Senior Partnerships Manager - CFCW

JOB TITLE: Senior Partnerships Manager - CFCW

DEPARTMENT: CFCW Commercial

LOCATION: Stamford Bridge

CONTRACT: Permanent, Full Time

JOB FUNCTION:   World class strategic partner management with a view to delivering industry-leading servicing and maximising commercial investment into Chelsea FC Women

Closing date: 15th May

We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. In the event that we receive a large number of applications, the position may be filled before the listed closing date. To avoid missing out, please submit your application at your earliest convenience.

Main Responsibilities:

•      Management of CFCW partnerships (accounts to be defined) in line with their business objectives and partnership KPIs, ensuring all contractual rights are delivered in a timely manner and to the highest standard.
•      Planning, implementation and evaluation of effective partner campaigns using CFCW assets and IP. This includes a proactive approach to campaign ideas, delivery of campaign assets in the correct specs, working to deadlines with the marketing team, and capturing and reporting campaigns once live.
•      Work with the rest of team to deliver relevant partners’ contracted appearances with the Chelsea FC Women’s First Team, including meet and greets, filming and photo shoots, and official club events.
•      Manage the women’s rights component of club-wide Chelsea FC partnerships, working closely with the CFC central partnerships team to ensure CFCW IP and assets are appropriately activated and represented within those partnerships.
•      Collaborate with the CFC central partnerships team to ensure alignment across club-wide partner activations, escalating any conflicts or opportunities to the Head of Partnerships as appropriate.
•      Support the Head of Partnerships in maintaining a culture that ensures club partners are able to network amongst themselves and work effectively with other members of the partnership team, when opportunities for collaboration arise.
•      Delivery of relevant partners’ activations domestically and in global markets, including CSR programmes, matchday experiential, and pre-season events.
•      Work with the club’s monitoring agency and utilise evaluation tools to track partner return on investment and extract insights to advise partners on best use of branded assets.
•      Track and report on the partnership servicing budget for relevant accounts, ensuring expenditure is managed in line with agreed parameters and escalating variances to the Head of Partnerships.
•      Work with the Head of Partnerships to build best-in-class case studies for use across the partnership and sales teams.
•      Develop and maintain excellent relationships with all internal stakeholders to ensure partners are successfully integrated across CFCW, including partner integration into club marketing campaigns, events, CSR projects and player ambassador activity.
•      Develop expertise on relevant partners, their industries and competitors within their category.
•      Lead meetings with internal stakeholders, club partners, their agencies and other external parties.
•      Identify relevant industry news and insights and communicate them to the department.
•      Identify commercial opportunities to grow and develop club partnerships, including integration into events, CSR projects and player ambassador activity.
•      Proactively identify upsell and growth opportunities across the partner portfolio, working with the Head of Partnerships to develop proposals that expand investment and deepen partner commitment ahead of renewal windows.
•      Work alongside the Head of Partnerships to create a positive team environment in which proactivity and professionalism are encouraged, enabling CFCW to deliver world class partner servicing and adhere to Club values.

Measures of Performance:

•      Delivers against business objectives and KPIs.
•      Develops and maintains a healthy and proactive relationship with all partners.
•      Develops and maintains first class relationships with internal stakeholders, and collaborates well across the CFCW commercial team and the broader CFC partnerships function.
•      Partner activation plans and contracted rights are delivered on time and to the highest standard.
•      Partnership servicing budget is tracked accurately and reported to the Head of Partnerships on a regular basis.

Person Specification:

•      Significant experience within the sponsorship or sports marketing industry.
•      Experience of account managing brands, ideally with exposure to global activation.
•      A genuine interest in and understanding of women’s football and the broader women’s sport commercial landscape, including its growth trajectory and cultural significance.
•      Experience of activating brand campaigns across social media and digital channels.
•      Strategic and analytical capability, with experience measuring and articulating ROI and sponsorship performance.
•      Approach all partner relationships with a commercial mindset, consistently identifying opportunities to grow the value of each account through upsell, expanded rights packages and early renewal conversations, supported by data and insight on partner performance.
•      A commercial, results-driven individual with entrepreneurial capabilities.
•      Excellent communication and influencing skills, with confidence presenting to senior stakeholders.
•      An experienced team leader, capable of working with more junior team members to manage workflow and ensure team resources are utilised efficiently.
•      A proven team player who is calm, professional, works well under pressure and is diligent and detail orientated.
•      Willing to work across locations and to be flexible with working hours, including weekends and occasional international travel.

Our Expectations:

• 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. 

This Job Description is not intended to be exhaustive; the duties and responsibilities may therefore vary over time according to the changing needs of the Club.