Brand Partnerships Manager, Athletes

International Justice Mission•Virginia - Hybrid, VA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

International Justice Mission (IJM) is seeking a Brand Partnerships Manager, Athletes to build and maintain a portfolio of pro athlete relationships and sports industry partnerships. This role aims to increase IJM's brand awareness and raise critical resources for its mission. The ideal candidate is an inspirational leader who can develop and execute strategies to engage professional athletes, converting them into active major donors and advocates for IJM's cause. They will build lasting partnerships with athletes who use their platforms to combat slavery and violence as part of IJM's athlete community, Team Freedom. This position is hybrid (onsite Tuesdays & Thursdays) if located in the Washington, DC area or remote for non-local candidates. It reports to the Director of Brand Partnerships, Global Marketing and is only available for candidates with the right to work in the US.

Requirements

7 years of proven experience delivering results in a fast-paced, multi-disciplinary environment.
7 years of direct experience working with professional athletes and their families.
7 years of high-end marketing, sales or major donor fundraising experience.
Bachelor’s degree in related field, such as communication, marketing or a related discipline.
Proven track record of activating pro athlete/influencer platforms.
High-capacity, networked sports or influencer philanthropy/management professional.
Expert in utilizing media and PR.
Expert in marketing.
Strong written and oral communication skills.
Public speaking experience.
Ability to travel up to 20%.
Mature orthodox Christian faith as defined by the Apostles’ Creed.
Self-starter with strong initiative.
Disciplined with priorities.
Strong interpersonal skills and self-awareness.
Exceptional verbal and written communication.
Flexible, collaborative and eager to support others.
Effective team player who fosters collaborative environment.
Adept at creative problem solving.

Nice To Haves

Fundraising experience preferred.
Professional athlete experience preferred.

Responsibilities

Represent IJM’s mission through public speaking and media interviews at the highest levels across global sport and culture.
Serve as a leader in the Team Freedom community, inspiring and mobilizing a movement of freedom.
Present compelling fundraising opportunities to groups and individuals within the pro athlete community, through public speaking or individualized proposals and high-level 1:1 meetings.
Qualify leads and develop a portfolio of professional athlete and influencer partnership opportunities throughout North America which raises $3 million plus per year in given or raised funds.
Serve as primary fundraising expert for Team Freedom/influencer team, regularly meeting with SP/mid/writing/marketing team and providing proposals and fundraising opportunities across the Team.
In partnership with the Team Freedom Director and Head of Team Freedom, equip and engage Team Freedom partners/donors in portfolio with platform opportunities utilizing earned partnership strategies and NA/partnership campaigns.
Identify, cultivate and solicit new pro athlete donors or sports-related partners who want to use their platforms to build awareness of IJM’s mission through marketing campaign integration and bespoke platform activation opportunities across marketing channels like social media, media outlets like TV, news and magazines, and more, to reach an audience of 10M people annually.
Build and manage a portfolio of 100+ current pro athlete champions and prospects, raising $1M in revenue annually from pro athlete families and the campaigns, events and activations they host.
Qualify leads and cultivate relationships to convert prospects to active donors by securing the first gift, with donors who can give $10k or more annually, by facilitating 1:1 meetings, preparing fundraising proposal or impact report documents, and tracking relationship touchpoints and progress within Salesforce.
Lead strategy and collaborate with internal creative teams to bring to life campaigns and platform activations connected to pro athlete portfolio of relationships that can reach millions of people with IJM’s mission.
Lead strategy for event format, programming, recruitment and fundraising tactics for events hosted or co-hosted by pro athletes or sports industry partners within portfolio.
Collaborate effectively, with kindness and integrity with the Brand Partnerships associates who facilitate event logistics, providing strategic guidance and decision-making with clarity and timeliness and assisting where necessary with problem solving as the event strategy owner.
Work collaboratively with other members of the partnership team to develop best practices and key learnings.
Support the work of the newly forming pro athlete advisory committee.
Work with marketing teams to proactively develop best resources needed to leverage partner relationships.
Report portfolio activity and progress against KPIs to the Director of Brand Partnerships on a regular basis and as requested.
Ensure portfolio data hygiene, including logging donor interactions, portfolio management, donor communications, forecasting and results analysis.
Book travel logistics for portfolio-related travel.