Business Development Manager, Sport

YouGov PLC; Greater London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

YouGov Sport in London seeks a Business Development Manager to drive new UK business growth. You will identify prospects, shepherd opportunities from first contact to closed deals, and craft tailored proposals using YouGov data and AI-enabled insights.

You'll engage senior stakeholders, lead multi-stage sales cycles, and collaborate with research and analytics teams to maximize ARR and value for clients.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in B2B sales with a strong track record of winning new logos and consistently beating targets.
• End-to-end selling: experience leading complex, multi-stakeholder sales cycles including detailed RFPs and proposals.
• Senior credibility: confidence to engage commercial directors, CMOs and sponsorship leads as a peer.
• Insight into impact: ability to turn data and insight into a clear commercial story that helps clients make better decisions.
• Negotiation strength: experience negotiating and closing agreements that deliver value for both parties.
• Collaboration: bring YouGov experts in at the right moment to win bigger opportunities.
• Advanced AI skills: track record of using AI workflows to grow pipeline, win rates and speed to close.

Responsibilities

• Build your pipeline by identifying rights holders, leagues, clubs, events, sponsor brands and agencies.
• Lead with insight and open conversations with a clear point of view.
• Open conversations using YouGov data on fans, audiences and sponsorship to uncover opportunities.
• Build tailored, value-led proposals and RFP responses with research and analytics support.
• Close with confidence by running the full sales cycle from outreach to signature and contracting with Legal & Governance.
• Own your numbers: qualify early, keep Salesforce up to date and forecast accurately.
• Set the pace in a high-performing team and share proven approaches to help others.

Skills

New business development

Sales leadership

B2B sales

End-to-end sales

Senior stakeholder engagement

Data-driven storytelling

AI-enabled selling

Job description

YouGov Sport helps leading rights holders, sponsor brands and agencies make confident commercial decisions. Our data shapes how sponsorships are valued, how fans are understood and how partnerships are measured, backed by one of the largest research panels in the world. We're looking for a Business Development Manger to lead new business growth in the UK. Reporting to our Commercial Director UK, the Business Development Manger will identify new clients, build relationships with senior decisionmakers and win partnerships that grow over time. You'll bring the drive to create opportunities through your own research and network, the curiosity to understand what each client needs, and the commercial skill to turn first conversations into long-term partnerships.

About YouGov Sport

YouGov Sport is an integrated division of YouGov, one of the world's largest and most respected research and data businesses. We work with the key players across sport, sponsorship and entertainment to unlock meaningful, actionable insight, from offices in major sporting markets across the world. Our solutions span sponsorship tracking and evaluation, fan and audience data, always‑on brand tracking and bespoke custom research, all built on YouGov's global panel and our reputation for accurate, trusted data.

What You'll Do

• Build your pipeline. Identify the rights holders, leagues, clubs, events, sponsor brands and agencies where YouGov Sport can add the most value, using research, your network, industry events and colleagues across YouGov.
• Lead with insight.
• Open conversations with a clear point of view, using YouGov data on fans, audiences and sponsorship to help prospects see new commercial opportunities.
• Build the proposal. Work with our research and analytics specialists to design tailored, value‑led proposals and RFP responses that drive ARR.
• Close with confidence. Run the full sales cycle from first outreach to signature, negotiate agreements that work for both sides, and manage contracting with Legal & Governance.
• Own your numbers. Qualify early, keep Salesforce up to date and forecast accurately, focusing your time on the opportunities most likely to close.
• Lead by example. Set the pace in a high‑performing commercial team, sharing what works and learning fast.

What You'll Bring

• You're a natural new business seller who creates your own opportunities and enjoys building relationships from scratch.
• A record of winning new business.
• 5+ years in B2B sales with a strong track record of winning new logos and consistently beating targets.
• End-to-end selling. Experience leading complex, multi‑stakeholder sales cycles end to end, including detailed RFPs and proposals.
• Senior credibility. The confidence to engage commercial directors, CMOs and sponsorship leads as a peer, and to offer a well‑informed point of view.
• Insight into impact. The ability to turn data and insight into a clear commercial story that helps clients make better decisions.
• Negotiation strength. Experience negotiating and closing agreements that deliver value for both parties.
• Collaboration. You bring the right YouGov experts in at the right moment to win bigger opportunities.
• Advanced AI skills. A track record of using advanced AI workflows, such as custom assistants, automated research and AI‑assisted analysis, to measurably grow your pipeline, win rates and speed to close.

What Will Set You Apart

• Experience selling into sport, and a network of decisionmakers in the sports industry.
• A background in market research, data, insight or SaaS.
• Experience selling to sponsor brands or agencies as well as rights holders.

Not sure you meet every point?

Why join YouGov?

Join our global team to help us achieve our social mission: to make millions of people’s opinions heard for the benefit of our local, national, and international communities. Understanding diversity of opinion requires diversity of background. Although our global panel of millions of people worldwide powers our research, our biggest asset is our people. If our research is to be truly representative of what the world thinks, we need people from all walks of life to be part of the team to bring their perspective to the work we do.

Life at YouGov

We are driven by a set of shared values. We are fast, fearless, and innovative. We work diligently to get it right. We are guided by accuracy, ethics, and proven methodologies. We respect and trust each other, bringing these values into everything that we do. We strive to provide YouGovers with best‑in‑class benefits to support their physical, financial, and emotional wellbeing. We want our employees to have a sense of belonging and uniqueness in a supportive workplace, so they can bring their full selves to work.

Equal Opportunity Employer

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity or expression, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, marital status, age, disability, genetic information, HIV status, political affiliation, socioeconomic background, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law or in line with our responsibilities as a fair and ethic employer. All employment decisions are made based on occupational qualifications, merit, and business need.

Data Privacy

To find out how we collect and use your personal data when you apply for a role at YouGov, please read our privacy notice at https://jobs.yougov.com/privacy

YouGov is an international online research data and analytics technology group. Our mission is to offer unparalleled insight into what the world thinks.

Who we are Our innovative solutions help the world’s most recognised brands, media owners and agencies to plan, activate and track their marketing activities better. With operations in the UK, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, India and Asia Pacific, we have one of the world's largest research networks.

What we do At the core of our platform is an ever‑growing source of connected consumer data that has developed daily over our 20 years of operation. We call it living data. All of our products and services draw upon this detailed understanding of our 27+ million registered panel members to deliver accurate, actionable consumer insights.

As innovators and pioneers of online market research, we have a strong reputation as a trusted source of accurate data and insights. Testament to this, YouGov data is regularly referenced by the global press, and we are the most quoted market research source in the world. Leading in online market research, we have a strong record for data accuracy and innovation. A study by the Pew Research Center concluded that YouGov “consistently outperforms competitors on accuracy” as a vendor of choice. We are the market research pioneer of Multi‑level Regression with Post‑stratification (“MRP”) for accurate predictions at a granular level.

Our purpose Our purpose is to give our global community a voice by collecting, measuring and analysing their opinions and behaviours and reporting the findings accurately and free from bias.