Senior Manager – Sponsorship sales
Reporting to: VP - Strategy & Global Business Development
Division: India'
s Biggest Global Film Festival award show
Department: Sales & Marketing
Location: Mumba
Role Summary
The Senior Manager – Sponsorship sales is a critical, revenue-driving role responsible for designing, pitching, and executing a brand-first sponsorship strategy across the entire ecosystem of India's Biggest Global Film Festival award show. Reporting directly to the VP, this role will own the complete sponsorship lifecycle—from hunting new C-suite leads and building long-term corporate relationships to organically integrating partners using creativity and new technology. A primary focus will be commercializing the premier properties of India's Biggest Global Film Festival award show alongside its rapidly expanding, year-round non-award Intellectual Properties (IPs), such as executive networking forums and dedicated digital podcast channels.
✅ Key Responsibilities
1. Revenue Generation & Deal Closure
- Target Achievement: Achieve and exceed annual sponsorship revenue targets across the awards ceremonies, digital channels, and specialized brand extensions of India's Biggest Global Film Festival award show.
- C-Suite Engagement: Target, approach, and pitch directly to CXOs, Marketing Heads, and Brand Managers across diverse corporate sectors.
- End-to-End Sales: Run comprehensive sales processes, including aggressive lead generation, prospecting, high-stakes negotiation, contract structuring, and deal closures.
2. Portfolio & IP Commercialization
- Year-Round Monetization: Monetize continuous engagement platforms beyond the main awards night, focusing heavily on growing revenue for year-round executive networking events and the platform's digital podcast IPs.
- Multi-Platform Bundling: Package multi-platform sponsorship offerings that maximize partner visibility across on-ground events, social media, and digital broadcast channels.
- Custom Concept Design: Architect customized, data-driven partnership concepts specifically tailored to meet diverse brand marketing objectives.
3. Organic Brand Integration & Customer Success
- Creative Collaboration: Partner closely with creative and digital teams to ensure sponsors are integrated organically using technology, storytelling, and experiential innovations.
- Account Custodianship: Act as the primary guardian of partner experiences, ensuring all on-ground branding, content integration, and experiential deliverables are flawlessly executed.
- ROI Tracking: Measure campaign performance and build comprehensive post-event impact reports to clearly demonstrate Return on Investment (ROI) and secure high multi-year renewal rates.
4. Strategic Account Management
- Relationship Building: Pivot the sales approach away from short-term transactions toward building high-value, multi-year, long-term brand relationships.
- Pipeline Management: Maintain a highly organized, accurately forecasted sales pipeline using CRM systems.
- Collateral Development: Build compelling, premium marketing collateral, pitch decks, and commercial proposals in alignment with the premium narrative of India's Biggest Global Film Festival award show.
Candidate Profile
Experience & Education
- Education: Graduate in any discipline (an MBA/PGDM in Sales & Marketing is a strong advantage).
- Experience: 12+ years of proven experience in B2B sponsorship sales, corporate partnerships, experiential marketing, or media ad-sales.
- Target Industries: Large-scale Events, Entertainment/Media Agencies, Intellectual Properties (IPs), Sports Marketing, or B2B Exhibition/Conference platforms.
Core Skills & Understanding
- Established Network: Strong network and established access to corporate brand managers, media planners, and C-suite decision-makers across India.
- Communication Mastery: Elite negotiation, presentation, and storytelling capabilities with the ability to articulate premium brand value propositions.
- Modern Marketing Fluency: Solid understanding of digital-first brand building, social media integrations, and tech-driven experiential marketing.
- Execution Agility: Strategic mindset balanced with a hands-on execution attitude to thrive under tight, high-pressure event timelines.
Required Mindset
- Commercial Drive: Commercially sharp with a deep sense of ownership, personal accountability, and target-driven motivation.
- High Emotional Intelligence: Calm, professional demeanour with an ability to manage multiple brand stakeholders and handle high-stakes complexity smoothly without ego.
- Cultural Alignment: Passionate about entertainment, pop culture, media trends, and brand integration.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Sponsorship Revenue Achieved vs. Assigned Commercial Targets
- New Business Conversion Rate & Multi-Year Renewal/Retention Percentage
- Revenue Growth of Non-Award IPs (Networking platforms, Podcasts, Digital activations)
- Pipeline Value and Proposal-to-Closure Ratio managed within the CRM
- Sponsor Satisfaction & Flawless Execution of agreed-upon deliverables