Fractional Director of Business Development [Corporate Partnerships and Live Events]

HOW TO APPLY: Please send your resume and a brief note outlining your relevant experience to [email protected]. Applications submitted through Indeed will not be reviewed.

Overview

Esther Perel Global Media (EPGM), which supports Esther Perel’s vision to improve the quality of human relationships worldwide, is looking to hire a consultant to lead strategy and business development for live events and corporate partnerships. This role reports directly to Esther’s CEO and will oversee the end-to-end business development strategy for acquiring live event clients and corporate partners. This person will work in close collaboration with the head of content to define narrative and content strategy for Esther’s live talks and thought leadership, and will ultimately be responsible for Esther Perel brand positioning in the live events and partnerships verticals. The company’s associate producer, who runs point on all speaking production, will also be a close collaborator for this role. This consultant has extensive experience with thought leaders, and is skilled at managing both direct business development lines and as a talent agency partner. This role will be tasked with closing live events contracts in close collaboration with our legal team, and serving as a client relationship lead alongside our production team through execution.

Responsibilities

Strategy

• Own the strategic and operational management of EPGM’s corporate speaking business, balancing commercial priorities with the protection and elevation of EPGM’s brand reputation as a relationship-driven company
• Act as the strategic owner of Esther’s influence in the speaking and live events space, ensuring each engagement advances both commercial goals and the broader cultural impact of her work
• Partner with EPGM’s head of content to develop a speaking content strategy that can be easily pitched and commercialized
• Ensure all external corporate speaking engagements are commercially sound and thoughtfully structured to deliver highest quality content and experience to clients and partners
• Advise CEO on any corporate partnership terms and serve as an on-the-ground representative to advise CEO on any opportunities to close multitouch, multimedia partnership deals, advisory extensions, or recurring client engagements off the back of our corporate speaking and live events arm
• Own opportunity grid for both speaking and corporate partnership development, including evaluation of such criteria as market demand, opportunity fit, audience relevance, topic alignment, revenue potential, and brand value
• Identify opportunities for personal attendance, CEO attendance and/or Esther attendance at any summits, conferences, festivals, or other opportunities throughout the year to drive business development forward

Management & Oversight

• Work with our CEO and CFO to project and then manage the corporate speaking and partnerships P&L, maintaining strong profit margins while advocating for the staffing, systems, and resources required to deliver a white-glove experience for six-figure clients. Budget and Projection accountability.
• Hitting and ideally exceeding business targets
• Reporting out on results: engagement impact to the overall brand, reach, etc.
• Serve as a business vertical lead for the internal team supporting corporate speaking, ensuring clear roles, consistent process, strong communication, and high-quality execution.
• Manage talent capacity and speaking cadence, ensuring speaking engagements are booked at a sustainable pace that reflects Esther’s bandwidth, preparation needs, travel realities, and broader business priorities.
• Serve as a senior advisor to talent, providing strategic guidance on which opportunities to accept, how to structure and sequence them, how to scaffold engagement models, and when to decline.
• Quickly and accurately triage inbound opportunities, distinguishing qualified leads from unqualified, low-priority, or strategically misaligned requests.
• Channel qualified opportunities through the appropriate internal and external pathways, ensuring timely follow-up, clear ownership, and disciplined pipeline management.
• Ensure unqualified leads receive prompt, gracious, and brand-aligned declines that preserve goodwill while protecting team capacity.
• Engage directly with select qualified leads to optimize commercial and strategic terms, including fee, format, topic, exclusivity, timing, travel requirements, and preparation expectations before passing along to external partners.

External Management

• Own and uphold EPGM’s external brand voice and experience with corporate clients, ensuring the EPGM team represents as a sophisticated strategic and operational partner.
• Act as the liaison for our talent agency, providing “internal” oversight as they move through speaking or event negotiation
• Act as the business development partner for our legal team to communicate desired talent and brand terms and help walk contracting over the finish line when necessary
• Supports the Associate Producer wherever requested on client preparation and event execution, ensuring every touchpoint reflects the caliber of the EPGM brand

Qualifications & Requirements

• 8+ years in a business development and/or strategy role
• Experience working with talent agencies and partners
• Experience working closely with a public figure a must
• Experience managing live-event production preferred
• Natural leader: discreet, discerning, proactive, collaborative, motivated, thoughtful
• Strong work ethic: proactive and action-oriented, consistent, reliable, and with impeccable attention to detail
• Adaptable: can handle shifting priorities and learn quickly

Please Note: This position is structured as a fractional consulting engagement compensated via a monthly retainer. Compensation will be discussed with candidates based on experience, scope of work, availability, and the final engagement structure. Pay: $4,000.00 - $6,000.00 per month Work Location: Remote Apply tot his job Apply To this Job