Operating Partner

Critical Sports and Entertainment

Location: Remote (U.S. based; East Coast Preferred)

Compensation: Meaningful Equity + Partner Package

Industry: Sports, Live Events, Entertainment, Combat Sports

Critical Sports and Entertainment (CSE) is a founder led company building a national combat sports and live entertainment platform. We currently operate and partner across three properties:

Critical Combat — National amateur and professional MMA fight nights
Unity Combat Series — Multi discipline youth tournament platform
The Kage Presents — Premium club and festival live entertainment property (CSE is a partner)

The company is entering a national expansion phase. We are looking for an Operating Partner to join at the leadership level and help scale the platform alongside the Founder.

The Opportunity

This is a true ownership seat.
You will work directly with the Founder and CEO to help drive growth across host city partnerships, venues, sponsorships, event expansion, and overall company building. CSE already has a strong network of strategic partners and advisors in place, including experienced operators from major sports and talent agencies, as well as high profile athlete ambassadors across the Unity Combat platform (including UFC Hall of Famers and former world champions).
What we need now is a day to day Operating Partner who wants real responsibility and long term upside.

What You’ll Own

National expansion across CSE properties
Host city, CVB, and venue partnership development
Commercial and sponsorship growth
Strategic planning and execution alongside the Founder
External relationships and deal making
Helping build the operating rhythm of a multi property company

Who This Is For

Operators or commercial leaders from sports, live events, entertainment, or tourism
People who have built or scaled something before (or clearly want to)
Strong relationship builders who can open doors and close deals
Self starters who are comfortable in a lean, high ownership environment
Individuals who want equity and long term upside, not just a salary

What We Already Have

Active event properties with proven traction
High profile athlete ambassadors and experienced strategic advisors
Clear multi property growth roadmap
Founder still fully in the seat and looking for a real partner

Growth Plans (Next 2–3 Years)

Scale Critical Combat from its current base of events into 8–12+ national fight nights annually as venues and markets expand
Launch and grow Unity Combat Series with multiple regional qualifiers and a national championship
Expand The Kage Presents club events and the annual flagship festival
Build multi-year host city and tourism partnerships across key markets
Increase sponsorship, media, and commercial revenue across the portfolio

Compensation

This role includes equity participation in Critical Sports and Entertainment, aligning partner level leadership with long term platform growth. Compensation includes: (a) equity ownership in the company; (b) base salary following completion of the company’s current SAFE round; and (c) participation in event and property level revenue streams.

If you’re more interested in building than just operating, we should talk.

Critical Sports and Entertainment jobs

Operating Partner

Never Miss a New Opportunity