Senior Director of Gators VIP Experience - Gators VIP Experience

Florida Gators • Gainesville, FL

20h • Onsite

About The Position

The University Athletic Association at the University of Florida is searching for a Senior Director to lead the new Gators VIP Experience department, responsible for elevating the end-to-end experience for donors, partners, and premium clients across all Gators Athletics programs. Oversees hospitality, gifting, procurement, and experience strategy to ensure consistency, efficiency, and excellence across all revenue-generating units for the UAA. This position requires the incumbent to have strong leadership, administrative, interpersonal, communication, and customer service skills; have demonstrated ability to build and scale teams; manage relationships with clients and client-ace alongside primary account management; have strong familiarity with college sports, fandom, and athletic competition at various capacities; be organized, detail-oriented, and self-motivated; work independently and as part of a collaborative team; multitask effectively; engage effectively with others of diverse cultures or backgrounds; and work a non-standard work week which will include evenings, weekends, holidays, and overnight travel for select away games and production of premier events for stakeholders.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in appropriate area of specialization
• Six years of experience in event management, premium experience, donor relations, or partnership management
• Experience managing procurement, hospitality, or large-scale client programs and associated budgets
• Valid driver’s license

Nice To Haves

• Eight or more years of experience in event management, premium experience, donor relations, or partnership management
• An equivalent combination of education and experience may be accepted in lieu of listed requirement.

Responsibilities

• Builds and leads the Gators VIP Experiences vertical, establishing standards, processes, and long-term strategy.
• Works alongside account management of various verticals to ensure delivery of elite-level experiences associated with Florida Gators Athletics. Serves as internal point of coordination for partner, donor, and premium client experience delivery.
• Transfers currently disparate processes between business verticals into comprehensive synergistic experience strategy.
• Collaborates with Donor, Partnership, and Premium leadership to assist in development of sellable platforms to generate revenue.
• Oversees all hospitality programming, gifting strategy, and stakeholder touchpoints across Gators Athletics.
• Manages procurement workflows (e.g. signage, gifting, event materials, field logos, premium assets) to ensure consistency and cost efficiency.
• Partners closely with Partnerships, Premium Seating, and Development leadership to support their business goals.
• Develops and executes a staffing plan to support the vertical, including future hiring of managers and coordinators.
• Creates a unified experience strategy that enhances retention, satisfaction, and revenue growth across all groups.
• Tracks KPIs tied to business health, YOY revenue performance, and client satisfaction.
• Develops relationships with venues to activate and entertain Florida Gators Stakeholders across the state and beyond; creatively leverage newly developed on-site entertainment spaces.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package including but not limited to health, dental, life, LTD, AD&D, pension plan (upon eligibility), tuition assistance, athletic event tickets, employee events and recognition programs as well as possible relocation assistance.
• Competitive compensation package commensurate with candidate’s previous experience and qualifications.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director