Sponsorships Project Manager- Freelance

7 month contract

Monday- Friday in the office (9-6pm)

About us

Founded in 2003, we've partnered with government entities to orchestrate milestone events, earning global recognition. Evolving from event organizers, we are now artisans, crafting legacies that transcend time— a beginning, not an end. Our impact extends beyond moments, resonating across lifetimes, generations, and cultures. We are the architects of enduring legacies. We are LINKVIVA, the crafters of legacy.

About our projects

At LINKVIVA, we specialize in putting destinations on the map through our meticulous curation of family festivals, sports mega events, city seasonal shows, global influence conferences, destination activations and opening/closing ceremonies. Noteworthy events like Dubai Run, Dubai Ride, MOTB, and MOTN not only showcase our commitment to impactful moments and successful objectives but also reflect our dedication to crafting legacies that resonate far beyond the event itself.

About the role

We look at sponsorship differently. We treat sponsors as partners, we recognise the value they bring to our projects that extend beyond cash and we offer them real benefits, not just logo placement. The Senior Partnerships Manager is responsible for developing partnership packages, engaging potential partners, negotiating and closing deals and delivering rights and benefits commitments for LINKVIVA’s own events, as well as for allocated client projects. This responsibility extends to all aspects of sponsorship including but not limited to cash sponsorship, VIK (value-in-kind sponsors), marketing partners or other partners who can add value to our portfolio of events.

Specifically, the Senior Partnerships Manager will be expected to:

• Develop innovative and creative sponsorship packages that deliver real, tangible benefit to our partners as well as to the event.
• Create bespoke packages for key partners, ensure we deliver ROI for them and engage them as partners across a portfolio of events.
• Plan structure and content of sponsorship decks to ensure they convey information as clearly as possible, targeted to their specific audience.
• Create, update and share partnership pipelines for each project, tracking progress against project targets.
• Set appropriate KPIs for each project and ensure those KPIs are met.
• Assist with recruiting, onboarding, training, supervising and offboarding more junior members of the partnership team.
• Identify potential new opportunities and revenue streams that add value to the partnerships team.
• Create and manage workflows and processes to ensure the smooth operation and delivery of partnership projects.
• Conduct research and actively network to identify potential partners.
• Develop and maintain a database of partners, ensuring they are accurately tagged for each suitable project or industry segment.
• Use the database to select and accurately target prospect partners.
• Manage the entire sales cycle, from prospecting through to close.
• Oversee confirmed partnership agreements ensuring that the partner receives all contracted rights and benefits.
• Efficiently and effectively set and follow a plan to meet targets and ensure a premium partner experience.
• Manage your time to deliver against pre-agreed objectives.
• Liaise with internal and external teams to ensure we over-deliver for partners, compared to their expectations.
• Monitor the market to review and research the scope and impact of other event sponsorship activations to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Build relationships with partners to develop long-term engagements, up-sales and re-booking.
• Provide management reports as required.

About you

You should be:

• An experienced sponsorship, sales or marketing professional, with a background in consumer events, festivals or brand activations.
• Able to understand the difference between quality of partner engagements and quantity of partner engagements, and able to balance them both.
• An experienced leader, with experience of coordinating and supporting team members from different departments.
• Customer focused, and able to balance the different priorities of the partner and the overall event.
• Familiar with budget management, contract management and writing proposals.
• Able to simultaneously manage multiple projects to tight deadlines.
• A self-starter, able to work independently.
• Confident with presenting and leading high-level meetings and conversing with senior stakeholders.
• Able to think creatively and develop innovative sponsorship packages that stand out in a competitive market.

As a minimum, you should have:

• Minimum 10 years of experience in a B2B sales position.
• Excellent negotiation and relationship-building skills.
• Excellent command of written and spoken English.
• Previous experience working in the Middle East.
• Relevant experience in creating and delivering sponsor engagement, from conception to evaluation.
• A UAE driving license and your own transportation.

Your application will be stronger if:

• You can speak, read and write Arabic.
• You have previous experience with events, festivals, F&B and retail activations.
• You have previous experience engaging a Gen-Z audience.