Director of Sales and Strategic Partnerships

This is an onsite (hybrid) role in Waukesha, WI

The Director of Sales & Strategic Partnerships leads revenue-generating sales and sponsorship efforts across the organization’s educational programs, conferences, and related offerings. This role provides strategic leadership to a fundraising team responsible for a multi-million-dollar revenue portfolio, with a focus on sales infrastructure, strengthening partnerships, and driving sustainable growth in alignment with the organization’s mission. The Director collaborates with education, marketing, events, membership, and other internal teams to optimize participation, sponsor ships, and overall revenue performance.

In the first year, this role will focus on rebuilding and strengthening sales infrastructure—including team development, pipeline health, processes, and partner relationships—while supporting a revenue portfolio of approximately $7M annually. Success will be measured by progress across people, pipeline, and performance, with an emphasis on creating a strong foundation for sustainable growth.

• Develop and implement sales strategies to support educational conferences, exhibitions, fundraising events, and related offerings.
• Lead efforts to strengthen the sales pipeline, processes, and team performance, with accountability for revenue goals.
• Demonstrate strong product and program fluency to enable the sales team, position offerings effectively, address complex customer needs, and support consistent, confident selling.
• Identify new revenue opportunities, market segments, and pricing strategies.
• Monitor progress against goals and adjust strategy to support growth and stability.

• Lead, coach, and develop a sales team responsible for generating sponsorship revenue across awards, advertising, exhibits, and events.
• Establish clear goals, processes, and performance metrics.
• Recruit, onboard, and evaluate staff while fostering a collaborative, results-oriented culture.

• Build and maintain relationships with institutional partners, sponsors, exhibitors, and high-value stakeholders and members.
• Personally support or manage strategic accounts as appropriate.
• Drive individual giving revenue and advance the mission of the organization’s Foundation.

• Partner with marketing and membership teams to align campaigns, messaging, and lead generation.
• Collaborate with education and events teams to ensure sales strategy supports program value propositions.
• Provide input to inform program development and conference planning.
• Deliver clear, data-informed updates on progress and key insights during departmental meetings.

• Oversee CRM usage, driving consistent team adoption and accountability for pipeline management, forecasting, and reporting
• Analyze sales performance to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Ensure consistent sales processes and compliance with organizational policies.
• Ensure consistent and effective use of project management tools and processes.

• 10+ years of sales experience, with increasing responsibility, including managing teams, multi-product portfolios, and strategic accounts.
• Proven success hitting sales targets and growing multi-product or multi-program revenue.
• Experience with sales forecasting, pipelines, and CRM systems.
• Strong communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, management, communications, or a related field required.
• Advanced degree (MBA or related) and relevant sales, leadership, or association certifications (e.g., CFRE, Certified Sales Leader, or equivalent) are strongly preferred.
• Experience with non-profits, associations, or academic institutions preferred.
• Ability to travel up to three (3) weeks per year.