Talent Academy Associate - Organizational Strategy

At Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SS&E), we work in service of something bigger than ourselves. To us it is so much more than just a game or concert.  It takes all the members of our Spurs team to harness the power of sports and entertainment to create moments that excite, memories that endure, and connections that strengthen our community. SS&E owns and operates the San Antonio Spurs (NBA), Austin Spurs (NBA G-League), and the San Antonio FC (USL), and manages day-to-day operations of the Frost Bank Center, Toyota Field, and STAR Complex.  

We know that our people are our greatest asset as an organization. We aspire to provide our teams with meaningful work, to live our values - Integrity, Success & Caring – day-to-day in what we do and foster an inclusive culture for our 1K+ employee workforce. 

The Talent Academy is a transformative cohort program designed to invest in the next generation of sports and entertainment professionals. The program aims to grow well-rounded individuals who are equipped with a strong foundation in professional skills, industry knowledge, and a commitment to Impact. Throughout the program, Associates will get a behind-the-scenes look at the business operations for NBA and USL franchises, as well as professional event management. Associates will be assigned to specific business units tailored to their areas of interest, experience, academic achievements, and aligned with organizational needs.

The Talent Academy Associate program is a 1 to 2-year program intended for recent college graduate candidates. For this specific Talent Academy Associate, the individual will be partnered directly with a high-level SS&E leader and immersed in their day-to-day responsibilities directly impacting strategic achievement of organizational goals. This will be an experience with enhanced access and exposure to organizational leadership and strategy. Associates can expect to be fully involved in ambitious projects and partner with other Talent Academy Associates to grow and develop through attending SS&E University (SSEU) courses and volunteer engagements with Spurs Give.

What You’ll Do: 

• Learn to organize effective leadership meetings for the purposes of taking on the lead role for follow-up items with designated departments under your Executive Leader’s oversight. This includes organizing logistics, building prep materials and agendas, follow-up on action items, and outlining next steps.
• Bridge the communication gap for your assigned Executive Leader by ensuring they are aware of the status and progress for various business operations. This includes a wide variety of areas where the Associate can contribute such as providing briefings for key meetings or speaking engagements, proactive follow-up and leader preparation on vital action items, research for current topics or attended events, and building documents/presentations as needed. (e.g., identify goals and messaging, provide background on attendees, etc.)
• Bridge the business progress gap by driving results in support of your assigned Executive Leader’s business units. The Associate will be empowered to collaborate with business unit leaders to support the management of initiatives across the company and make progress on priority workstreams, advising the leader on key decisions, tracking deliverables, conducting research, etc.
• Provide day-to-day organization and execution of various administrative support duties for Leader as it relates to meeting attendance, note taking, calendar administration and general correspondence.
• Participate regularly in developmental classes and growth opportunities through “SSEU”, our in-house professional development university, to gain individual and leadership focused training.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with key stakeholders daily to support daily business operations and strategic projects associated with organizational goal achievement.
  

Who You Are:  

• Bachelor’s degree in the areas of Business, Strategy and Organizational Leadership (or a similar field).
• 3+ years’ combined experience working within research, analytics, project management, strategy, or operations through work experience, internships, related coursework, and/or through student leadership roles.
• Proficient with productivity tools such as Microsoft Office Suite, Microsoft Teams, and similar programs such as One Drive, Google Drives, and Box.
• Possess strong written and verbal communication skills, and the right temperament to work in a fast-paced, high expectations environment.
• Strong presentation skills including the ability to draft both short and long-form executive communications.
• Strong research and analytics skills to conduct benchmarking and additional external industry and non-industry research to drive insights and recommendations.
• Proficiency in managing multiple tasks under deadlines while balancing shifting priorities.
• Schedule flexibility and willingness to work non-traditional hours as needed.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bilingual – Spanish
• Strong cross-functional project collaboration and decision-making skills.
• Experience working directly with leadership teams.
• Familiarity with sports and entertainment industry.
  

If you don’t have experience in every single bullet above, no sweat – we still want to hear from you and encourage you to apply!  

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