2 days ago
Partnership Activation & Strategy Manager
Busey
Champaign, IL (On-site)Full time$80K/yr – $115K/yr
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Partnership Activation & Strategy Manager
Champaign, IL (On-site)
$80K/yr – $115K/yrManager5+ years expFull time
Posted 2 days ago
Job Summary
Own and drive collegiate athletic partnerships and strategic collaborations, acting as the primary liaison with universities, media rights partners, and other stakeholders while shaping activation programs and measuring impact.
- Own partnership strategy and activation across in-venue, digital, social, and event channels.
- Collaborate with marketing, commercial, wealth, and retail teams to leverage assets and deepen client relationships.
Job Description
Responsibilities
- Own and execute the strategy for collegiate athletic partnerships and additional strategic partnerships
- Serve as primary liaison with collegiate athletics partnerships, media rights partners and other key external stakeholders.
- Identify and develop new partnership opportunities, including NIL initiatives, athlete collaborations, and experiential activations.
- Ensure all sponsorship assets are fully leveraged and aligned to Busey’s business objectives.
- Plan and execute integrated marketing activations across in-venue, digital, social, and event channels.
- Partner with internal marketing teams to develop campaigns that enhance brand awareness and fan engagement.
- Coordinate game-day presence, hospitality programs, and experiential marketing efforts.
- Maintain consistent and impactful brand representation across all partnership touchpoints.
- Leverage the partnership to support new business generation and deepen existing client relationships.
- Partner with commercial, wealth, and retail teams to activate opportunities tied to athletics events and networks.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Sports Management, or a related field required.
- 5+ years of experience in sponsorships, partnerships, sports marketing, or brand activation.
- Proven experience managing and activating high-value partnerships.
- Experience working within collegiate athletics, media rights organizations, or NIL environments strongly preferred.
Preferred
- Familiarity with the collegiate athletic ecosystems is a plus.
Benefits
- Busey’s Total Rewards include a competitive benefits package offering 401(k) match, profit sharing, employee stock purchase plan, paid time off, medical, dental, vision, company-paid life insurance and long-term disability, supplemental voluntary life insurance, short-term and long-term disability, wellness incentives and an employee assistance program. In addition, eligible associates may take advantage of pre-tax health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts. Visit Busey Total Rewards for more information.
Busey
3.7 Glassdoor
As of June 30, 2025, First Busey Corporation (Nasdaq: BUSE) was a $18.92 billion financial holding company headquartered in Leawood, Kansas.With more than 157 years of strength and service, Busey provides expert advice and tailored solutions. Busey Bank currently has 78 banking centers, with 21 in Central Illinois markets, 17 in suburban Chicago markets, 20 in the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area, four in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, three in the Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area, three in Southwest Florida, one in Indianapolis, two in Oklahoma City, one in Tulsa, one in Wichita, one in Denver, one in Colorado Springs, one in Phoenix, one in Tucson, and one in New Mexico. For more information on our products and services—or to find your closest Busey location or ATM—visit busey.com today.Building Business. Growing Wealth. Since 1868. Busey Bank.Through Busey’s Wealth Management division, the Company provides a full range of asset management, investment, brokerage, fiduciary, philanthropic advisory, tax preparation, and farm management services to individuals, businesses, and foundations. Assets under care totaled $14.10 billion as of June 30, 2025. More information about Busey’s Wealth Management services can be found at busey.com/wealth-management. More information about Busey’s Wealth Management services can be found at busey.com/wealthmanagement.For the first time, Busey was named among the World’s Best Banks for 2024 by Forbes, earning a spot on the list among 68 U.S. banks and 403 banks worldwide.
Founded in 1946
Champaign, Illinois, USA
1.9K employees (39 in marketing)
61% recommend to a friend
85% CEO approval
Salaries
Posted range
$80K/yr – $115K/yr
Taken straight from the job posting.
Marketing Team
Marketing Team Size
32 (2% of company)
Median Career Experience
14 years
Median Tenure
7 years
Marketing Roles Posted (Last 30 Days)
2
Funding
Total Funding
$200M
Last Raise
$200M
Post IPO Equity, 10 months ago
Funding History
- May 2025Post IPO Equity • $200M
Traffic Signals
Monthly Visitors
312.1K
Traffic Source Mix
Search
28.6%
Direct
66.7%
Referral
3.8%
Social
0.7%
Paid
0.2%
Headcount Trend
Current headcount: ~1.9K