Strategist, Commercial Marketing

MLSE; Toronto; On-site; CAD 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading sports and entertainment organization seeks a mid-level Strategist to enhance fan experiences through creative marketing strategies. This role involves developing campaigns for top brands, collaborating with creative teams, and guiding strategies based on comprehensive research. Ideal candidates are passionate about sports and possess strong strategic thinking and presentation skills.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in marketing strategy roles.
• Strong understanding of marketing strategy development.
• Proven ability to manage marketing budgets effectively.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of strategic campaign directions for partners.
• Conduct research to guide marketing strategies.
• Collaborate on campaign reports and case studies.

Skills

Strategic planning

Presentation skills

Project management

Communication

Job description

Company Description

At Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Partnership (MLSE), we are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that is representative of our community and where all employees feel they belong and can reach their full potential. We are Canada’s preeminent leader in delivering top quality sport and entertainment experiences and one of North America’s leading providers of exceptional fan experiences. We are the parent company of the National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leafs, the National Basketball Association’s Toronto Raptors, Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC, the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts and development teams with the Toronto Marlies (American Hockey League), Raptors 905 (NBA G League), Toronto FC II (MLS NEXT Pro League) and Raptors Uprising Gaming Club, the Toronto Raptors Esports franchise in the NBA 2K League.

MLSE owns and/or operates all the venues our teams play and train in, including Scotiabank Arena, BMO Field, Coca-Cola Coliseum, Ford Performance Centre, BMO Training Ground, and OVO Athletic Centre. We also provide fans in Toronto with incredible live music and entertainment events, as well as exceptional culinary experiences through our restaurants (e11even and RS) and clubs (Hot Stove Club, ScotiaClub and Platinum Club). Through MLSE Foundation, we have invested more than $45 million into Ontario communities since 2009 and with MLSE LaunchPad, we provide a place where youth facing barriers use sport to recognize and reach their potential.

We achieve all of this through our Common Purpose - to unite and empower our employees to create extraordinary moments for our fans and each other. Come be a part of the team.

Job Description

About the Commercial Strategy + Creative Group

The world of sports partnerships has evolved. It’s not just about exposure and awareness-building through signage anymore. Our partners often seek campaigns or programs that will help them achieve specific marketing objectives, require a compelling strategy and big creative ideas.

The Commercial Strategy + Creative Group (MLSE’s Internal Agency) exists to enhance the fan experience, and we do this by building killer marketing strategies for hundreds of Canada’s top brands each season. Our group consists of strategy, account management, and creative specialists who collaborate on the development of diverse and award-winning partnership programs. We work together from brief intake, to strategic development, to creative development and execution with one clear ambition – doing great creative work. Together.

Our vision: To Enrich Fan Experiences

For us, ‘great work' is work that deepens fans' relationships with the teams they love. Sometimes we add dimensionality to our fans’ appreciation of our players or rituals. Sometimes we connect fans more meaningfully with their community. Our Strategy team is unconventional; we’re a team of fans ourselves, who are on a constant evolution to understand the things that motivate, excite, and influence our community. We root our plans in a strong expertise of our spaces, teams, and people, and we’re proud to create the blueprints that inspire some of the most meaningful sports business programs in our industry. For us, status quo isn’t enough.

We are looking for a mid-level Strategist with a passion for sports and culture to join the Commercial Strategy + Creative Group. Reporting to the Senior Manager, Commercial Strategy, this role will focus on the strategic build of sports marketing programs for some of the country’s biggest brands leveraging our teams.As the ideal candidate, you are a strategic, energetic and organized thought-leader, driven to deliver breakthrough marketing solutions rooted in sports and culture.

In this role you will be asked to:

• Lead brief intake sessions with MLSE partners, aligning on season-long or campaign-specific marketing objectives for us to tackle through our strategic and creative work
• Lead the development and delivery of inspirational creative briefs to our MLSE creative teams once the strategy is sold in
• Lead the development of a strategic direction for our campaigns by leveraging industry-standard strategic frameworks
• Lead the development of strategy presentations to sell our partners on a strategic direction before briefing in the creative teams
• Develop high-level campaign thought-starters as jumping off points for our MLSE creative teams
• Provide strategic feedback to our creative teams once they have gone through the creative development process to keep the campaign on-strategy
• Help connect our creative work back to the campaign strategy in full-team client/partner presentations once the campaign takes shape
• Lead research exercises across several areas to guide our strategies: fan research, category research, partner/brand research, cultural research
• Collaborate on post-campaign reports, clearly outlining how our campaign performed against the objectives/KPIs of our partners
• Lead the development of case studies and award submissions to help spotlight MLSE’s incredible partnership campaigns
• Collaborate with our Partnership Development team on pitches that require creative or strategic input
• Collaborate with our brand teams to determine how our partners strategically integrate to our sports teams’ marketing programs
• Work closely with other MLSE departments (Digital Labs, Ticketing, Game Ops, Foundation/ Community) for campaigns that require the input of those groups

Qualifications

Note: Before reviewing the qualifications listed below, we want you to know that we understand you may not meet all the qualifications described and have other relevant expertise and experience. We invite you to please share this with us in the "Message to the Hiring Manager" section of our online application.

• 3+ years of professional work experience in a marketing strategy role (agency, partnerships, consulting or brand)
• Strong understanding of briefing processes and marketing strategy development (from insights and objectives to ideas)
• Excellent at building presentations in a professional and creative manner (technical design skills via adobe or photoshop are a bonus but not mandatory)
• Experience managing marketing budgets and ensuring executions remain within the plan
• Proven ability to digest large amounts of information and clearlysummarize key findings intoactionable recommendations
• Experience executing complex marketing campaigns across various digital media channels
• Experience working across multiple business categories is a bonus but is not mandatory
• Sports or partnerships experience is a bonus but is not mandatory
• Ability to serve as a highly motivated self-starter and collaborator
• Ability to work to deadlines in high-pressure situations
• Ability to apply strong time management skills across projects
• Significant experience presenting complex campaign strategies and rationale to mid-level clients or senior internal stakeholders
• Experience working with creative teams in a collaborative way

Additional Information

Apply by: June 30, 2025

We thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

At MLSE, we are committed to building an equitable, diverse, and inclusive organization.

We are an equal opportunity employer and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, record of offences, marital status, family status or disability. MLSE will provide reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities in the job application process. If you have difficulty using our online application system and you need an accommodation due to a disability, please email [e-mail]. Please note this email is only for accommodation requests. Resumes sent to this email address will not be considered.

#LI-DNP