Director, Corporate Partnership Sales
Location: Atlanta, GA
Status: Full-time | Regular
The Atlanta Dream is a WNBA team based in Atlanta, Georgia. 2026 marks our 19th season in the league and our fifth year under new ownership and leadership, with a bold commitment to building the premier franchise in the WNBA. We celebrate diversity, represent Atlanta, reward innovation and imagination, and aim to empower women both on and off the court.
Position Overview
Reporting to the Chief Revenue Officer, the Director of Corporate Partnership Sales is a senior-level individual contributor responsible for driving immediate and sustained new revenue growth through integrated corporate partnerships.
This is a true sales position. The right candidate will bring a disciplined, repeatable sales process; an established network of brand and agency decision-makers; and a demonstrated track record of closing six- and seven-figure partnerships in professional sports. This individual will own the full sales cycle—from prospect identification through contract execution—and will be accountable for meeting and exceeding aggressive annual revenue targets.
This is a relationship-driven business supported by strong sales leadership and an experienced client-service team, with an entrepreneurial culture and a strong reputation for world-class execution. As we continue to scale, this role will also bring operational rigor, accountability, and cross-functional alignment—strengthening performance discipline while preserving the culture and trust that drive our success.
Core Responsibilities
Revenue Generation & Sales Leadership
- Own and execute the end-to-end sales process for new corporate partnership revenue.
- Prospect aggressively through outbound outreach, networking, referrals, agency relationships, and market intelligence tools.
- Build, manage, and advance a robust pipeline with clear activity benchmarks and revenue forecasts.
- Meet and exceed annual new business revenue goals, with clear accountability to weekly and monthly KPIs.
- Identify high-potential categories and target brands aligned with the Dream’s fan base, platform, and growth strategy.
- Develop multi-platform partnership packages across media, digital, social, broadcast, in-arena, experiential, community, and IP assets.
- Lead high-level negotiations with senior brand marketers, agency leaders, and C-suite executives.
- Close complex, multi-year, high-value agreements with strong margin discipline.
Strategic Selling & Market Intelligence
- Conduct structured discovery processes to understand client business objectives, KPIs, growth priorities, and decision frameworks.
- Translate insights into customized, ROI-driven proposals and compelling pitch narratives.
- Leverage data, research, and third-party insights (YouGov, SponsorUnited, etc.) to inform prospect strategy and pricing.
- Develop category-specific go-to-market strategies to unlock incremental revenue streams.
- Identify and create new inventory or intellectual property that unlocks incremental sponsorship value.
Process, Forecasting & Operational Rigor
- Implement structured pipeline management within CRM, maintaining accurate forecasting and probability weighting.
- Provide bi-weekly revenue projections and monthly pipeline reports to executive leadership.
- Track sales velocity metrics and continuously refine outreach, messaging, and closing strategies.
- Ensure seamless transition to activation and client services teams post-sale while maintaining executive-level partner relationships.
- Support long-term renewal and upsell opportunities through proactive relationship management.
Market & Brand Representation
- Serve as an ambassador of the Atlanta Dream brand in the Atlanta business community and across national sports marketing networks.
- Attend industry conferences, league meetings, community events, and networking functions to cultivate new relationships.
- Maintain deep knowledge of sponsorship trends, brand spend categories, women’s sports growth, and competitive positioning.
Qualifications
Education & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree required (Marketing, Business, Sports Management, or related field preferred).
- Minimum 7–10 years of professional sports partnership sales experience.
- Experience with a professional sports team, major property, or sports marketing agency strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated history of exceeding six- and seven-figure annual revenue targets.
- Proven success closing complex, multi-platform, multi-year sponsorship agreements.
- Experience selling to both brands and agencies.
You Have These
- Exceptional executive presence, diplomacy, and discretion—comfortable engaging with local and national leaders and C-suite executives.
- Elite new business development skills with a disciplined, metrics-driven sales approach.
- Strong sports partnership sales acumen with the ability to identify and capture new revenue opportunities.
- Deep knowledge of brands that invest in sports marketing and how partnerships drive consumer growth and sales outcomes.
- Proven ability to run a full-cycle consultative sales process—from cold outreach to contract execution.
- Superior negotiation and closing skills with a history of securing high-value agreements.
- Ability to balance creative, client-centric thinking with data-driven business discipline.
- High degree of adaptability and urgency in a fast-paced, growth-oriented environment.
- Strong cross-functional collaborator who can align marketing, finance, legal, and activation teams to accelerate deal flow.
- Experience scaling revenue operations in complex, relationship-driven businesses.
Work Environment
- Standard office environment with flexibility required.
- Must be able to work all Atlanta Dream home games and select team/league events.
- Occasional travel required for client meetings, league functions, and industry events.
We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class.
