Marketing Manager

London City Lionesses; Ditton; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

The London City Lionesses are seeking a Marketing Manager to own attendance growth, manage the on-sale cycle for every home match, and lead the club’s paid media strategy across social, search and programmatic channels.

You will report to the Head of Marketing and line-manage the Marketing Executive, collaborating with CRM, content, fan engagement and events teams to turn campaigns into sold-out fixtures and a growing fanbase. Some evenings and weekends are required.

Qualifications

• 4+ years in high-profile brand or marketing roles with selling tickets/events against targets.
• Experience running integrated campaigns end-to-end, from proposition and creative through media to conversion.
• Strong hands-on paid media experience with managing budgets and briefing and managing agencies.
• Confident with data: ticketing and CRM data, analytics and dashboards, and turning numbers into decisions.
• Experience leading and developing others; travel and weekend/evening work may be required.

Responsibilities

• Own attendance growth and the on-sale cycle for home fixtures.
• Lead the club’s paid media strategy across social, search, programmatic and offline channels.
• Plan, buy and optimise campaigns for fixtures and key moments.
• Drive data capture, analytics and dashboards to inform decisions.
• Line manage and develop the Marketing Executive; support career progression.
• Collaborate with Head of Marketing and cross-functional teams to align campaigns with brand guidance.

Skills

Paid media

Campaign planning

Data analytics

Team leadership

Stakeholder collaboration

Education

CIM Level 6

Tools

Google Ads

Meta Ads

TikTok Ads

Job description

Job Title

Marketing Manager

Department

Marketing & Commercial

Direct Reports

Marketing Executive

Reports to

Head of Marketing

Location

Cobdown Park, Cobdown Aylesford, ME20 6AU

Working Pattern

40 hours per week, including some evenings and weekends

DBS Level

Enhanced Child Barred List

About Us

The London City Lionesses are part of the Kynisca group, setting a vision and building an infrastructure in which all the players and staff can thrive.

Owned by Michele Kang, our vision for Kynisca is to:

1. Become the most pre-eminent sports organisation in the world;
2. Have a high-performance culture of winning on and off the pitch;
3. Train women as women; and
4. Motivate and inspire the next generation of girls and women.

Our Values

We Lead The Way | We Dream Big | We Get it Done | We Innovate | We Inspire our Community

Role Purpose

London City is growing it’s crowds while much of the league is standing still. This season we sold out our opening fixture against Manchester United, broke our season ticket record and currently sit third in the WSL for average attendance behind only Arsenal and Chelsea.

After a record-breaking summer, new signings and a great start of season with three main-stadium fixtures on the horizon, the opportunity now is to turn that momentum into sell-outs and a fanbase that keeps coming back.

The Marketing Manager role purpose is primarily to turn our fixtures into sell-outs, and one-off buyers into regulars. You will own the on-sale cycle and fixture plan for every home match and lead the club’s paid media strategy; finding new fans and bringing them through the gates. Attendance is the measure that matters most in this role.

We need someone who can jump in, get things done and work with the Head of Marketing and the senior leadership team to build the biggest and most loyal crowd in women’s football in London.

Main Duties/ Responsibilities

1. Attendance & On-Sale Cycle

• Own attendance. This is the single most important measure of the role: grow average and total home attendance season-on-season and hit agreed targets for every home fixture.
• Own the on-sale cycle for every home fixture (league and players cup), from fixture release to final whistle: on-sale timing and priority windows, ticket promotions, offers and bundles, and sales targets agreed with the Head of Marketing and Ticketing Manager.
• Build and deliver an integrated fixture plan for every home match, with a clear theme and reason to attend, joining up paid media, email, social, partners and matchday experience so every fixture has a plan to hit its number.
• Turn one-off buyers into regulars: brief the Marketing Executive on the CRM journeys each fixture needs (first-time attendees, lapsed buyers, season ticket holders) so that new fans come back and convert to multi-match and season tickets.
• Report on each fixture afterwards (attendance, sell-through, new vs returning buyers, channel performance) and feed the learnings into the next on-sale cycle.

2. Paid Media Strategy

• Own the club’s paid media strategy: set the approach, audiences, budget split and KPIs across social, search, programmatic and offline channels, with a clear line from spend to tickets sold.
• Plan, buy and optimise campaigns for every fixture and key moment, with always-on activity to keep building the audience between fixtures.
• Be constantly looking for new ways to find new fans: test new audiences, channels, creative and partnerships across London and the South East, learn fast and scale what works.
• Measure performance (cost per acquisition, cost per ticket, return on ad spend) and use it to shape budget decisions and make the case for investment.

