Partnership Lead (100%)

As Partnership Lead, you will play a key role in developing, growing, and managing Climate Week Zurich's partner ecosystem. Together with another Partnership Lead, Partnership Coordination Manager, the Managing Director, and the wider team, you will help shape and execute the partnership strategy of one of Switzerland's leading climate platforms.

You will be responsible for building and maintaining relationships with corporate sponsors, foundations, government organisations, academic institutions, NGOs, media partners, community organisations, and other strategic stakeholders. Your focus will be on creating long-term partnerships that generate value for both Climate Week Zurich and its partners while contributing to the financial sustainability and continued growth of the initiative.

Working closely with the broader Partnerships Team, you will lead a portfolio of strategic partners and prospects, manage partnership opportunities from initial engagement to activation and renewal, and contribute to the ongoing development of Climate Week Zurich's sponsorship and partnership model.

As a representative of Climate Week Zurich, you will regularly engage with C-level executives, board members, investors, policymakers, sustainability leaders, philanthropists, and senior representatives from civil society and academia. You will confidently represent Climate Week Zurich externally and help build trusted relationships across sectors.

Together with the second Partnership Lead and the Managing Director, you will support the development of partnership strategies, sponsorship offerings, ecosystem engagement activities, and fundraising initiatives. You will also mentor and guide junior team members, interns, ambassadors, and external contributors involved in partnership development and stakeholder engagement.

This position requires an exceptional combination of business development, relationship management, stakeholder engagement, strategic thinking, and entrepreneurial execution. It is ideal for someone who enjoys building meaningful partnerships, creating opportunities for collaboration, and helping scale a high-impact organisation.

About Climate Week Zurich

Climate Week Zurich is Europe’s leading business-driven climate platform, bringing together business leaders, policymakers, researchers, creatives and innovators to co-create and scale smart climate action. CWZ isn't just a conference. It’s a week-long, city-wide takeover featuring hundreds of events curated for a 'glocal' audience.

In its inaugural edition in May 2026, Zurich hosted 270+ events with 10k participants showcasing how we can accelerate climate impact in everyday life and business. More than 240 partner organisations from every sector and scale have united to move the needle on concrete and measurable solutions for climate mitigation, resilience and adaptation. The the next edition will take place from 10th - 15th May 2027.

Climate Week Zurich
c/o ecoinvent Association
Technoparkstrasse 1
8050 Zurich

www.climateweekzurich.org
office@climateweekzurich.org

The Role: Partnership Lead (100%)

You will work closely with the Managing Director and the CWZ team, playing a key role in:

Partnership Strategy & Business Development

• Drive the acquisition and development of sponsors, contributors, foundations, and strategic partners within your portfolio.
• Contribute to the development and execution of the annual partnership and sponsorship strategy.
• Build and manage a structured sales pipeline and partnership funnel.
• Identify and pursue new partnership, funding, and collaboration opportunities.
• Develop and continuously improve sponsorship packages and partner offerings.
• Lead partnership negotiations, contracting processes, and long-term relationship management.
• Develop strategies to strengthen partner retention, engagement, and year-round participation.

Stakeholder Engagement & Relationship Management

• Build and maintain trusted relationships with existing and prospective partners across business, government, academia, media, philanthropy, and civil society.
• Act as the relationship lead for assigned key sponsors and strategic stakeholders.
• Lead outreach activities, partnership discussions, briefings, and follow-up processes.
• Facilitate introductions, collaborations, and connections across the Climate Week Zurich ecosystem.
• Ensure high-quality stakeholder management throughout the entire partnership lifecycle.
• Maintain oversight of CRM processes, relationship management systems, and stakeholder documentation.
• Ensure commitments, decisions, and next steps are documented and followed through.

