Head of Athlete Marketing

Red Bull; London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading beverage company in London is seeking a Head of Athlete Marketing. The role involves driving brand consumption through athlete partnerships, leading strategic programs, and managing budgets. Candidates should have experience in sports marketing and strong leadership skills. The company values diversity and creativity in building its athlete roster and marketing initiatives.

Qualifications

• Clear leadership experience in athletes or brand entities.
• Proven record of working with athletes, including negotiation and collaboration.
• Deep understanding of athlete success elements.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve the long-term vision and strategy.
• Select and manage a diverse athlete roster.
• Lead innovative athlete projects for brand impact.
• Collaborate across teams to maximize program impact.
• Inspire and coach a high-performing team.

Skills

Previous experience in the Sports or Marketing industry

Leadership experience across athletes, brand, or sport entities

Working with athletes or athlete teams

Contract negotiation

Strategic mindset

Creative thinking

Stakeholder management

Commercial and data-savvy

Strong communication skills

Calm under pressure

Job description

Red Bull UK is currently recruiting for a Head of Athlete Marketing to be based in London, UK.

You are responsible for driving daily consumption of Red Bull across our beverage, live experiences and media products, by building and leading a world-class athlete marketing programme. Through your strategic vision and deep connection to sport culture, you will increase Red Bull’s relevance and credibility in Sport and Fitness occasions. You’ll inspire, enable, and challenge consumers by bringing to life the performance, personality, and passion of our athletes, giving wings to people and ideas, every day.

All the responsibilities we'll trust you with:

Vision & Strategy

Define and evolve the long-term vision and strategy for Red Bull’s Athlete Marketing in the UK, ensuring alignment with global priorities and local business goals. Establish Red Bull as a functional beverage and innovative brand within sport by creating deep relevance among athletes, fans, and sport stakeholders.

Athlete Portfolio Management

Select and manage a nationally relevant, diverse, and credible athlete roster across all forms of sport and fitness. Deliver a highly credible programme by selecting sports personalities with a perfect brand fit who authentically use and champion Red Bull. Support each athlete with a tailored package (marketing, salary, bonus, training support) to enable performance, communication, and brand impact. Build meaningful relationships with athletes and their trusted circle to ensure trust, collaboration, and mutual growth. Use Red Bull’s global athlete ecosystem to connect national and international relevance and opportunities. Negotiate athlete contracts and performance targets, ensuring alignment with Red Bull's values and standards.

Creativity & Brand Impact

Lead the creation and execution of innovative athlete projects that drive brand salience, media visibility and consumer engagement. Develop and contribute to unique stories, formats, and content opportunities for Red Bull Media House. Use athlete stories and moments to inspire the UK consumer and shift brand consideration across relevant sport and fitness occasions.

Cross-Functional Leadership

Collaborate across Brand, Comms, Events, Field Marketing and Sales to maximise the business impact of the athlete programme. Champion athlete integration across the full Red Bull ecosystem, ensuring athletes are visible, understood, and activated appropriately. Act as the key contact for athlete projects, ensuring internal platforms and communication tools are up to date.

Team & Leadership

Inspire, lead, and coach a high-performing team (or cross-functional network) that delivers operational excellence and creative bravery. Foster a culture of collaboration, experimentation, performance and development. Build strong external networks (institutes, universities, trainers, clubs, federations) to scout future talent and co-create new opportunities.

Measurement & Budget

Establish and track KPIs that measure the brand and commercial impact of the athlete programme. Manage the athlete budget effectively and ensure financial transparency and accountability. Use data and feedback to continuously optimise performance.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Ensure a diverse and inclusive athlete roster that reflects the UK sporting landscape and consumer. Champion inclusive storytelling and equitable support across all sporting disciplines.

Reputation & Risk

Safeguard Red Bull’s reputation by managing athlete conduct, compliance, and risk in accordance with legal, brand, and industry standards.

Your areas of knowledge and expertise that matter most for this role:

• Previous experience in the Sports or Marketing industry, with clear leadership experience across athletes, brand, or sport entities
• Proven record of working with athletes or athlete teams, including contract negotiation, performance planning, and brand collaboration
• Deep understanding of what drives athlete success, across performance, personality, communication and commercial relevance
• Strategic mindset and ability to translate vision into execution
• Creative thinker with a strong sense of cultural relevance and storytelling
• Exceptional stakeholder management and collaboration skills
• Commercially and data-savvy, kows how to evaluate ROI, impact and budget
• Strong communication skills, persuasive, clear and inspiring
• Entrepreneurial and autonomous. Takes ownership and drives outcomes
• Passionate about sport, curious about emerging scenes and culturally switched on
• Calm under pressure with high levels of emotional intelligence and integrity
  
  

At Red Bull, we exist to give people wiiings. To achieve that, we recognise the value that comes from having a highly diverse workforce that has the freedom and responsibility to realise their ideas and seize opportunities. We make recruiting decisions based on experience, skills, potential and talent: everyone is welcome here.