Director of Partnerships (m/w/d)

Fotografiska, the photography museum, is the Home of Contemporary Culture. Founded in Stockholm, in late 2019 the Museum opened a treasured, historic landmark building in NYC’s Flatiron District. The iconic Stockholm and NYC locations are complemented by expansion in Tallinn, and a forthcoming Berlin location. Fotografiska Berlin is slated to open on 14th of September and located at Oranienburger Strasse 54 inside a unique historic and cultural landmark and home to an unexpected mix of world-class art, vibrant cultural programming, and exceptional dining experiences.

Fotografiska’s goals are simple: to build a more conscious world through the power of photography, to bring people together, raise awareness and inspire new perspectives.

The Role

Fotografiska Berlin’s Director of Partnerships is a creative, well-connected and strategic salesperson responsible for building, maintaining and growing lasting, meaningful, impactful, and business-relevant partnerships with brands and organizations. The Director of Partnerships will be responsible for driving revenue to Fotografiska Berlin via developing strong partnership concepts and models, pitching, securing, and executing partnerships that span sponsorships, brand-partnerships and other revenue-generating opportunities.

The Director of Partnerships identifies partnership and brand-collaboration opportunities, creates a partnership pipeline and connects with respective companies to start, cultivate, maintain and grow relationships. The Director of Partnerships plans, develops, and implements effective strategies to corporations in support of Fotografiska, through either corporate sponsorship/brand partnerships (of museum, exhibitions, programming), or corporate memberships.

Part of this role is conducting market research, negotiating contracts, and driving the entire partnership development process with communications and project management. The Director of Partnerships will negotiate agreements with partners and execute projects end-to-end. The Director of Partnerships will identify new business opportunities for Fotografiska Berlin to create value and maintain strong cultural credibility and relevance throughout every initiative.

The Director of Partnerships is expected to graciously manage and innovate through ambiguity and will need to be excited by taking on greenfield projects. Fotografiska is, in many ways, a start-up and is unique on the Berlin cultural landscape as a privately held and for-profit institution.

The Director of Partnerships will generate robust local sponsorship sales, and be responsible for taking the lead on Fotografiska Berlin clients relationships that compliment the Fotografiska’s global Partnerships – while also building local awareness and supporting key Fotografiska brand values.

The Partnership director will initiate and drive meaningful, impactful, and business-relevant partnerships and other revenue-generating opportunities with brands and organizations.

In our unique position at the intersection of photography, arts & culture we can complement these partnerships with content production & event documentation, liaising with artist, curatorial services, experience design, community involvement and accompany our partners in communicating their efforts through pr, media partnerships and media buying strategies.

The position requires a highly developed network of senior contacts in the DACH & Western Europe region ranging across a variety of industries from automotive, luxury, consumer technology, food & beverage, finance, tourism & trade.

Responsibilities

• Drive partnerships from start to finish, leading on market research, database development, outreach, client development, negotiation, and contract delivery.
• Manage B2B client relationships, executing and project managing while involving the relevant teams.
• Regularly meet and collaborate with leadership to meet annual sales goals, determining changes to sales tactics or offerings in tandem.
• Develop and execute annual strategy as approved by the ED/GM and Global VP.
• Work closely with Global VP and other regional counterparts to identify and action opportunities in the region and cross-share commercial opportunities
• Work closely with Global Partnerships & Business Development team to facilitate both, globally and locally led, revenue-generating partnership opportunities.
• Regularly vet exchange of opportunities with Global Partnerships, local Private Events and B2C Memberships, as relevant.
• Collaborate with the Global team to manage global partnership deliverables when it pertains to activities.
• Work with Director of Events to ensure coordination and production of corporate events as part of annual corporate membership with a focus on quality while maximizing profitability.
• Work with Director of Events to promote annual corporate membership to existing corporate event clients and incoming enquiries for individual events.
• Work with Director of Community and Membership to identify existing or potential corporate members and incorporate corporate member programs into membership calendar, when appropriate.
• Ensure smooth handover of events to the internal production teams, through the life cycle of the membership.
• Maintain accurate and up to date P&L for reporting to executive teams and quarterly reconciliation.
• Partner with the Events, F&B, Membership, Programming, Marketing and Retail teams to insure the partnerships compliments existing relationships and activations in the building.
• Work with Marketing team to ensure partnerships and sponsors are integrated into museum communications strategy.

Requirements

• 5-10 years of evidenced experience of client management and relationship-building skills via partnerships/sponsorship, product marketing, and/or business development
• Demonstrable project management skills founded up on an appreciation for the power of exceptional organizational, communication, diplomacy + persuasion, and an eye for detail
• Experience in client-facing positions with a great attention to detail and strong analytical skills
• Capability to independently follow-up leads coming out of our network and community to establish valuable partnership
• Ability to objectively assess potential partners on their compatibility with our values at Fotografiska
• Strong knowledge of commercial trends and the Berlin cultural landscape
• Ability to lead cross-functional partnership briefings, collaborating with diverse teams to build comprehensive plans
• Strong self-starting character with the ability to move projects forward independently and autonomously
• Proficient in managing complex selling engagements and a basic/developing understanding of contract
• Highly developed network of senior contacts in the DACH & Wesetern Europe regions ranging across a variety of industries from automotive, luxury, consumer technology, food & beverage, finance, tourism & trade.
• Occasional travel for high-level meetings and to key industry events
• Proven networking capabilities, specifically in lifestyle, luxury, cultural and associated industries
• Experience in establishing long-lasting and sustainable connections with existing partners
• Some knowledge of hospitality and production
• Ability to self-manage and prioritize deadlines
• A bias towards working at the pace of an agency with the care and attention of an in-house marketing + brand team to brand-focused storytelling
• Willingness to work a variable schedule, including weekends and evenings when needed.
• Comfort in navigating Microsoft Office programs, hubspot and Monday.com
• Profiency in English and in German

Fotografiska is open to a variety of educational, professional, and training backgrounds in support of the role

Benefits

All of our employees benefit from great and well developed benefits:

• Company Pension Plan
• Company Health Insurance with an annual health budget for 13 high-quality services
• Choice between a mobility subsidy and a food subsidy
• Paid Time Off
• Training & Development Opportunities
• Hybrid Work Environment

As Fotografiska Berlin develops, the existing benefits roster is set to expand - more to come!