Accepting Melbourne AND Sydney based applicants.

About Bastion

Bastion is an independent agency that exists to put brands, organisations and people in a position of strength. Our integrated model sees brand, digital, social, influencer, experiential and research experts sitting side by side, working together on major brands to solve their marketing challenges.

At Bastion Experience we create strategic partnerships and brand experiences that people want to talk about, creating work that surprises and delights.

Role Overview The General Manager of Experience is responsible for running the day-to-day performance of Bastion Experience ensuring the business operates effectively, commercially, and consistently.

This role owns the BAU engine of the business - people, clients, product, delivery and performance - proactively identifying and solving issues, strengthening client outcomes and driving sustainable growth, across experiential, sponsorship, partnerships and live brand platforms.

Reporting to and working closely with the Managing Director - Experience, the General Manager of Experience enables the Managing Director to focus on broader growth agenda, market positioning and expansion. This is a senior, hands-on leadership role requiring equal strength across operations, commercial outcomes, client leadership and new business, including solving client challenges, driving creativity to be innovative and leaders in our delivery. You are a key contributor to the national Experience team and a visible ambassador for Bastion in market.

Roles & Responsibilities

Business Leadership & Growth

- Drive growth through a combination of current business and expansion of existing clients
- Drive growth across Bastion Experience through a combination of new business development and expansion of existing client partnerships, aligned to the business’s strategic priorities, across sport, major events, government, tourism, infrastructure, precincts and brand partnerships across a variety of industry sectors
- Build Bastion Experience’s reputation as a leading national experiential and partnerships agency through visibility, relationships and excellence in delivery
- Contribute to the national growth agenda alongside the Managing Director
- Collaborate with Bastion practice areas to drive cross-agency integration and shared commercial success
- Partner with the Head of Strategic Partnerships on overall agency pipeline development, forecasting and commercial planning. Maintain strong forecasting discipline and pipeline visibility to support sustainable growth
- Lead and support major pitches and commercial opportunities

Client & Commercial Leadership

- Own and grow a portfolio of key clients,



including senior stakeholder relationships
- Act as strategic partner to clients, not just delivery lead
- Build and maintain senior-level client relationships, positioning Bastion as a strategic partner, not just a delivery agency
- Be the key contact across clients
- Own and grow a strong client portfolio, ensuring consistent revenue growth, margin discipline and long-term retention
- Ensure strong revenue growth, margin discipline and long-term client retention

Strategy, Experience & Innovation

- Evolve Bastion Experience’s product offering to remain competitive, integrated and market-leading
- Drive earlier (“upstream”) involvement in client strategy and briefs
- Strengthen integration with Bastion’s broader capabilities (creative, PR, digital, social, influencer, research)
- Build and optimise supplier and partner ecosystems to enhance delivery capability
- Ensure all work is insight-led, culturally relevant and commercially effective
- Lead the development of world-class experiential, sponsorship and partnership strategies that drive cultural relevance and commercial return
- Translate major cultural and event-led narratives (e.g. legacy, community, innovation, sustainability) into meaningful brand platforms and experiences
- Ensure all work is insight-led, creatively ambitious and clearly linked to client business outcomes

People and Culture

- Build and lead high-performance teams across markets, setting clear expectations and accountability standards
- Foster a culture that is hard on the work and supportive of people, driving excellence without compromising collaboration
- Lead effective change management, ensuring teams adapt to evolving client, market and business needs
- Attract, develop and retain top talent, creating clear pathways for growth and progression

Product

- Shape and evolve an integrated creative and experience offering, working seamlessly across Bastion capabilities within the Experience team and where necessary the broader creative capabilities of the broader Bastion group
- Co-Drive stronger client engagement, influencing strategy early and positioning Bastion Experience as a true partner
- Build and optimise supplier partnerships, ensuring best-in-class delivery through trusted partners
- Continuously refine the product to stay ahead of cultural, technological and client shifts





Performance and Commercial Rigour

- Drive commercial rigor, with a strong focus on margin management, pricing discipline and profitability
- Lead new business origination, maintaining a strong national pipeline and converting high-value opportunities
- Own and embed robust forecasting practices, ensuring visibility, accuracy and proactive decision-making
- Balance creative ambition with commercial outcomes to deliver sustainable growth

Operational Excellence

- Oversee delivery of projects nationally, ensuring quality, efficiency and profitability
- Ensure strong governance, risk management and financial control
- Embed commercial discipline across all projects, with a focus on margin and delivery excellence
- Contribute to continuous improvement of processes, tools and ways of working across the Experience practice
- Improve ways of working, processes and cross-team collaboration
- Remove internal friction to enable teams to perform at their best

Success Profile (What Good Looks Like)

- A well-run, high-performing business with strong commercial discipline
- Growing and retained client portfolio with deeper strategic partnerships
- A clear, differentiated and evolving Experience product
- High-performing, engaged teams
- A strong and visible pipeline of new business opportunities

What You Bring

- Min 12 years’ experience across experiential marketing, sponsorship, partnerships, major events or brand platforms
- Proven track record of winning and growing significant client accounts at a national level
- Deep knowledge of sport, entertainment, culture and large-scale event ecosystems
- Commercially astute, with experience managing revenue targets, pricing and profitability
- Confident senior communicator, comfortable presenting to C-suite stakeholders
- Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to build momentum in a high-growth environment
- High emotional intelligence with a cooperative leadership style
- MUST have full working rights in Australia

What we offer

- Flexible work in a hybrid work environment
- A supportive culture focused on collaboration and personal growth
- A truly integrated agency network that includes research, data, insights, creative, digital, experiential, reputation management, content production, performance, earned media, etc.
- The chance to lead fully integrated campaigns that expand your experience in the marketing and communications landscape
- Team Activities - a calendar of events that connects our team in creative and fun ways lead by our dedicated “Captains of Joy”
- Ability to connect with senior leaders within the business via Bastion mentor program

Accepting Melbourne AND Sydney based applicants.

📌 General Manager - Experience (Sydney)
🏢 Bastion
📍 Sydney