Managing Director, Motorsports & Outdoor Group - Remote Position
Reports to Bonnier CEO
About the Role:
Bonnier's Motorsports & Outdoor Group is seeking a Managing Director to lead a portfolio of four consumer and trade event brands — the Sand Sports Super Show, Off-Road Expo, Open Season Sportsman's Expo, and Street Machine Nationals. This is a full P&L leadership role responsible for revenue growth, operational excellence, and long-term brand strategy across events that collectively engage more than one million enthusiasts annually. The ideal candidate is an experienced event operator who combines strategic vision with hands-on execution and a genuine passion for the motorsports and outdoor communities these events serve.
The Ideal Candidate:
- A hands-on operator with a bias toward action and strong commercial instincts
- Comfortable in an entrepreneurial, mid-sized company environment
- A decisive leader who holds teams accountable while developing talent
- Passion for or deep familiarity with motorsports, outdoor, or enthusiast categories
What You’ll Do
P&L Ownership & Financial Performance
- Own full P&L across all four event franchises, with accountability for revenue growth, cost management, and margin expansion
- Develop and manage annual operating plans and budgets
- Monitor performance across all revenue streams — exhibitor sales, sponsorship, and ticket/attendance revenue
- Identify and execute opportunities to improve profitability and operating leverage
Revenue Leadership
- Drive growth across all revenue lines with direct oversight of sales team performance
- Ensure strong pipeline development, consistent pacing against targets, and effective pricing and packaging strategies
- Own exhibitor and sponsorship renewal strategy, with accountability for protecting and growing the existing client base
- Align marketing and sales activity to maximize demand generation and conversion across all franchises
Event Strategy & Portfolio Management
- Set strategic direction and competitive positioning for each event franchise
- Evaluate market performance and make decisions regarding expansion, consolidation, or repositioning of underperforming events
- Identify and execute opportunities for geographic expansion, new event launches, and format innovation
Operational Oversight
- Ensure high-quality execution across all live events, overseeing timelines, vendor relationships, and production
- Negotiate and manage multi-year venue contracts and institutional relationships, including those with state and county fairgrounds facilities
- Serve as the senior escalation point for operational issues across the portfolio
Attendee Experience & Community Stewardship
- Champion the quality and authenticity of each event as a product, recognizing that enthusiast loyalty is the foundation of long-term exhibitor and sponsor value
- Ensure each franchise reflects and serves its specific community — from sand sports and off-road to street performance and hunting — with programming, activations, and experiences that deepen engagement
Multi-Market Operational Complexity
- Manage simultaneous event production cycles across California, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Illinois, running spring through fall
- Coordinate staffing, vendor relationships, and logistics across multiple markets to ensure consistent execution and operational efficiency
Team Leadership & Organizational Management
- Lead and develop a cross-functional team spanning sales, marketing, and event operations
- Establish clear accountability, KPIs, and performance expectations across all functions
- Recruit, develop, and retain high-performing talent; foster a culture of execution and continuous improvement
Data, Reporting & Decision-Making
- Establish consistent reporting across revenue pacing, attendance, and marketing performance — and use those insights to drive pricing, event optimization, and resource allocation.
About You:
- 10+ years of experience in trade shows, consumer events, or experiential marketing
- Proven track record of owning and growing event P&Ls, including exhibitor and sponsorship revenue
- Experience managing multi-event or multi-market portfolios
- Strong commercial instincts with a demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams
About Bonnier:
Bonnier is an outdoor adventure company that fuels passion for big-game fishing, motorsports, and hunting. Through its Motorsports & Outdoor Group, Bonnier engages more than one million outdoor enthusiasts annually via a nationwide series of experiential events — including the Sand Sports Super Show, Off-Road Expo, Open Season Sportsman's Expo, Street Machine Nationals, and professional watersports shows. Bonnier also owns The Marlin Group, the world’s largest big-game fishing network, publisher of Marlin Magazine, and operator of international big-game fishing tournaments. Bonnier is owned by Sweden-based Bonnier AB, a globally operating conglomerate with more than 200 years in publishing. Learn more at bonniercorp.com.