Sports Partnerships Lead - Activation & Strategy

US015 United Entertainment Group; New York (NY); On-site; USD 55,000 - 68,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision

401K

Life insurance

Disability insurance

Paid time off

Travel assistance

Wellness programming

Job summary

Edelman in New York/Los Angeles is seeking a Manager, Sports Partnerships to support our sports rights and partnerships business. You will translate client objectives into compelling marketing strategies and programs, lead activation and content ideas, and manage day‑to‑day client relations with agencies, rights holders, and internal teams.

The role requires 3–5 years in sports marketing/partnerships, strong strategic thinking, and excellent communication.

Qualifications

• Approximately 3–5 years of relevant experience within a sports marketing or partnership agency, team, league, rights holder, network, media company, brand, or related organization, with direct experience in sports partnerships, sponsorships, or activation.
• Strong knowledge of and passion for the sports industry, including an understanding of the teams, leagues, athletes, media platforms, rights holders, and emerging trends shaping the sports marketing landscape.
• Demonstrated experience managing projects and workstreams with multiple internal and external stakeholders, from strategic development through execution.
• Experience working directly with clients and/or external partners, with the ability to build strong relationships and establish credibility across different levels of an organization.
• Strong strategic and creative thinking skills, with the ability to connect client business and marketing objectives to relevant opportunities within sports and culture.
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate ideas and recommendations clearly, confidently, and succinctly.
• Strong organizational and project management skills, with demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, timelines, and deliverables in a fast‑moving environment.
• Ability to independently drive work forward, anticipate needs and challenges, and take ownership of projects while knowing when to engage senior leadership.
• Strong research and analytical skills, with the ability to synthesize information and translate industry developments and data into meaningful insights and recommendations.
• Working knowledge of project budgets, scopes, pricing structures, and account financial management, including an understanding of over‑service and its implications.

Responsibilities

• Manage projects and key workstreams from strategic development through execution and launch, ensuring programs are delivered on time, on budget, and at a high level of quality.
• Develop activation and content ideas that effectively integrate brands into sports and authentically communicate key brand messages to target audiences.
• Lead day‑to‑day execution of partnership activations and programs, anticipating challenges, identifying solutions, and ensuring seamless completion of deliverables.
• Develop and manage client‑facing materials including presentations, recommendations, status reports, activation plans, partnership evaluations, dashboards, recaps, and other strategic documents.
• Monitor client budgets and project financials, understanding scopes, pricing structures, budget parameters, and potential over‑service while partnering with account leadership to maintain financial discipline.
• Maintain a strong understanding of clients' competitors, relevant categories, consumer trends, and developments across sports, media, entertainment, and culture.
• Collaborate across UEG business practices and disciplines to identify opportunities to bring additional capabilities, thinking, and solutions to existing and prospective clients.
• Contribute to organic account growth and new business efforts through research, ideation, proposal development, presentation preparation, and pitches as appropriate.
• Provide direction and mentorship to Coordinators and other junior team members, helping prioritize work and reviewing deliverables.

Job description

Edelman in New York/Los Angeles is seeking a Manager, Sports Partnerships to support our sports rights and partnerships business. You will translate client objectives into compelling marketing strategies and programs, lead activation and content ideas, and manage day‑to‑day client relations with agencies, rights holders, and internal teams.

The role requires 3–5 years in sports marketing/partnerships, strong strategic thinking, and excellent communication.