Vice President of Partnerships

Hartford Athletic Vice President of Partnerships

We are Hartford Athletic. Our mission is to provide a world class professional soccer experience and make our community the best place to live, work, and play.

Hartford Athletic is seeking an experienced, results-driven Vice President of Partnerships to lead the Club’s corporate partnership efforts and drive partnership revenue growth.

Reporting to the Chief Business Officer, the Vice President of Partnerships will lead the Partnerships team, currently consisting of Partnership Sales Representatives and Partnership Activation Specialists, with overall accountability for partnership revenue, new business development, activation, partner satisfaction, retention, and renewal.

This is a hands‑on player‑coach role. In addition to leading the Partnerships team, this role will maintain an active personal sales pipeline and personally develop and close key, high‑value partnership opportunities. The position will champion a consultative, needs‑based sales approach that begins with understanding each prospect’s objectives and results in customized partnerships designed to deliver meaningful value for both the partner and Hartford Athletic.

This is an in‑office position that requires attendance at all Hartford Athletic home matches, as well as partner, community, networking, and other Club events as needed. The position also requires flexibility to work evenings and weekends based on the Club’s match and event schedule. Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead, manage, motivate, and develop the Partnerships team to achieve or exceed established revenue, activation, retention, and renewal goals.
• Establish clear performance expectations, hold team members accountable for results, and provide coaching and development to improve performance.
• Coach Partnership Sales Representatives use a consultative, needs‑based sales approach, emphasizing thorough discovery and understanding each prospect’s objectives before developing a proposal.
• Ensure partnership proposals are strategically developed around each prospect’s individual needs and objectives rather than relying on standardized or inventory‑driven packages.
• Ensure Partnership Sales Representatives maintain sufficient prospecting activity and a strong pipeline of qualified opportunities to support revenue goals.
• Build a high‑performance culture and lead by example as a role model for professionalism, accountability, collaboration, and consistent new‑business development.
• Recruit, onboard, train, and develop Partnerships team members as needed.
• Work with the Chief Business Officer to establish annual revenue goals, sales priorities, and strategies.

• Maintain an active personal sales pipeline and directly contribute meaningful revenue toward the Club’s annual partnership goals.
• Develop new corporate partnership opportunities through outbound prospecting, networking, referrals, community relationships, and other business‑development activities.
• Personally manage key and high‑value opportunities from discovery through proposal, negotiation, and close.
• Conduct thorough discovery to understand each prospect’s business, marketing, audience, community engagement, hospitality, and other relevant objectives.
• Develop customized partnership solutions that align Hartford Athletics’ assets and capabilities with each prospect’s specific objectives and deliver maximum value to both the partner and the Club.
• Build relationships with senior‑level business decision‑makers and provide strategic support to Partnership Sales Representatives on significant or complex opportunities when appropriate.
• Use Hartford Athletic matches, Club events, and external business and community events to strengthen partner relationships, cultivate prospects, and generate new opportunities.

• Lead and develop the Partnership Activation Specialists, establishing clear expectations and accountability for partner service and fulfillment.
• Ensure 100% of contracted partnership assets are activated and fulfilled accurately, on time,…