National Director of Sports & Venues

Company Description

National Director, Sports & Venue Program Management & Business Development

Position Overview

Turner & Townsend is seeking a highly connected and nationally recognized National Director, Sports & Venue Program Management & Business Development to lead the growth, strategy, pursuit, and delivery oversight of our Sports practice across the United States. This leadership role will serve as the national market leader for sports-related capital programs and projects, driving business development, client engagement, pursuit strategy, and collaboration across regional teams.

The National Director will be responsible for expanding Turner & Townsend's presence across professional sports, collegiate athletics, public assembly venues, mixed-use entertainment districts, training facilities, stadiums, arenas, and major event infrastructure projects. The successful candidate will leverage an established industry network and deep sector expertise to create opportunities, lead pursuits, develop winning proposals, and position Turner & Townsend as the premier program management partner within the sports industry.

This role requires a strategic leader who can unite internal resources, cultivate external partnerships, engage with C-suite client executives and ownership groups, and drive revenue growth nationally. In addition to driving business development and market growth, this leader will be expected to support the mobilization and setup of new client engagements, helping establish delivery teams, governance structures, project controls, reporting frameworks, and overall execution strategies. The role requires a balance of market-facing leadership and hands-on experience of program and project delivery to ensure successful project outcomes from pursuit through execution.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities

National Market Leadership

• Develop and execute the national Sports & Venue sector growth strategy aligned with Turner & Townsend's business objectives and Global Sports and Venues growth plan.
• Serve as the principal leader and advocate for the Sports& Venue market across all U.S. regions.
• Identify emerging trends, market opportunities, investment priorities, and client needs within professional sports, collegiate athletics, venue development, and sports entertainment.
• Collaborate with regional, national, and global leadership teams to establish market priorities, revenue targets, and growth strategies.
• Represent Turner & Townsend at industry conferences, trade organizations, league events, and key client meetings.

Business Development & Client Engagement

• Leverage an extensive network of sports owners, executives, athletic departments, venue operators, public agencies, developers, architects, contractors, and industry influencers to generate opportunities.
• Build and maintain executive-level relationships with professional sports teams, leagues, institutions, municipalities, developers, and venue ownership groups.
• Lead client development activities and direct engagement with prospective clients to position Turner & Townsend for future opportunities.
• Conduct executive presentations, strategic planning discussions, and market outreach efforts to secure new business.
• Develop account strategies for key clients and pursue long-term growth opportunities across multiple programs and projects.

Pursuit Leadership & Proposal Development

• Lead complex pursuits from opportunity identification through contract award.
• Develop capture strategies that maximize Turner & Townsend's competitive position.
• Assemble and lead pursuit teams consisting of internal subject matter experts, regional leaders, project executives, and external partners.
• Coordinate proposal development, interview preparation, presentation strategy, and client engagement activities.
• Define win themes, value propositions, staffing strategies, and delivery approaches for major pursuits.
• Oversee pursuit budgets, schedules, and proposal quality to ensure consistency and excellence.
• Mentor teams in pursuit best practices and business development methodologies.

Internal Collaboration & Team Integration

• Connect and align regional teams to create a unified national Sports practice, aligned with the Global Sports and Venues Leadership.
• Facilitate collaboration across Program Management, Project Management, Cost Management, Advisory, Controls, Scheduling, and Strategic Consulting teams.
• Identify and deploy the best resources nationally to support pursuits and project delivery.
• Create processes and governance that promote consistency, knowledge sharing, and operational excellence across regions.
• Serve as a bridge between executive leadership, regional operations, and client-facing teams.

Strategic Partnerships & External Team Building

• Develop strategic relationships with architects, engineers, contractors, technology providers, venue consultants, and specialty advisors.
• Build high-performing pursuit teams tailored to specific opportunities and clients.
• Establish partnerships that strengthen Turner & Townsend's ability to compete for major sports and entertainment developments.
• Evaluate market gaps and recommend strategic hires, partnerships, or acquisitions to strengthen the Sports practice.

Program & Project Leadership

• Support the startup and mobilization of major programs and engagements, including development of delivery approaches, governance models, staffing plans, reporting structures, project controls, and client onboarding strategies.
• Provide executive oversight and strategic direction on major sports programs and projects nationally.
• Act as senior advisor to project teams delivering stadiums, arenas, training facilities, mixed-use developments, and event-driven capital programs.
• Support project teams in navigating client challenges, executive stakeholder management, risk mitigation, and complex delivery issues.
• Ensure consistency in service delivery, client experience, and project performance across the portfolio.

Team Leadership & Market Development

• Mentor and develop emerging sports sector leaders throughout the organization.
• Support recruitment and retention of industry-leading talent.
• Promote a culture of collaboration, accountability, innovation, and client service excellence.
• Share industry knowledge, market intelligence, and best practices across the business.
• Establish performance metrics and growth objectives for the Sports market sector.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Architecture, Business, Real Estate, Sports Management, or a related discipline.
• 15+ years of progressive experience leading sports facility, sports development, venue, entertainment, or large-scale capital project programs.
• Demonstrated experience successfully delivering large-scale sports, venue, entertainment, or complex capital programs, with a strong understanding of project execution challenges and client expectations throughout the project lifecycle.
• Strong knowledge of the Sports and Entertainment sector, with an appreciation of key trends and market drivers. 
• Experience establishing and mobilizing new programs and client engagements, including development of delivery frameworks, governance structures, project controls, staffing strategies, and operational processes.
• Strong technical understanding of program management, project management, design, construction, scheduling, cost management, and project controls, with the ability to translate technical delivery requirements into effective client solutions and pursuit strategies.
• An established profile and presence in the sector with significant credibility generated from previous activity and delivery of related sports and entertainment projects and programs 
• Demonstrated success generating and winning new business within the sports and entertainment industry.
• Established national network of relationships across professional sports franchises, collegiate athletics, venue operators, developers, architects, contractors, and industry partners.
• Proven experience leading complex pursuits, proposals, interviews, and client presentations.
• Strong understanding of sports facility planning, development, design, construction, and operations.
• Experience working directly with ownership groups, athletic directors, commissioners, league representatives, team executives, and public-sector leaders.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
• Demonstrated ability to lead geographically diverse teams and national initiatives.
• Financial acumen with experience developing growth plans, forecasting revenue, and managing pursuit investments.
• Ability to travel nationally as required.

Additional Information

Success Measures

Within the first 12–24 months, the National Director will:

• Establish and execute a national Sports market growth strategy.
• Increase qualified opportunities and win rate across the Sports sector.
• Build a coordinated national pursuit and client development framework.
• Expand Turner & Townsend's visibility and brand presence within the sports industry.
• Strengthen relationships with key clients, leagues, owners, institutions, and development partners.
• Develop an integrated national network of internal and external resources supporting sports pursuits and delivery.
• Create a sustainable pipeline that drives consistent growth across all regions.

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It is strictly against Turner & Townsend policy for candidates to pay any fee in relation to our recruitment process. No recruitment agency working with Turner & Townsend will ask candidates to pay a fee at any time. 

Any unsolicited resumes/CVs submitted through our website or to Turner & Townsend personal e-mail accounts, are considered property of Turner & Townsend and are not subject to payment of agency fees. In order to be an authorised Recruitment Agency/Search Firm for Turner & Townsend, there must be a formal written agreement in place and the agency must be invited, by the Recruitment Team, to submit candidates for review.