Director, Regional Strategic Partnerships

Position Title: Director, Regional Strategic Partnerships
Location: Washington DC Area (possibility for remote U.S. based)
Department: Special Olympics North America
Reports to: President and Regional Managing Director, SONA

FLSA Status: Exempt

Salary Range: $100,045-$117,810

Organization Overview:

Founded in 1968, Special Olympics is a global movement to end discrimination against people with intellectual disabilities. We foster acceptance of all people through the power of sport and programming in education, health, and leadership. With nearly four million athletes and Unified Sports® partners and one million coaches and volunteers in more than 170 countries, Special Olympics delivers more than 30 Olympic-type sports and nearly 50,000 games and competitions every year. Learn more at SpecialOlympics.org. 

Position Summary

The Director, Strategic Regional Partnerships, is responsible for driving corporate partnerships and fundraising revenue for the Special Olympics North America (SONA) Region, generating funds annually through strategic sponsorships, corporate giving, and philanthropic partnerships. This role develops and executes business development strategies, cultivates new donor and corporate relationships, leads partnership opportunities tied to the Special Olympics USA Games, and collaborates across SONA, Special Olympics International, and Programs to advance organizational priorities.

Primary Responsibilities

• Design and execute a development strategy to secure and generate funds toward the annual SONA revenue goal.
• Manage third-party fundraising partner(s) including coordination, performance management, fulfillment, and alignment with internal partnership strategy.
• Collaborate with global and regional Programmatic teams and other functional leads in developing compelling proposals based on strategic priorities, funding needs, and organizational capacity.
• In coordination with Local Organizing Committees, the global corporate partnerships team and other SONA departments, develop a strategic fundraising plan for Special Olympics USA Games including a valuation structure, sponsorship tiers and reporting templates that are integrated into the overall SONA development strategy and reinforce the power of the USA Games property.
• Liaison with the Global Partnerships team to lead North America-related assistance with global partnership development and fulfillment.
• Identify, develop, and foster relationships with potential donors and companies to build out a robust long-term new business pipeline.
• Serve as the lead with USA Games LOCs and regional events, develop specific games-related assets for custom sponsor pitches, streamline games sponsorship fulfillment with account managers, coordinate with LOC on evaluation of games sponsorships including custom reports to individual sponsors and impact reports for the games.
• Collaborate with regional Programmatic teams to support existing partners, ensuring consistency across rights and benefits and stewardship opportunities.
• Identify and develop SONA signature property assets that can be integrated into business development strategy.
• Provide subject matter expertise and direct support to SONA Programs and chapters.
• Build relationships with Special Olympics state Programs to grow local partnerships to the national or international level.
• Prepare statements of work, presentations/proposals and other requests to solicit financial support along with budget relieving in-kind donations.
• Travel to be expected (20%)

Required Qualifications

• A bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience plus Seven to Ten years of relevant work experience. Experience and/or coursework in the area of corporate partnership sales is a plus.

• Experience working with a variety of national corporate-based divisions including, but not limited to, foundations, marketing, CSR and sponsorship divisions
• Demonstrated ability to identify donors and cultivate deep relationships leading to substantial commitments with an exceptional ability to close deals
• Demonstrated success driving revenue growth in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment
• Demonstrated ability to support and coordinate multiple stakeholder groups
• Strong organizational and communication skills
• Fluency with Salesforce and all Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)

Desired Qualifications

• An established network of corporate leaders and influencers to begin sharing campaign concepts for consideration and/or introductions to target prospects
• Working knowledge and background of federated non-profit organizational structures

*For USA based staff: Special Olympics offers full-time employees a generous and comprehensive benefits package, which includes: medical, dental, vision, HSA, FSA, life insurance, disability, retirement, legal resources, and PTO.

Special Olympics provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. 

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training. 

**Special Olympics is an E-Verify Employer**