Senior Manager, Entertainment & Sports Relations
Job Description:
- Cultivates, manages, and grows long-term relationships with key contacts in the entertainment and sports industries to create meaningful wish fulfillment opportunities.
- Provides mentorship, direction, and performance management to direct reports; align team goals with national strategy and departmental priorities.
- Acts as a liaison between celebrity representatives, media partners, sports franchises, agents, and Make-A-Wish chapters and global affiliates to coordinate and facilitate wishes.
- Plans and executes highly curated, high-touch experiences involving public figures, ensuring alignment with brand values and organizational protocols.
- Collaborates with internal Make-A-Wish America and chapter/affiliate teams and external stakeholders to deliver consistent, exceptional experiences for wish families and partners.
- Secures in-kind and cash support from celebrity partners including tickets, souvenirs, merchandise, experiences, etc.in support of ESR team revenue goal of 1M+ annually.
- Maintains and supports decision making and solutioning in the Salesforce database, used for tracking wishes, celebrity account information, and communication workflows.
- Collaborates with Director to create and disseminate updated resources, toolkits, and best practices for chapters engaging with celebrities or coordinating wish experiences.
- Represents Make-A-Wish at high-visibility events and wish experiences (virtually or in person) as needed to ensure seamless execution and high-standard relationship management.
- Works with internal and external teams to gather stories and visuals from wish experiences for potential media and promotional use, obtaining all necessary approvals and releases.
- Collaborates with Make-A-Wish PR team and senior leadership to manage crisis communications involving celebrities or celebrity-related wishes, ensuring compassionate, timely, and mission-aligned messaging that protects the integrity and reputation of the organization.
- Acts as a subject matter expert for designated industry and relationships, and stewarding those gift relationships in partnership with the revenue team.
- Secures local volunteers and celebrity wish hosts to support events and/or wish fulfillments where personal attendance is not feasible.
- and maintains celebrity and talent contact profiles within the database.
- Performs other job-related duties and special projects as assigned.
Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in communications, Public Relations, Marketing, or related field preferred.
- Minimum of 5+ years of experience in the sports or entertainment industry or equivalent experience, including project and complex high-impact event management and talent/brand relations.
- Minimum 3 years of people leadership experience.
- Experience in nonprofit or cause-related organizations is a strong plus.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite; Salesforce experience highly preferred.
- Experience working in a distributed or remote-first team environment is a plus.
Benefits:
- Comprehensive benefit package, effective day 1: Medical, Vision*, Dental*, Wellness
- Competitive compensation with annual incentive potential
- Health Savings Account and Flexible Spending Account Options
- Health Reimbursement Account fully funded by Make-A-Wish America
- Short Term Disability*, Long Term Disability* and Life Insurance
- Additional Insurance Plans: Accident, Critical Illness, Hospital Indemnity, Pet Insurance through Figo
- 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan with 5% match after one year of service
- Eligibility for student loan forgiveness through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
- The organization will send a laptop, 24” monitor, and a docking station/adaptor to new hires
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