Manager, Football Business Strategy

Global Sports Jobs Limited; New York (NY); On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

The NFL is seeking a Senior Project Manager for Football Operations to lead strategic initiatives, oversee research, testing, and development across Future of Football workstreams, and collaborate with clubs, vendors, sponsors, and internal teams.

Onsite at an NFL office or stadium, you will manage multiple project workstreams, develop executive-ready materials, and guide cross-functional teams through complex programs with substantial timelines and travel demands.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field.
• Experience in football operations, sports technology, data, or AI.
• Proven ability to manage multi-stakeholder projects with cross-functional teams.
• Excellent attention to detail, organization, and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Plan, implement, and oversee strategic initiatives for Football Operations.
• Manage the Future of Football portfolio with stakeholder alignment and reporting.
• Support budgeting, forecasting, risk management, and KPI reporting.
• Lead cross-functional projects and develop executive-level materials.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder management

Executive communication

Budgeting & forecasting

Data & AI familiarity

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Microsoft Office

PowerPoint

Excel

Job description

About the Role

This role plans, implements, and executes initiatives that support Football Operations strategic priorities. It leads research, testing, and development to evaluate and implement innovations across Future of Football workstreams while managing a portfolio of high-impact projects. It addresses a diverse set of football business challenges by partnering regularly with internal departments, clubs, vendors, sponsors, and other external stakeholders. It may also oversee interns, rotational analysts, coordinators, or project-based contributors supporting Football Business Strategy and Operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the planning, execution, and oversight of strategic initiatives that support Football Operations priorities, including football innovation, game operations and policy, international growth, and long-range organisational planning.
• Manage the Future of Football portfolio, including technology evaluations, pilot programmes, stakeholder alignment, testing plans, implementation support, and performance reporting for Football Operations leadership and club stakeholders.
• Support Football Operations business planning, budget development, forecasting, enterprise risk management, KPI reporting, and strategic decision-making through financial, operational, and scenario analysis.
• Serve as the project manager for football technology and data initiatives, including club analytics devices, data-sharing programmes, operational technology deployments, game day support, and vendor-supported innovation efforts.
• Develop executive-level presentations, recommendations, memoranda, and reporting for senior leadership, the Competition Committee, Future of Football Committee, Technology Committee, and other key stakeholder groups.
• Lead vendor evaluation, procurement, contract administration, payment tracking, and RFP processes across assigned workstreams, including technology platforms, football operations services, and innovation partnerships.
• Partner with internal and external stakeholders to identify opportunities to improve football operations through emerging technologies, automation, data, and artificial intelligence.
• Support international football development initiatives that strengthen football ecosystems, expand participation pathways, and support the long-term growth of the game globally.
• Coordinate complex cross-functional projects and stakeholder engagement, ensuring alignment across clubs, League departments, vendors, and external football organisations while delivering against established timelines and strategic objectives.
• Maintain detailed project plans, timelines, decision logs, budgets, and status reporting for assigned initiatives, and support League tentpole events, football technology testing, ad hoc projects, and evolving organisational needs.

Required Experience & Qualifications

• Minimum 5-7+ years of experience.
• Bachelor's degree.
• Experience in football operations, sports technology, data, and AI, with familiarity across emerging technologies, integration, and adoption workflows.
• Experience managing strategic, operational, technology, or consulting projects with multiple stakeholders and concurrent workstreams.
• Excellent attention to detail, organisation, judgment, and follow-through.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to tailor information for executive, club, technical, and operational audiences.
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly PowerPoint and Excel.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex business, technical, and operational information into clear recommendations and executive-ready materials.
• Collaborative relationship-builder who can work effectively across a small team and lead cross-functional stakeholder groups.
• Proactive, adaptable self-starter who can manage ambiguity, prioritise competing demands, and drive work to completion.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with budgeting, forecasting, vendor management, procurement, contracting, or RFP processes.
• Familiarity with project management and collaboration tools.

Workplace

• This role requires onsite presence at an NFL office or stadium location; remote and/or hybrid working options are not offered.
• No relocation assistance will be provided.
• Ability to support game day, evening, weekend, and tentpole-event responsibilities when required by assigned projects.
• Approximately 25% travel, including travel to League and club events, meetings, technology tests, and other Football Operations activities.

Salary

• The NFL expects to hire for this position near the middle of the range; only in truly rare and exceptional circumstances, where an external candidate has experience, credentials or expertise that far exceed those required or expected for the position, would the NFL consider paying a salary or rate near the higher end of the range.

Benefits & Perks

• Comprehensive benefits offerings.

About the Company

The NFL is committed to building an inclusive work environment that reflects its fan base, providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all employees and applicants without regard to status as protected by applicable federal, state, and local laws. Its core values include respect, integrity, team responsibility, and resiliency, while its leadership attributes include building talent, executing with precision, inspiring others, living its values, knowing the business, and thinking big.