Chief Partnership & Growth Officer

GHJ•Los Angeles, CA

About The Position

The Chief Partnership & Growth Officer will lead the Play Equity Fund’s strategy to build, nurture, align, and expand relationships, capital, influence, and institutional assets in support of its mission. The role serves as the organization’s chief relationship architect, leading a team of three: a Senior Development Manager, Development Associate, and Development Analyst. The officer will connect philanthropy, corporations, government, sports institutions, and civic leaders around a shared vision while identifying emerging opportunities, broadening the partnership ecosystem, and cultivating new sources of revenue and influence. The officer will oversee strategic partnerships and resource development, working closely with the President and CEO to turn the Fund’s initiatives, policy agenda, research, coalitions, and national support into compelling opportunities for investment and collaboration. The role calls for a collaborative leader who builds trusted relationships, communicates across diverse stakeholder groups, and aligns organizational priorities, resources, and partners around Play Equity. A passion for youth development, sport, education, philanthropy, or community impact is highly desirable.

Requirements

Senior experience in partnerships, business development, institutional advancement, corporate social impact, sports philanthropy, or external affairs.
Demonstrated success developing and closing complex, multiyear partnerships.
Experience working within and alongside a professional sports league, team, governing body, major sporting event, media company, or sports agency.
Ability to translate organizational assets into customized partnership platforms.
Demonstrated success identifying, cultivating, and converting previously untapped partnership opportunities into sustainable organizational relationships.
Experience managing major corporate or institutional accounts from cultivation through renewal.
Familiarity with philanthropy, nonprofit organizations, community impact, public policy, and systems change work.
Evidence of building partnerships that generated both financial resources and measurable social value.
Experience navigating brand, legal, reputational, and mission-alignment considerations.
Strong relationships across sports, business, philanthropy, government, and civic institutions.
Ability to operate in a dynamic and visible environment while maintaining trust with community-based partners.
Ability to work in a fast-paced environment characterized by evolving priorities, ambiguity, and frequent change.
Resilience, adaptability, composure under pressure, and a solutions-oriented approach.
Mission-driven alignment with the LA84 Foundation’s commitment to youth development, sport, education, equity, and community impact.
Strong executive presence and ability to engage CEOs, chief marketing officers, foundation executives, commissioners, athletes, and public officials.
Consultative partnership-development skills, including diagnosing partner objectives and building tailored solutions aligned with Play Equity work.
Commercial discipline in pipeline development, planning, forecasting, negotiation, and closing.
Ability to package a broad collection of programs and assets into a coherent partnership proposition.
Brand fluency, including understanding how reputation, visibility, storytelling, and association create value.
Ability to develop meaningful partner activation that advances the mission.
Renewal-oriented stewardship approach.
Ability to identify partnership opportunities in sectors that have not historically funded youth sports.
Cross-functional leadership skills, including convening internal stakeholders and balancing organizational needs, timelines, resources, and partner expectations.
Demonstrated success leading, developing, and motivating high-performing teams.

Nice To Haves

A passion for youth development, sport, education, philanthropy, or community impact.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute an organization-wide partnership strategy to secure financial and non-financial resources for the Play Equity Fund.
Build, maintain, and expand a robust partnership pipeline across philanthropy, corporate social impact, professional sports, government, health, education, media, and civic institutions.
Identify, evaluate, and develop partnership markets and sectors that have not historically engaged in youth sports, Play Equity, or related social impact investments.
Structure multiyear partnerships that may combine grants, sponsorships, program investments, research, communications, advocacy, employee engagement, or in-kind support.
Monitor trends across philanthropy, sports, business, healthcare, education, government, technology, media, and public policy to identify partnership opportunities that advance Play Equity.
Achieve annual and multiyear development goals while protecting mission alignment and organizational capacity.
Work closely with the President and CEO to translate organizational initiatives, policy, research, coalitions, and national support into opportunities for investment and collaboration.
Partner with executive leadership and department teams to align partnership strategies with organizational priorities, program capacity, policy objectives, research initiatives, and community impact goals.
Bridge departments by translating organizational priorities into partnership opportunities and keeping internal stakeholders informed, engaged, and aligned.
Recruit, coach, mentor, and develop a high-performing partnership and development team, fostering collaboration, accountability, communication, and continuous learning.
Build and sustain relationships with partners and stakeholders while maintaining trust with community-based partners.
Develop tailored partnership solutions, manage partnership pipelines and accounts, and support partner activation, stewardship, and renewal.