Director, Event Partnerships & Development

The NFL is seeking a Director, Event Partnerships & Development to help drive the growth, innovation, and commercial success of the League's Events & International portfolio. Working closely with senior leadership, this role will lead strategic partnership initiatives, manage critical League commercial relationships, and identify new opportunities to expand revenue, enhance fan engagement, and strengthen the NFL's event platforms. 

The Director will serve as a key connector across Events, International, Sponsorship, Media, Consumer Products, Finance, Corporate Strategy, and the 32 Clubs. The role will develop business strategies, evaluate growth opportunities, and execute high-impact initiatives across major NFL tentpole events, including the Super Bowl, NFL Draft, NFL Scouting Combine, Kickoff, NFL Flag Championships, and International Games. 

The ideal candidate combines strategic thinking, commercial acumen, relationship leadership, analytical rigor, and execution excellence. This individual will be comfortable moving between long-range strategy and day-to-day partner management, translating insights into clear recommendations and measurable business results. 

Responsibilities

Partnership Strategy & Commercial Management 

• Serve as the day-to-day business lead for select League commercial partnerships, including On Location and event retail partners, managing relationships that drive meaningful revenue, fan engagement, operational performance, and long-term strategic value. 

• Develop and execute growth plans that maximize commercial performance and identify opportunities to expand assets, activation platforms, audience reach, and partner value. 

• Establish clear objectives, governance, performance expectations, and issue-escalation paths with partners to ensure consistent delivery against contractual and strategic commitments. 

• Build trusted relationships with senior executives across partner organizations, serving as a strategic advisor and solution-oriented representative of the League. 

• Support the development, negotiation, renewal, and implementation of strategic commercial agreements in partnership with Legal, Finance, and other stakeholders. 

Strategic Growth & Business Development 

• Lead the identification, evaluation, and advancement of new revenue opportunities, business models, partnership structures, and growth initiatives across the NFL's Major Events & International portfolio. 

• Help shape the long-term business strategy for key NFL event platforms, defining future commercial opportunities, fan experiences, and growth priorities that support broader League objectives. 

• Develop business cases, strategic frameworks, and executive recommendations to evaluate potential investments, partnerships, new platforms, and other commercial opportunities. 

• Monitor market trends, consumer behavior, emerging technologies, and competitive activity across sports, entertainment, media, hospitality, and live events to identify opportunities that strengthen the NFL's business position. 

Cross-Functional Leadership & Execution 

• Lead cross-functional teams through the end-to-end development and execution of strategic initiatives, establishing clear objectives, workplans, decision points, responsibilities, and measures of success. 

• Collaborate across Events, International, Sponsorship, Finance, Media, Consumer Products, Legal, Club Business Development, and other League functions to develop integrated business solutions and drive alignment. 

• Oversee concurrent workstreams from concept through implementation, ensuring initiatives are delivered on time, within scope, and in accordance with League priorities and partner commitments. 

• Anticipate risks, identify challenges and interdependencies, and proactively develop recommendations that support successful execution and sustainable business outcomes. 

Executive Communications & Stakeholder Engagement 

• Prepare and present business cases, strategic recommendations, partnership updates, and performance assessments for senior leadership, ownership committees, Clubs, and external partners. 

• Develop post-event and post-initiative assessments that capture business performance, key learnings, growth opportunities, and recommendations for future improvement.  

• Establish performance measurement frameworks, KPIs, and reporting tools that provide clear visibility into commercial results, partner delivery, and areas for future growth. 

• Translate complex business issues, research, and financial information into clear insights and actionable recommendations for senior leadership and other decision-makers. 

People & Team Leadership 

• Provide day-to-day leadership, coaching, and development for assigned team members and project resources, setting clear priorities and reinforcing accountability, collaboration, and high-quality execution. 

• Help allocate resources across partnership management, business development, analytical work, and strategic initiatives to ensure the team remains focused on the highest-impact priorities. 

• Contribute to a high-performing and inclusive team culture that values commercial curiosity, sound judgment, continuous improvement, and shared success. 

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree in business, finance, strategy, or a related field is a plus. 
• 10+ years of progressive experience in sports, media, entertainment, live events, hospitality, consulting, financial services, or another commercially oriented business environment. 
• Demonstrated experience developing business cases, partnership strategies, revenue growth initiatives, or new business opportunities. 
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, including experience evaluating revenue models, forecasts, investments, and performance metrics. 
• Proven ability to manage complex partner relationships and influence senior internal and external stakeholders without direct authority. 

Other Key Attributes / Characteristics

• Exceptional executive communication, writing, presentation, and facilitation skills, with the ability to distill complex issues into clear recommendations. 
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel, including experience developing executive-level presentations and data-driven analyses. 
• Entrepreneurial, collaborative, and highly organized, with sound judgment, strong attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple time-sensitive priorities in a matrixed organization. 

Salary / Pay Range

This job posting contains a pay range, which represents the range of salaries or hourly rates that the NFL believes, in good faith, at the time of this posting that it might be willing to pay for the posted job in the location(s) specified. The NFL expects to hire for this position near the middle of the range. Only in truly rare and exceptional circumstances, where an external candidate has experience, credentials or expertise that far exceed those required or expected for the position, would the NFL consider paying a salary or rate near the higher end of the range. 

Terms / Expected Hours of Work

• NFL Employees are expected to work 40 hours per week.