Jobs (Edmonton): Strategic Partnerships Officer – Fringe Theatre, Theater News

Position Type: Permanent, Full Time (40 hours/week)
Compensation: $46,500 + commensurate benefits
Reports To: Director of Development
Anticipated Start Date: February, 2026

Is it you we’re looking for?
You’re the kind of creative, strategic, relationship-focused professional who can steward 50+ sponsors and community partners while dreaming up new ideas that help our charitable organization shine. You thrive on meeting deadlines, think quickly on your feet, and build partnerships rooted in trust, clarity, and shared values.

You’re a skilled communicator with a marketing mindset and a flair for activation. You can spot opportunities, craft compelling pitches, negotiate with confidence, and deliver high-impact sponsor experiences that strengthen Fringe Theatre’s financial sustainability and community presence.

If you love people, partnership-building, and playing a key role in a vibrant arts ecosystem, this is your stage.

Overview
The Strategic Partnerships Officer leads Fringe Theatre’s corporate sponsorship and strategic partnership portfolio. This position oversees full-cycle sponsor and partner development from prospecting and negotiation to activation, stewardship, and renewal.

You will steward more than 50 sponsorships and partnerships annually, ensuring each relationship is meaningful, mutually beneficial, aligned with Fringe Theatre’s values, and contributes to organizational revenue and community impact.

This role requires exceptional communication skills, strategic thinking, autonomy, and the ability to drive partnerships from concept to execution. This role is responsible for the full cycle and health of Fringe Theatre’s sponsorships and partnerships, including prospecting, negotiation, onboarding, stewardship, reporting, and renewal. It is a highly visible, externally-facing position with direct impact on the organization’s financial sustainability.

Key Responsibilities

Sponsorship Strategy & Portfolio Leadership
– Lead the development, negotiation, delivery, and evaluation of sponsorship agreements;
– Actively steward more than 50 corporate sponsors, strategic partnerships, community collaborators, and activation partners;
– Identify new partnership opportunities and prospect potential sponsors and partners whose values align with Fringe Theatre;
– Collaborate with the Development Director and Executive Director on strategy, goals, and agreements; and
– Maintain sponsorship decks, asset matrices, market valuations, and reporting frameworks.

Sponsor Engagement & Relationship Management
– Build meaningful, value-aligned relationships with sponsors, partners, prospects, community champions, and key relationship groups;
– Plan and execute sponsor and partner stewardship activities, including tailored communications, recognition, and impact reporting;
– Support sponsor and partner cultivation and stewardship events, including event concepting, logistics, guest engagement, and follow-up; and
– Collaborate with the Finance Department to monitor and administer sponsor and partner agreements, track sponsor and partner records, and maintain CRM data integrity.

Activation, Fulfillment & Stewardship
– Ensure all sponsor benefits are fulfilled, including onsite activations, brand recognition, naming opportunities, hospitality, and cross-promotions;
– Collaborate across departments to execute activations creatively and efficiently;
– Provide exemplary client service through regular communication, stewardship, reporting, and impact storytelling; and
– Oversee collection and reporting of activation metrics and return on investment and inspiration.

Communications, Marketing & Storytelling
– Write compelling pitch decks, proposals, impact reports, and sponsor and partner narratives;
– Provide sponsorship-related content to support organization-wide communications and marketing;
– Contribute to social, digital, and promotional storytelling that elevates sponsor visibility and fulfills benefits;
– Support organization-wide marketing and communications in support of Fringe Theatre’s Festival and Season programming by contributing stories, content, and copywriting for campaigns and public materials;
– Ensure all external communication aligns with Fringe Theatre’s voice, values, and brand identity;
– Collaborate with colleagues to analyze audience and sponsor trends to inform strategic marketing; and
– Support donor stewardship and fundraising as needed.

Cross-Department Partnership Work
– Work closely with Programming, Engagement, and Administrative teams to support sponsorship and partnership touchpoints across the organization;
– Report to and engage Board committees to support ongoing sponsor and partner cultivation;
– Provide sponsor and partner insights to help shape organizational priorities and audience engagement strategies;
– Lead and contribute to the creation of special projects in support of sponsor, partner, and audience development; and
– Support annual sponsor events, donor/sponsor cross-events, and special projects.

Qualifications
– 3+ years in sponsorship, partnership development, client management, fundraising, marketing, or related fields;
– Exceptional communication skills – confident negotiator, strong writer, excellent verbal communicator;
– Demonstrated ability to meet revenue targets and manage complex partnership portfolios;
– Experience developing proposals, sponsorship decks, or client-facing content;
– Strong project management skills with the ability to multitask in a dynamic, fast-paced environment;
– Creative thinking paired with operational follow-through;
– Ability to build trust quickly and collaborate with diverse teams; and
– A love for Fringe, the arts, live performance, and community-building is always an asset.

To Apply
Please email your cover letter and resume to [email protected] by 11:59 PM on Monday January 19, 2026 with “Strategic Partnerships Officer” in the subject line. We thank everyone who applies, but only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Why Fringe?
Fringe Theatre is the meeting place for bold ideas and big artistic risk. We are a collaborative, playful, hard-working team that champions radical hospitality, creativity, and community care. Representation matters – across our stages, spaces, Staff, programs, and Volunteer teams – and we are committed to building an equitable, diverse, inclusive, and accessible arts ecosystem.

We honour the full humanity of our staff. We work hard, we laugh often, we support each other, and we hold space for the big, beautiful lives we lead beyond our walls.

Employees uphold and champion Fringe’s Safer Spaces and Anti-Racism programs and abide by our Code of Conduct.