JOB DESCRIPTION Title: Business Development Lead - Club Recruiting Department Code & Name: 201 – Club Recruiting Team (M&A) FLSA Status: Exempt Location: Remote (U.S.-based) with occasional travel for site visits and business-related events Job Level & Type: Individual Contributor
About LOVB (League One Volleyball):
League One Volleyball (LOVB) is reimagining women's sports. Launched in 2019, our company is a mission-led sports performance, training and media enterprise that will change the game of volleyball in the USA and empower new generations of female athletes.
It is a groundbreaking time for volleyball in the US with our historic triple Olympic Gold medals in Women's Indoor, Beach and Sitting Volleyball. Volleyball is already the #1 most played girls' youth sport. There are 38M current and former players today. Of major sports, it's the only one that is women-first (~90% of players are female). But the volleyball market has been almost entirely missed by traditional sports investors, brands, and media.
LOVB is capturing this opportunity by creating a strong club business, and from that built-in audience and fandom, is creating the best Pro League in the world and a digital ecosystem that will connect all aspects of LOVB. This community-up approach will drive participation and fandom, while enabling greater empowerment for girls and young women living this amazing sport. In this role, you will join a mission-driven, roll-up-your-sleeves team of innovators and builders who have come together to change the paradigm of professional volleyball and women’s sports.
Job Summary: As a Business Development Lead - Club Recruiting at LOVB Youth, you will be responsible for leading the end-to-end process of acquiring new clubs or tournaments into the LOVB ecosystem, including identifying, evaluating, and negotiating new opportunities. Acting as the central project owner, you will be responsible for managing cross-functional collaboration across legal, finance, due diligence, and club operations to ensure each acquisition meets strategic, operational, and brand standards. You will also be responsible for recommending deal structures for qualified prospects and lead deal term discussions and negotiations in close partnership with the legal team and senior leadership. The due diligence and financial analysis will be done with the support of the Club Recruiting team and Club Finance Team. You will also be responsible for helping to refine and execute the strategy for LOVB’s Youth business acquisition playbook. Reporting directly to the Head of Club Recruiting, this role plays a critical part in LOVB’s national growth strategy by turning vision into operational reality in new volleyball markets, championing seamless transitions from strategic concept through acquisition and club onboarding, and building a repeatable, scalable development process. Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Deal Negotiation and Management: - Serve as the primary driver of the club or tournament acquisition process from the initial sourcing/sales stage through to final legal documentation and closing, including but not limited to deal structuring, deal negotiations, due diligence, internal approvals, and operational launch in partnership with the onboarding team
- Manage cross-functional timelines and deliverables across departments including legal, finance, payroll, people success, facilities, onboarding and operations
- Ensure consistent deal execution, documentation, and updates aligned with LOVB standards
- Conduct regular milestone reviews, risk assessments, and escalation of key blockers
Strategy & Market Development - Partner with Head of Club Recruiting to refine and execute LOVB’s scalable acquisition playbook
- Identify, assess, and prioritize expansion markets aligned with LOVB’s long-term strategic objectives and national footprint goals
- Develop and maintain a pipeline of qualified acquisition prospects across priority markets
- Establish market-specific go-to-market strategies, including outreach approach, positioning, and sequencing of prospective club engagements
- Monitor market trends, competitive dynamics, and industry developments to inform acquisition strategy and timing
Strategic & Process Improvement - Maintain a repeatable acquisition framework and help lead refinements based on learnings
- Provide insights to improve speed, efficiency, and experience across acquisition process
- Track project data to inform resource planning, forecasting, and market prioritization
Required & Preferred Skills/Abilities: - Strong understanding of financial statements, acquisition strategy, deal structuring, and valuation fundamentals
- Ability to lead deal term discussions and negotiations with founders, owners, and operators
- Experience coordinating and supporting due diligence across legal, finance, and operations
- Ability to assess strategic fit, values & cultural alignment, and operational readiness of acquisition targets
- Excellent relationship-building skills with the ability to establish trust and credibility with external partners
- Strong project management skills with experience managing complex, cross-functional initiatives
- Excellent organizational skills with attention to timelines, documentation, and detail
- Clear communicator, able to distill complex processes into actionable steps
- High emotional intelligence—capable of balancing urgency with relationship-building
- Familiarity with tools like Monday.com, Hubspot, Google Workspace, and/or Teamworks
Education and Experience: - Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Operations, or related field
- 7-10 years of relevant experience in finance, M&A or business development
- Experience in club volleyball or youth sports, startup environments, or expansion strategy highly valued
Personal Attributes
- Thrives in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with shifting priorities.
- Solutions-oriented and able to identify when to escalate issues or challenges.
- Strong collaborator with excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Capable of working independently while effectively partnering with a distributed, remote team.
- Positive, proactive, organized, and creative - brings fresh ideas to problem-solving.
- Highly adaptable and eager to learn in a rapidly evolving environment.
Work Environment & Physical Requirements (Remote): - Ability to operate a computer and use a keyboard, mouse, and video conferencing tools.
- Ability to clearly communicate via video, phone, and written channels.
- Occasional travel may be required for site visits and events.
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