Director of Business Development (Epikkos)

Job description

**About the Team:** Epikkos is a leading travel and experiences company that provides white-label travel and experience solutions for multiple Major League Baseball clubs. With over 25 years as an official MLB partner, Epikkos also specializes in the procurement and delivery of premium travel packages for MLB events. Recently acquired by Giants Enterprises, Epikkos is entering a new phase of growth. The company is expanding beyond baseball into broader sports, entertainment, music, culinary, and cultural experiences, leveraging its deep expertise in travel trade, luxury procurement, and partnership-driven business models. **About the Role:** The position will play a critical leadership role in scaling Epikkos’ business globally. The individual will be responsible for the development of the business by identifying, structuring, and executing new revenue opportunities across sports, entertainment, live events, and premium travel experiences. All the while supporting, Epikkos’ position as a trusted partner to existing and prospective clients. In addition to driving growth and partnerships, this role provides executive oversight, in coordination with Epikkos’ co-founders, of the operational performance of all procured experiences, ensuring offerings are scalable, operationally sound, margin-accretive, and delivered at a consistently premium standard. The individual will work closely with operations, marketing, finance, and legal teams to establish execution standards, optimize fulfillment workflows, and align commercial strategy with disciplined delivery. This role requires a strategic dealmaker with strong commercial instincts, financial acumen, and operational understanding, combined with a proven ability to build long-term, high-value relationships and deliver complex, high-touch experiences. **You’re Excited About This Opportunity Because….** - Lead overall business development strategy for Epikkos’ next phase of growth across sports, entertainment, music, culinary, and experiential travel opportunities - Identify, evaluate, and execute new partnerships, experiences, and revenue streams, from concept through launch - Build and manage a robust business development pipeline, including lead generation, prioritization, negotiation, and deal closure - Develop financial models and ROI analyses to support investment decisions, pricing strategies, and partnership structures - Present clear, compelling data-driven narratives to executive leadership and stakeholders to support strategic initiatives - Work cross-functionally with marketing, operations, finance and legal teams to ensure scalable execution - Oversee procurement of high-end luxury experiences, ensuring quality, differentiation, and margin discipline - Leverage AI tools and automation to scale lead generation, operational efficiency, and internal resources - Build and maintain strong relationships with destination marketing organizations, tourism organizations and travel trade partners - Develop and deepen relationships with sports, entertainment, hospitality, and business leaders to drive local and national growth - Travel as needed to cultivate strategic partnerships, oversee premium experiences, and drive business growth initiatives - Establish operational standards, KPIs, and playbooks in partnership with operations and finance to optimize execution and efficiency - Lead vendor and supplier strategy for premium experiences, including selection, performance management, and cost optimization - Provide executive oversight for large-scale, high-touch experience execution, serving as escalation point to ensure flawless delivery **Qualifications:** - 10+ years of experience in business development within the sports & entertainment and/or travel trade industries - Demonstrated success in closing complex, high-value partnerships and commercial deals - Deep understanding of the travel trade ecosystem, including distribution models, resellers, and destination partnerships, to inform strategy and drive scalable growth - Proven background in luxury travel and premium experience procurement - High level of financial literacy, including forecasting, modeling, and performance analysis - Exceptional executive communication and negotiation skills - Track record of building long-term, trust-based relationships - Strong operational mindset, with the ability to scale offerings sustainably - Experience managing multiple stakeholders and competing priorities in a fast-growing environment - Creative thinker with the ability to design differentiated, market-leading experiences - Comfort leveraging data, analytics, and AI-driven tools to inform decisions and scale impact - Proven experience designing and delivering large-scale events or premium, high-touch experience - Demonstrated ability to manage complex, multi-stakeholder operational execution, including vendors, venues, and partners - Strong understanding of experience fulfillment economics, including cost drivers, margins, and scalability - Track record of balancing creative vision with operational discipline in live or experiential environments **What Success Looks Like:** - Diversification of Epikkos’ revenue beyond MLB into new sports, entertainment, and experiential verticals - A strong, predictable pipeline of high-margin opportunities - Scalable partnerships with tourism authorities, artists, promoters, and destination partners - Clear financial discipline is paired with creative, premium offerings - Epikkos is positioned as a best-in-class global provider of premium sports and entertainment travel experiences