Vice President of Business Development - North America

Description

The IRONMAN Group operates a global portfolio of events that includes the IRONMAN® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN® 70.3® Triathlon Series, 5150™ Triathlon Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll® Running Series, IRONKIDS®, World Triathlon Championship Series, Epic Series™ mountain bike races including the Absa Cape Epic®, road cycling events including UTMB®, and other multisport races.

The IRONMAN Group is the largest operator of mass participation sports in the world and provides more than a million participants annually with the benefits of endurance sports through the company’s vast offerings. Since the inception of the iconic IRONMAN® brand and its first event in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE® by crossing finish lines around the world. Beginning as a single race, The IRONMAN Group has grown to become a global sensation with hundreds of events across 55+ countries. For more information about The IRONMAN Group visit: www.ironman.com. 

At The IRONMAN Group, our mission is to celebrate the power of the human spirit, fulfill dreams and uplift communities by organizing world-class events and extraordinary VIP athletic experiences, globally. We accomplish this through our amazing staff across the globe who are committed to our core values - Heart, Excellence, Ambition, Respect and Teamwork (HEART).

Context:
The IRONMAN Group operates a global portfolio of events and brands across four sport verticals that are Triathlon (IRONMAN Series), Trail Running (UTMB World Series), Road Running (Rock’n’Roll Running Series), and Mountain Bike (Epic Series). Each vertical is at a different stage of development and presents various types of growth opportunities. The IRONMAN Group is hiring a Vice-President of Business Development to spearhead expansion strategy across North America through Series and Events. 

Role Summary:
Reporting to the Chief Business Officer with a dotted line to the Regional Managing Director, the VP of Business Development will play a pivotal role in growing The IRONMAN Group scope and scale in the region by securing new events through creation or acquisition for the existing series in accordance with the Annual Operating Plan (AOP) and the Long-Range Plan (LRP).

This position will work cross-functionally with teams including Data & Analytics, Marketing, Operations, and regional leadership in order to identify and develop opportunities. The VP of BD will also work with the Finance and Legal teams to develop and validate individual event business plans and to secure Executive and Board approval as the case maybe.

The VP of BD will be analyzing market trends, registration demand, consumer behavior in order to define countries/regional opportunities and targets. Ultimately, the VP of BD will rely on strategic thinking, analytical skills, relationship building and negotiating skills.

Responsibilities include:

• Portfolio Growth Strategy: The IRONMAN Group has experienced growth often through opportunity-driven rather than strategic and proactive outreach. Responsibilities include development and implementation of a strategic growth plan for the IRONAMN and UTMB WS event portfolio, using a rationalized and data-based approach. This includes identifying priority markets, event format to market fit, avoiding cannibalization, setting ambitious targets, and developing a comprehensive commercial strategy and set of tools.
• Target identification: Conduct market (regions / countries / cities), consumer (demographics / behaviors / cohorts), and business assessments (portfolio / events performance / competitors / feeder events/markets and trajectory) using internal data, market research, and feedback from athletes, key partners and local teams in order to define a strategic road map for growth. 
• Strategic Road Map: Map and assess potential growth strategies by region / event (expansions, relocations, consolidations, operating models, revenue opportunities, etc.),
  establish priorities and targets, allocate development budgets, and align the organization on strategy.
• Playbook creation: Create commercial tools to support regional teams in development efforts including rate card, state of the art decks in partnership with BI and Marketing teams.
• Negotiations and approvals: Secure directly and/or support regional teams to secure new events including negotiations of HVA. Responsible for managing the approval process for any new events in the region working with finance and legal teams. Approval to be provided by Executive team and/or Board depending on investment thresholds.
• Performance Reporting: Develop KPIs and d