3. Database growth

• Support the ME to ensure all organic data capture processes are optimised
• Develop proactive data processes to supercharge growth from priority audiences
• Grow the depth of data we hold on our fans
• Use this data to make decisions and build targeted direct marketing campaigns to maximise fan value / revenues

4. Brand, Creative & Budget

• Bring ‘The Most Ambitious Club in Women’s Football’ and ‘Expect Anything’ to life in every fixture campaign and apply the new brand guidelines consistently across all marketing.
• Manage design and creative output, briefing our graphic designer or external agencies to deliver on time and on brand.
• Manage the marketing budget: allocate spend across fixtures and channels

5. Matchday Experience

• Make sure every fixture theme carries through to the matchday, working with the Head of Marketing, Community and Fan Engagement Manager and the Marketing Executive (who leads sports presentation and run-of-show) so that what we promise in the campaign is what fans get on the day.
• Use fan surveys and matchday experience scores to understand what keeps fans coming back, and act on the results.
• Attend all home matches to oversee the fan experience and gauge fan reaction.

6. Leading & Developing the Marketing Executive

• Line manage and support the Marketing Executive: set objectives, track against them and hold regular 1:1s
• Support a development plan that builds the role towards a Digital Marketing Manager position over time, covering CRM, analytics, the website and the future app, plus ticketing and fan insight.
• Give them room to own those areas, and use their CRM, analytics and ticketing insight as a core input to fixture planning and on-sale decisions.
• Work as one joined-up team with the Head of Marketing, contributing to audience insight, ticketing dashboards and the season-long marketing plan.
• Engage players in marketing, ticketing and community activity, and support the WSL Football marketing team on joint objectives around attendance, awareness and following.

7. Other ad-hoc duties as assigned from time-to-time by management

• Other ad-hoc duties as assigned from time-to-time by management

Club Accountabilities

1. To comply with all Club policies, procedures and practices and carry out your role diligently and in the best interests of the Club
2. To lead with a proactive, high-performance mindset and actively contribute to a winning culture on and off the pitch
3. To behave in a manner consistent with Club values and policies
4. To ensure compliance with all relevant legal, regulatory, ethical and social requirements.
5. To keep confidential any information gained regarding the Club and its personnel.

What we are looking for

Qualifications and Training

Essential

• Safeguarding (may be obtained once in the role)

Desirable

• Relevant marketing related qualification e.g. CIM Level 6

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Demonstrable experience, likely to be 4 years or more, in high-profile brand or marketing roles with proven success, including direct accountability for selling tickets, events or products against targets.
• A track record of running integrated campaigns end-to-end, from proposition and creative through media to conversion.
• Strong hands-on paid media experience (Meta, TikTok, Google and beyond), including managing budgets and briefing and managing agencies.
• Confident with data: ticketing and CRM data, analytics and dashboards, and turning numbers into decisions.
• Experience line managing and developing others, and a genuine wish to see their team outgrow their roles.
• Passion for women’s football, and commitment to the growth of the game.
• Insight-led creativity, with a love for measuring impact and refining approaches.
• Experience of attendance driving, working in live sports environments is highly desirable.
• The postholder should be open to travel and working weekends and weeknights (mainly to attend football matches).

Characteristics

• Passionate about women’s football and broader women’s sport culture.
• Entrepreneurial spirit and ability to deal with matrix stakeholders & ambiguity.
• High standards of personal integrity and EQ.
• Comfortable and able to work on own initiative
• Has a learning mindset; is keen to continue their self-development and keep up to date with best practice and learning opportunities
• Continually seeks to improve efficiency and performance
• Seeks out and embraces new ways of thinking and working – not afraid to fail.

London City Lionesses is committed to safeguarding, health and safety, and equality, diversity, and inclusion. We prioritise the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, the well-being of all staff and visitors, and fostering an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and supported. These responsibilities are shared by all staff and volunteers, with safeguarding, safety, and inclusivity being collective priorities.

All staff are required to adhere to the Club’s policies, complete relevant training, and actively contribute to maintaining a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment. This includes timely reporting of concerns, compliance with health and safety regulations, and upholding the Club’s zero-tolerance approach to discrimination.

For certain roles, additional checks, such as Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks or health assessments, may be required.