POSITION TITLE: Sr. Manager, Partnerships
DEPARTMENT: Partnerships
REPORTS TO: Director, Partnerships
POSITION LOCATION: Indianapolis, IN
FLSA STATUS: Exempt
WORKER CATEGORY: Full-Time
COMPANY SUMMARY:
Penske Entertainment is a leading provider of world-class sports and entertainment. The organization consists of three prominent entities:
- Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the world’s largest spectator sporting facility and annually hosts the world’s most prestigious auto race: the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
- INDYCAR is the Indianapolis-based governing body for North America's premier open-wheel auto racing series, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, and its developmental series, INDY NXT by Firestone.
- IMS Productions is a multifaceted broadcast and multimedia division that helps bring INDYCAR and IMS events to life for global audiences.
The Penske Entertainment experience is fast-paced, diverse, and impactful. Through its business units, the organization reaches audiences on an international scale, focused on delivering exceptional experience from start to finish. Employees of Penske Entertainment are challenged daily in a demanding, yet rewarding environment that is best suited for dedicated professionals who want to reach their ultimate potential amid the excitement, tradition, and pageantry of the World’s Greatest Race Course and the premier open-wheel racing series.
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Sr. Manager, Partnerships is responsible for designing and executing innovative partner marketing strategies to maximize activation and advertising opportunities tied to INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) programs. This role focuses on delivering exceptional value to partners, ensuring top-tier customer service to drive sponsorship renewals, and acting as the primary liaison
between Penske Entertainment and assigned corporate partners. The Sr. Manager ensures seamless communication of organizational updates to partners and fulfills all contractual deliverables. Internally, this role collaborates across departments—including marketing, sales, operations, and leadership—to align priorities and elevate the partner experience.
SPECIFIC DUTIES:
- Partner with the Partnerships and Sales team to deliver on sponsorship commitments and enhance Penske Entertainment’s obligations to its partners.
- Define, track, and achieve partner-specific goals to maintain, expand, and renew partnerships, leveraging data-driven insights and KPIs.
- Build deep, trust-based relationships with partners by understanding their business objectives, industries, and motorsport goals.
- Stay ahead of industry trends (e.g., digital activation, immersive media, sustainability in sports) to propose cutting-edge solutions that enhance partner value.
- Collaborate with partners to optimize their INDYCAR/IMS assets, co-developing creative activation programs that align with both sponsor and Penske Entertainment objectives.
For each assigned partner, demonstrate expertise in:
- How they generate revenue and deliver stakeholder value.
- Their specific goals for partnering with INDYCAR/IMS and how these fit into their broader motorsport or marketing strategies.
- Their methods for evaluating partnership ROI and success.
- Proposing strategic plans to boost brand visibility, product promotion, or sales through tailored marketing initiatives.
- Crafting consumer engagement concepts and co-marketing campaigns.
- Facilitating B2B connections with other INDYCAR/IMS partners to unlock new business opportunities.
- Identifying and presenting upsell opportunities aligned with partner strategies.
- Foster collaboration with internal teams (Sales, Marketing, Operations, and INDYCAR Series staff) to align priorities, streamline communication, and achieve shared goals.
- Coordinate logistics, support, and on-site services for sponsor personnel during INDYCAR Series events, ensuring a premium experience.
- Perform additional duties as assigned by the supervisor.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Education
- Bachelor’s degree in sales, marketing, business management, or equivalent experience.
Skills/Experience
- A minimum of four to six years of professional experience in the sports, entertainment or related industry is required.
- The person selected for this position should be a proactive, efficient, flexible, resilient, organized, team player. Specific skills include:
- Strong organizational and time management skills.
- Demonstrated ability to multi-task and prioritize in a fast-paced environment. Proven ability to handle pressure.
- Effective communication and relationship-building skills.
- Highly motivated and resourceful self-starter with a positive attitude.
- Superior customer service skills and service philosophy.
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- Commitment to working with people from diverse backgrounds and commitment to cultural competency.
- Ability to uphold and consistently demonstrate the Penske Entertainment Standards.
Travel/Work Hours/Flexibility
- General office hours are Monday – Friday, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm.
- Longer hours and weekends required for the Month of May and other major racing events.
- Penske Entertainment acknowledges that the need for flexibility varies across all companies/departments and is not best addressed by a one-size-fits-all flexible work policy. As such, the company encourages supervisors to work with their employees to leverage flexibility as needed to support a healthy balance
- 40% Travel
PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.
- Must be able to see and hear in the normal range with or without correction and communicate verbally and in written form with great facility and must be able to be understood.
- Must have the stamina to work long hours and must be willing to work an irregular schedule, which may include weekends or evenings.
- Occasional work outdoors requires physical strength and stamina to endure extreme heat, cold, rain and other conditions.
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- Work is performed in both an office environment and outdoors, and in close proximity to other workers.
- Employee will be exposed to those conditions normally encountered in a business office environment.
- Employee is faced with frequent interruptions and must meet with others on a regular basis.
- The noise level in the work environment can be loud, due to professional racing events
COMPANY BENEFITS:
Full-time employees enjoy a very competitive benefit package. Benefits include: Medical (including tax-advantaged Health Savings Account), Dental, Vision, 401(k) with 100% company match up to 5%, Paid Vacation, Personal & Sick Days, 12 Paid Holidays, Company Paid Life Insurance, Pet Insurance, Tuition Assistance, Short-Term & Long-Term Disability, Generous Paid Parental Leave, On-site Workout Facility, and more.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER:
Penske Entertainment provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. The Company complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location where the company has facilities and/or events.