Strategic Coordination & Organisational Development

• Work closely with the Managing Director and the Partnership team on strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, fundraising, and organisational development.
• Support the preparation of strategic presentations, pitch decks, concept notes, partnership proposals, and decision-making documents.
• Research and evaluate new partnership, funding, and growth opportunities.
• Contribute to fundraising efforts, including foundation engagement and proposal development.
• Support the development of Climate Week Zurich's impact measurement, ecosystem development, and behaviour-change strategies.
• Assist in structuring strategic discussions and translating decisions into actionable plans.

Partner Activation & Ecosystem Development

• Coordinate partner involvement across Climate Week Zurich activities and initiatives.
• Support partners in developing impactful event concepts, collaborations, and activation opportunities.
• Identify opportunities for cross-sector partnerships and joint initiatives.
• Ensure partners receive agreed benefits and value throughout their engagement with Climate Week Zurich.

Content Development & Event Collaboration

• Collaborate with the Production and Communications teams to shape key Climate Week Zurich formats and experiences.
• Contribute to the development of strategic content for flagship events, leadership gatherings, roundtables, and ecosystem meetings.
• Support the identification, engagement, and management of speakers, moderators, and high-level participants.
• Ensure partner perspectives are effectively integrated into Climate Week Zurich programming where appropriate.
• Represent Climate Week Zurich at events, conferences, networking activities, and partner engagements throughout the year.

Team Leadership & Operational Excellence

• Support, mentor, and coordinate junior team members, interns, ambassadors, and external contributors.
• Help build scalable structures, processes, and systems that enable Climate Week Zurich to grow sustainably.
• Contribute to a collaborative, entrepreneurial, and high-performance team culture.
• Ensure professional execution, strong communication, and continuous improvement across all partnership-related activities.

Your Profile

We are looking for a highly experienced business development and relationship management professional with a proven track record of building partnerships, generating revenue, and engaging senior stakeholders.

You will fit perfectly into our team if you:

Experience

• Minimum 10 - 15 years of professional experience in partnerships, business development, sponsorship sales, fundraising, account management, ecosystem building, or related fields.
• Proven experience managing strategic relationships with senior decision-makers and executives.
• Demonstrated track record of generating sponsorship revenue and closing complex partnership agreements.
• Experience working with corporate, public, philanthropic, academic, and civil society stakeholders.
• Experience leading teams, interns, volunteers, or external contributors.
• Strong understanding of sustainability, climate action, innovation, or related ecosystems is highly desirable.

Professional Skills

• Outstanding relationship-building and networking capabilities.
• Strong commercial mindset combined with excellent stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to identify opportunities, develop strategic partnerships, and close agreements.
• Excellent negotiation and presentation skills.
• Ability to align diverse stakeholder interests and create win-win solutions.
• Strong project management and organisational skills.
• Entrepreneurial mindset and ability to operate in dynamic environments.

Personal Qualities

• Natural relationship builder and connector.
• Highly proactive and self-directed.
• Strong ownership mentality and willingness to take responsibility.
• Confident communicator with strong interpersonal skills.
• Collaborative and team-oriented while comfortable working independently.
• Resilient, flexible, and solution-oriented.
• Passionate about creating impact through collaboration.

Additional Requirements

• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Excellent German language skills (minimum C1 level).
• Strong proficiency in CRM systems, Google Workspace, Excel, PowerPoint, LinkedIn, and collaboration tools.
• Based in or around Zurich.
• Strong affinity for sustainability, climate action, and multi-stakeholder collaboration.

Further Important Details

Duration: Open-ended
Start Date: 1st of September
Workload: 100%
Holidays: 5 weeks per year
Salary: Will be communicated at the interview
Benefits: Reimbursement of Halbtax, flexible working hours, small, motivated and non-hierarchical team, modern office environment
Location: Headsquarter in central City of Zurich & remote

If you are excited about helping shape a national initiative with global relevance, we would love to hear from you.

Please send your application to our Managing Director, Johannes Pokorny, at jobs@climateweekzurich.org.

‍