National Director of Sports & Venues

Job description

**This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a National Director of Sports & Venues based in United States.** The National Director of Sports & Venues will lead the national growth strategy, business development, pursuit activity, and delivery oversight for a growing sports and entertainment practice. This executive-level role will expand relationships across professional sports, collegiate athletics, stadiums, arenas, training facilities, public assembly venues, mixed-use entertainment districts, and major event infrastructure. The position combines market-facing leadership with hands-on program and project expertise, ensuring opportunities are converted into successful client engagements. The successful candidate will leverage a strong national industry network to build executive relationships, identify strategic opportunities, lead complex pursuits, and develop winning solutions. Internally, the role will unite regional and functional teams while establishing consistent approaches to governance, delivery, project controls, and client service. The leader will also shape strategic partnerships and identify opportunities for new hires, acquisitions, and other investments that strengthen the practice. This is a highly visible national leadership position requiring strong commercial judgment, sector credibility, and the ability to influence senior stakeholders across a geographically diverse organization. ### Accountabilities: - Develop and execute the national Sports & Venue growth strategy, aligning market priorities, revenue targets, investment decisions, and growth initiatives across U.S. regions. - Serve as the principal national advocate for the sports and venue sector, identifying emerging trends, investment priorities, market opportunities, and evolving client needs. - Build and maintain executive-level relationships with professional sports organizations, collegiate institutions, venue operators, developers, public agencies, ownership groups, and other industry stakeholders. - Generate and qualify new business opportunities through strategic market outreach, client development, account planning, executive presentations, and long-term relationship building. - Lead complex pursuits from opportunity identification through contract award, including capture strategies, win themes, value propositions, staffing approaches, proposal development, interviews, and client presentations. - Assemble and lead multidisciplinary pursuit teams, coordinating internal subject matter experts, regional leaders, project executives, and external partners. - Connect regional teams and functional capabilities across program management, project management, cost management, advisory, controls, scheduling, and strategic consulting to create an integrated national practice. - Develop strategic partnerships with architects, engineers, contractors, technology providers, venue consultants, and specialty advisors to strengthen market positioning and pursuit capabilities. - Evaluate market gaps and recommend strategic hiring, partnership, acquisition, or other growth opportunities that expand sector capabilities. - Support the mobilization and startup of major client engagements, including delivery frameworks, governance models, staffing plans, reporting structures, project controls, and onboarding strategies. - Provide executive oversight and strategic direction for major sports and entertainment programs, advising project teams on complex delivery challenges, risk mitigation, stakeholder management, and client expectations. - Ensure consistent service delivery, client experience, and project performance across the national portfolio. - Mentor and develop emerging sector leaders, support recruitment and retention of high-performing talent, and promote collaboration, accountability, innovation, and client service excellence. - Establish market performance metrics and growth objectives while sharing industry intelligence, best practices, and lessons learned across the organization. ### Requirements: - Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Architecture, Business, Real Estate, Sports Management, or a related discipline. - 15+ years of progressive experience leading sports facilities, sports development, venues, entertainment projects, or large-scale capital programs. - Demonstrated success delivering complex sports, venue, entertainment, or capital programs, with a strong understanding of project execution and client expectations throughout the full project lifecycle. - Deep knowledge of the sports and entertainment sector, including key trends, market drivers, development models, and industry dynamics. - Established national profile and significant credibility within the sports and entertainment industry based on relevant project and program experience. - Proven ability to generate and win new business within the sports and entertainment sector, supported by an established national network of industry relationships. - Experience working directly with ownership groups, athletic directors, commissioners, league representatives, team executives, public-sector leaders, developers, venue operators, and other senior stakeholders. - Experience establishing and mobilizing new programs and client engagements, including governance structures, delivery frameworks, staffing strategies, project controls, reporting, and operational processes. - Strong technical understanding of program management, project management, design, construction, scheduling, cost management, and project controls, with the ability to translate technical requirements into compelling client solutions. - Proven experience leading complex pursuits, proposals, interviews, executive presentations, negotiations, and client engagement strategies. - Strong understanding of sports facility planning, development, design, construction, and operations. - Exceptional communication, presentation, negotiation, relationship-building, and executive stakeholder management skills. - Demonstrated ability to lead geographically diverse teams and coordinate national initiatives across multiple regions and functions. - Strong financial acumen, including experience developing growth plans, forecasting revenue, managing pursuit investments, and tracking business performance. - Strategic, commercially minded leadership style with the ability to balance business development, client relationships, and successful program delivery. - Willingness and ability to travel nationally as required. ### Benefits: - Full-time, remote position based in the United States. - National-level executive leadership opportunity with significant influence over market strategy, business development, client relationships, and program delivery. - Opportunity to shape a growing sports and venues practice across professional sports, collegiate athletics, entertainment, and major capital development. - Broad exposure to high-profile clients, ownership groups, development partners, and major sports and entertainment projects. - Opportunity to build and lead national teams while developing strategic partnerships across the industry. - Significant autonomy to influence growth priorities, strategic investments, partnerships, and market expansion. - Opportunity to contribute to complex, large-scale programs spanning stadiums, arenas, training facilities, mixed-use developments, and event infrastructure. - Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with different abilities.