Sponsorship And Partnership Lead

About the Job

Position Purpose

The Sponsorship and Partnership Lead is a single-person, end-to-end commercial role responsible for securing sponsorship revenue and mobilizing group participation for Fairteam Trading PLC’s trade fairs.

The role designs sponsorship offerings, targets and closes sponsors, manages sponsor fulfilment, and builds partnerships that bring associations, delegations, pavilions, and clustered sector groups to participate in the fairs.

This position combines strategic planning with hands-on execution and is accountable for delivering both sponsorship and group participation targets within event timelines.

Key Responsibilities

A. Sponsorship Strategy, Packaging & Sales (End-to-End)

• Develop event-specific sponsorship strategies aligned with fair themes, sector priorities, and audience profiles.
• Create and price sponsorship tiers and benefit menus.
• Build sponsor prospect lists across priority sectors.
• Lead the full sponsorship sales cycle independently including prospecting, pitching, proposal writing, negotiation, contracting, and renewal.
• Customize sponsorship proposals to client objectives such as brand awareness, lead generation, launches, CSR, and category ownership.
• Secure multi-event or multi-year sponsorship agreements where feasible.
• Coordinate with Finance on payment schedules and actively follow up to ensure timely collections.

B. Sponsor Fulfilment & Relationship Management (Hands-On Execution)

• Translate signed sponsorship agreements into detailed delivery checklists and internal briefs.
• Coordinate with Marketing, Operations, Stand Production, Technical, and Protocol/VIP teams to execute sponsor rights.
• Manage branding placements, stage and speaking opportunities, VIP hosting, digital visibility, media exposure, activations, and lead capture.
• Monitor execution timelines and troubleshoot gaps.
• Act as the single escalation point for sponsor issues.
• Produce post-event sponsor performance summaries and secure early renewals.

C. Group Exhibitor Mobilization & Partnership Engagement (End-to-End)

• Design and sell group exhibitor participation models for associations, chambers, cooperatives, government programs, foreign delegations, pavilions, and corporates.
• Identify and approach institutional mobilizers such as associations, embassies, trade agencies, ministries, NGOs, development partners, and corporates.
• Structure group participation offers including pavilion branding, stand blocks, shared services, B2B support, and delegation hosting.
• Lead negotiations, contracts, onboarding, and compliance follow-up for group exhibitors.
• Coordinate internally to ensure group exhibitors receive aligned support.
• Track progress toward sell-out targets and resolve risks such as payment delays, paperwork, and branding compliance.

D. Commercial Coordination & Market Intelligence

• Provide the sales team with sponsorship and pavilion tools, pricing sheets, pitch decks, and benefit matrices.
• Align weekly with Marketing on sponsor visibility inventory and group exhibitor activation plans.
• Track competitor fairs’ sponsorship models, pricing shifts, and sector trends.
• Recommend improvements for future event cycles.
• Maintain accurate CRM and pipeline entries for sponsors and group exhibitors, including forecasts and milestone tracking.

About You

Qualifications & Experience

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Event Management, International Trade, or a related field.

Experience: 5–8 years of experience in sponsorship and partnership sales, advertising or brand sales, or institutional B2B roles.

• Proven ability to independently manage complex sales cycles and multi-stakeholder partnerships.
• Experience in exhibitions, conferences, trade promotion, or sector programs is a strong advantage.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong consultative selling and high-level negotiation skills.
• Excellent proposal writing and ROI storytelling for sponsors.
• Ability to work autonomously and manage multiple high-value workstreams under deadlines.
• Strong stakeholder diplomacy with corporate, government, and development partners.
• Highly organized project execution and strong follow-through discipline.
• Confident presentation and relationship-building at executive level.
• Proficiency in CRM, reporting tools, and office productivity suites.

Required Skills

• Proposal writing.
• CRM & ERP Systems.
• Communication and negotiation.

Skills Required:

• Accounting / Finance
• Sales / Marketing / Business / Management