Senior Operations and Partnerships Manager (1 year maternity cover)
Requirements
Candidates should have at least seven years of experience in operations, partnerships, innovation, promotions, or live events, with a strong understanding of high-quality, hospitality-led event delivery. They should be resourceful, effective at building local partnerships and strategic alliances, and committed to supporting a diverse creative community.
Job Description
ABOUT US
Sofar Sounds is a global community that connects artists and audiences through unique and intimate experiences. We bring people together to create space for discovery, community and connection in non-traditional, unexpected places across 78 countries and growing.
We are deeply passionate about the work we do. When we’re not working, you can probably find us at a live show or telling anyone in earshot about the new song we can’t stop listening to. Discovering and supporting artists gets us out of bed every morning – and knowing that we’re creating memorable, intimate fan experiences worldwide drives our work forward.
As the Senior Operations and Partnerships Manager for London, you will have three key objectives:
Develop and drive sponsorships and partnerships successfully end-to-end, from initial pitching to successful execution
Project Manager for our large event programme, and support everyday booking operations.
Help scale and improve operations of all of our Experiences, including supporting London’s independent event producers.
This is a 12 month partial maternity cover for the General Manager, starting Jan 1 and reporting into the VP Experiences, with an opportunity for successful candidates to extend their engagement. This is an incredible opportunity for people who are passionate about live events, customer experience, and building community.
Please note that this is a full-time role with annual bonus based on city performance targets. It requires on-call, night and weekend availability.
Partnerships:
Lead account management for our high profile sponsorships, partnerships and pitch potential partners and sponsors, driving additional revenue for the London P&L
Grow our corporate events business in London, building out our preferred supplier list to be able to offer a “full service” corporate event
Large Event programme:
Drive forward our large event programme, ensuring they are executed to the highest standard and generate high revenue and profit margin. Work closely with our Senior Marketing Manager on the programme’s positioning and USP’s.
Build relationships with partners (venues, artists, bookers) to be able to deliver these large format events
Manage all staffing requirements, leading a team of contractors and recruiting freelancers to deliver the event
Operational excellence:
Be a leader within the team to drive forward Sofar London’s Live Event portfolio and hit our revenue targets.
Work with our independent event producers to deliver new event formats, concepts and locations for Sofar that grow our market share, looking to continuously improve operations to create a best-in-class customer experience
In collaboration with the Bookings and Operations Coordinator manage all gear and supplies, ensuring our teams have the equipment needed to execute each show safely and efficiently
Team management:
Oversee a diverse and inclusive Crew/Intern hiring, onboarding, training, management and mentoring process in your city
In collaboration with the Bookings and Operations Coordinator, ensure all events are properly staffed, managing communications and proactively coordinating substitutions when necessary, and approving time cards
During the mat cover, you will also oversee London’s booking team and share responsibility with the Senior Marketing Manager to run meetings.
You have 7+ years of experience in operations, partnerships, innovation, promotions, and/or live events.
You know what it takes to create a high quality event, grounded in principles of hospitality first and foremost.
You are resourceful and driven – whether it’s figuring out how to creatively sell tickets or dealing with a live event curveball, you know how to get things done and thrive on the challenge.
You have a strong pulse on your city, the unique nature of each neighborhood, and where people like to spend their free time.
You know how to connect with diverse community-driven organizations, media partners, or local businesses that would add strategic value to the work we are doing in your city
You understand how to promote and build strategic alliances that will ultimately sell more tickets at our shows.
You’re able to effectively communicate learnings, strategic recommendations, and feedback to your peers and partners.
You have a deep and demonstrated commitment to supporting a vibrant and diverse creative community in your city.
If our mission and job opening resonate, you're encouraged to apply even if your experience doesn't precisely match the job description. We are committed to creating a culture of belonging and building a diverse team that reflects a variety of lived experiences, perspectives, and skills.
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.
Please note that this is a full-time role with quarterly bonus based on city performance targets.
This is a hybrid position, with at least two days per week in our Old Street office.
Skills
About Sofar Sounds
Sofar is a global community reimagining the art of live experiences—turning unconventional spaces into intimate showcases for local grassroots art and culture. Born in a London flat in 2009, Sofar began as an answer to a growing problem: live music had lost its magic. It blossomed into a global movement that kept music at its heart while expanding to comedy, dating, food & drink, dance, and more—all connected by Sofar’s renowned track record for discovering rising talent. Countless mainstage performers like Billie Eilish, Jack Harlow, Chappell Roan, Leon Bridges, YEBBA, Teddy Swims, Remi Wolf, Hozier, and Lola Young have played Sofar shows early in their careers. In the past four years alone, Sofar alumni have earned 129 Grammy nominations and 21 wins. Each Sofar show is one-of-a-kind due to the surprising pairing of live experiences with unconventional spaces. Sofar has hosted shows in caves; churches; hidden museum rooms; private living rooms, gardens, and rooftops; a ski jump tower; countless boats, ships, and catamarans; a toy shop; a wax museum; and many other delightful places. With a network of over 10,000 venues and tens of thousands of extraordinary emerging artists, Sofar creates live performances in spaces that reflect the soul of neighborhoods and cities. Past partners include 20th Century Fox, Anheuser-Busch, Arc'teryx, Delta, Focus Features, Ford, Lexus, Lyft, Pernod Ricard, Sierra Nevada, Showtime, Sony, Visa, and many others.
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