Partnership Sales Manager

Chelsea Football Club; Greater London; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Chelsea Football Club invites an accomplished sponsorship sales professional to drive new revenue through shirt, training kit, sleeve and global partnerships. You will source prospects, tailor proposals, and steer deals from initial talks to signature, coordinating with PMO, Insights, Digital Marketing and Activation teams.

The role emphasizes strategic relationship-building, governance through due diligence, and long-term partner management to monetise club assets and support growth.

Qualifications

• Knowledge of the sports marketing industry and football sponsorship.
• Ability to engage senior level executives and shape tailored proposals.
• Strong negotiation skills to secure optimal partnerships.
• Clear communicator who works well in a team and under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Source, assess and qualify new partnership prospects through networks and leads.
• Craft sales presentations and proposals tailored to brands.
• Determine rights and assets to maximise value in partnership deals.
• Execute due diligence from reputation, legal and financial perspectives.
• Engage key stakeholders to integrate products or services with partners.
• Negotiate rights with Commercial Director and Board approval.
• Coordinate contracting with legal and finance teams.
• Maintain relationships with new partners for ongoing delivery of rights.

Skills

Sports marketing

Executive engagement

Negotiation

Communication

Job description

• To be responsible for driving new sponsorship revenue for the club through both rights fee and budget relieving VIK where appropriate, incorporating all levels of club partnership (shirt, training kit, sleeve, global, regional and Women's bespoke partnerships).
• To work closely with key club stakeholders, agencies, as well as using personal networks, to source and engage viable partnership prospects and to take such prospects through the partnership process from initial conversation to contract signature.
• To interact with the other members of the Commercial team and the wider club, to drive revenue opportunities as appropriate.
• To be flexible and adaptable to the commercial landscape and the commercial requirements of the club.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES:

• To source, assess and evaluate new partnership prospects through personal contacts, club contacts, agency leads or outbound approaches.
• To craft sales presentations and proposals tailored to the individual brand.
• To determine the applicable rights for the level of partnership, budget and available assets to ensure the value of club assets are maximised, liaising with the Sponsorship PMO, Insights team, Digital Marketing team and Partnership Activation team as required.
• To carry out the required due diligence from a reputation, legal and financial perspective.
• To engage all key stakeholders across the club to ensure viability where a product or service is to be integrated or where there is potential crossover with a partner, service or supplier.
• To negotiate and agree rights subject to Commercial Director and Board approval.
• To liaise with the Director of Finance regarding the payment schedule as required.
• To gain Board approval to progress to contracting.
• To work with legal through the contracting process concluding in contract signature.
• Where a prospect does not progress to contract stage or signature, feedback should be gained as to why the partnership didn’t progress. Dialogue should be maintained with the brand lead as appropriate to keep the relationship in case there is an opportunity to revisit a partnership in the future.
• To work with the Partnerships Activation team on the partner onboarding process.
• To keep a relationship with the new partner as appropriate, to ensure delivery of rights as agreed and to provide relationship continuity.
• To assist SportFive, CSM and other agencies we may engage with partnership prospects as required.
• To manage and develop my direct report(s), providing mentoring, support and guidance in the sponsorship sales role.
• To work closely with and assist the Sponsorship Sales team, the wider commercial team and other departments as required.

Key Objectives

Short Term

• To develop and maintain relationships with brands and agencies to enable discussions to progress in the longer term.
• To think outside the box, being agile and flexible to provide proof of concept or shorter term solutions during the challenging pandemic period, which in some circumstances means many brands are not able to commit to long term partnerships in the current climate.
• To build a stronger contact network and prospect pipeline within the club making us less reliant on third party agencies.
• To continue to deliver new partnerships maximising the value of the club assets and monetising new assets to increase revenues.
• To help reduce budgetary spend across the club by sourcing VIK supply agreements where appropriate.
• To further develop management and leadership skills to facilitate the taking on of greater responsibility and career progression.

Long Term

• To increase the sponsorship revenues whilst maintaining the club’s sponsorship USPs by 25% (to be discussed and agreed).
• To have a sponsorship sales team that consistently generates its own business reducing the need for third party commissions.

MEASURES OF PERFORMANCE:

• KPIs are set each year to measure the performance of the role which will be related to commercial revenue generated each season taking into account the assets available and the commercial landscape.

PERSONAL SPECIFICATION:

Qualifications:

• A strong knowledge of the sports marketing industry, the football landscape and how sponsorship fits with the wider marketing mix.
• The ability to engage with senior level executives from prospective companies to inform them of the opportunity, listen and understand their requirements and shape a proposal that meets their marketing needs.
• To have strong negotiation skills to ensure the best commercial partnership is achieved for the club but also which will provide an opportunity to drive success for the new partner.
• A good communicator, who is able to work as part of a team and on their own.
• The ability to find practical solutions to issues that may arise from time to time.
• The ability to work effectively in a pressured environment.
• The ability to be flexible and adapt to the ever changing sponsorship and commercial landscape.
• An understanding of the digital marketing landscape with a key focus on social media assets, reach and values.
• Experience of working in a sponsorship sales environment.
• A network within the brand, football, agency and wider sports sector.
• A knowledge of the contracting process and IP.
• A knowledge and understanding of the rights which can be delivered in practice and areas which are difficult to achieve.
• To embody the club’s BLUE behaviours (Brave, Lead, Unity, Edge) in the approach to work and interaction with others
• To adhere to the club’s policies and procedures, including Health & Safety, Financial Authorisation, Confidentiality and GDPR.
• To act as an ambassador for diversity, equality, and inclusion, and demonstrate a positive commitment by treating others fairly in line with our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy and reporting any acts of discrimination through appropriate channels
• To create a safe environment and act to protect all young people and vulnerable adults that are either in your care or attending club premises, and report any concerns to the Safeguarding Lead
• To report any misconduct or suspected misconduct to the HR Department.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

At Chelsea we recognise that the diversity of our people is one of our greatest strengths and we are taking positive action to ensure our existing colleagues and job applicants can fully be themselves and bring their own unique experiences and perspectives to Chelsea FC. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.

If you need reasonable adjustments made to the recruitment process, please reach out to your recruiter, who will be able to advise and support you.

Chelsea FC is fully committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all children, young people and adults at risk (vulnerable groups). We therefore require all successful applicants to complete a DBS Check prior to starting employment. Depending on the role, successful applicants may also be required to undergo other child protection screening where appropriate.