Senior Manager - Partnerships - FIFA World Cup 2026

Wasserman operates at the epicenter of sports, music and entertainment, serving talent, brands and properties on a global scale. Our brands and properties division works with iconic brands and rights holders, supporting business growth through all marketing disciplines. We're a trusted partner to every major league, team and venue, building meaningful connections between brands, properties and fans.

Fixed Term: Jan 2026 – Dec 2026

We are seeking an experienced Senior Manager – Partnerships to lead the delivery of a high-profile global brand partnership campaign for the FIFA World Cup 2026.

This role is ideal for someone with strong leadership skills, deep expertise in brand partnerships and rights delivery, and experience managing complex, multi-market campaigns in fast-paced environments.

Reporting to the Senior Director, you will oversee the global account team, manage client and rights-holder relationships, and drive campaign success while identifying opportunities for exponential growth. A key focus of this role will be approvals management, ensuring the correct use of intellectual property across global and local activations.

WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING:

• Act as Approvals Lead, analysing global and local campaigns, providing clear feedback, and securing approvals from rights holders for IP use

• Lead the account team to deliver best-in-class client service and campaign execution

• Oversee campaign planning, resourcing, multi-stakeholder coordination, rights delivery, and post-campaign reporting

• Own programme execution, including budget planning, tracking, and delivery accountability

• Lead client communications across ongoing workstreams, acting as a trusted senior point of contact

• Develop and maintain strong relationships with senior brand stakeholders and key rights holders

• Provide strategic guidance to the account and approvals teams to ensure brand, business, and rights-holder objectives are met

• Oversee team resourcing and workloads across campaign delivery and approvals workflows

• Manage global ambassador and talent agreements, working with talent and legal teams to navigate contractual nuances

WHAT YOU NEED:

• Proven experience leading teams delivering multiple complex workstreams in fast-paced environments

• Strong brand partnerships and rights delivery planning experience, particularly in football

• Experience leading approvals processes, including IP usage, brand compliance, and rights-holder collaboration

• Ability to analyse campaigns and provide clear, structured, client-facing feedback

• Experience advising clients on partnership activation strategies

• Football tournament experience highly desirable, ideally with FIFA, UEFA, or similar global rights holders

• Excellent organisational skills and strong attention to detail, with the ability to manage approvals workflows effectively

• Confident, polished client-facing communication skills

• Experience managing or working closely with approvals teams

• Language skills preferred: Spanish and/or Portuguese

Wasserman does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, age, national origin, marital status, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other reason prohibited by law in provision of employment opportunities and benefits.

Wasserman is proudly an equal opportunity employer. We are always searching for the most passionate and talented people from all backgrounds and experiences to join us.

20 years into our evolution, we continue to expand services and geographies across the exciting and extraordinary worlds of sports, music, entertainment and culture.

We are committed to making a meaningful difference and driving real change when it comes to diversity equity and inclusion — not only among our employees, but in how we serve clients and push the industry at large.

If this sounds like a place you’d like to work, let’s talk!

Wasserman is a global leader in sports, music and entertainment. Founded in 2002, Wasserman represents many of the world’s most iconic sports and entertainment figures, musical artists, brands and properties, empowering them to shape culture and captivate audiences worldwide.