Tech Stack: Raiser’s Edge NXT, Paciolan/PacFund, Microsoft Office, presentation software, CRM systems, ticketing platforms.

What You’ll Actually Do
• Revenue Generation: Identify, prospect, cultivate, pitch, negotiate, and secure corporate sponsorships, advertising opportunities, corporate ticket packages, and other business-to-business revenue opportunities.
• Relationship Management: Develop and manage relationships with corporate partners to support satisfaction, retention, renewals, and revenue growth.
• Inventory Management: Manage SEMO Athletics sponsorship and advertising inventory, including availability, pricing, category exclusivity, contracts, renewals, fulfillment requirements, and partner activation needs.
• Partnership Execution: Coordinate sponsorship activation and fulfillment in collaboration with athletics department and campus partners to ensure corporate partnership agreements are executed accurately, professionally, and on schedule.
• NIL Support: Support Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) and revenue sharing initiatives by identifying business opportunities, managing available NIL-related inventory or concepts, supporting student-athlete fulfillment, and coordinating with appropriate Athletics, University, and compliance staff.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution. This role is for a Director with core domain knowledge in sales, business development, sports marketing, athletics external operations, or fundraising.
• Experience: Two or more years of experience in a relationship-based sales or business development field, demonstrating the ability to prospect, build relationships, present opportunities, negotiate agreements, close sales, and provide follow-up service, along with strong client relationship management for retention.
• Skills: Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills; strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and initiative; ability to develop creative sponsorship, advertising, and revenue-generating opportunities; ability to work collaboratively across various internal and external audiences.
• Bonus: Commitment to NCAA rules compliance and University policies, ability to work frequent evenings and weekends, and possession of a valid driver’s license for occasional travel.