Partnerships Manager

The Women's Super League Football Limited (WSL Football) was established on 12th August 2024, after approval from all clubs across the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL), Barclays Women's Super League 2 (BWSL2) and the Subway Women's League Cup. This means that for the first time in English women's club football, there is an independent entity charged with growing both leagues on behalf of its member clubs, with each club acting as a shareholder in the new company.

The incorporation of WSL Football marks the beginning of a new era for women's professional football in England. Led by our CEO, Nikki Doucet, the new company is founded on a new vision and mission to transform women's football by building the most distinctive, competitive and entertaining women's football club competition in the world for the players and fans of today and tomorrow.

Women's football in England has witnessed unprecedented growth in recent years, marked by increased fan engagement, rising attendance at matches, and a surge in participation at all levels. WSL Football is fiercely committed to building on this momentum by creating a thriving landscape which prioritises the welfare and development of players, fosters and excites a vibrant fan community, and nurtures the sport's growth.

To support us on this exciting next stage of transformational growth, we are searching for a Partnerships Manager who will play a leading role in managing and activating WSL Football's growing roster of commercial partners.

What will you be doing?

• Overall responsibility for the management and delivery of a selection of WSL's Football commercial partners.
• Liaising with internal (Performance Development, League Operations, Broadcast, Partnerships, Marcomms and Content) and external teams (Clubs and agencies) to ensure successful rights delivery, including troubleshooting any delivery issues.
• Drive value through impactful activation programmes and ensure alignment with both the strategic priorities of WSL Football and the partner.
• Oversee liaison with BWSL and BWSL2 clubs on management and delivery of club-led commercial rights for WSL Football partners.
• Oversee the creation of ground dressing assets each season and approvals for Club and WSL Football Partners.
• Manage the insights and research support for allotted partners to demonstrate the ongoing success of the partnership.
• Support the Head of Commercial in delivering partnership renewals with key partners as relevant within each partnership term.
• Manage and oversee the budget requirements across allotted partners, liaising with other divisions and teams as required.
• Champion world-class service delivery of league and club services; obtain customer feedback and make any improvements as necessary.
• Executes additional tasks as required to meet the Women's Super League Football's changing priorities.
• Comply with all company policies and procedures to ensure the highest standards of health, safety, and well-being can be maintained.
• As part of the Women's Super League Football's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.

What are we looking for?
Essential for the role:

• Excellent relationship and stakeholder management skills at all levels.
• Ability to understand brand objectives to shape partnership strategies that deliver both Return on Investment (ROI) and Return on Objectives (ROO).
• Proven experience in leading and developing partner activation plans and campaigns.
• Proven experience in sponsorship programme creation and sale/negotiation.
• Experience working with cross-functional project teams.
• Outside of the box thinking and an ability to challenge convention to drive projects end-to-end from concept to creation.
• Digital native.
• Proven experience in working with commercial contracts and legal teams.
• Ability to blend creativity with commerciality and prioritise key revenue-driving or value-additive activity for WSL Football and our Partners.
• Proven experience in managing and supporting direct reports and channelling their professional growth.
• Skills and experience of working alongside Marketing, Content, Brand and Communications.
• Strategic thinker able to consider wider and longer-term impacts.
• A desire to learn and continuously improve, ensuring the Commercial & Partnerships team is seen at the forefront of innovation.
• Experience in sponsorship research and insight measurement.
• Interest and knowledge of sport and sponsorship markets.

Beneficial to have:

• Relevant qualification/degree.
• Interest and knowledge of women's football.
• Understanding of the digital marketing landscape.
• Experience of working with broadcasters and the media.
• Strong presentation and reporting skills.

Important notice to all candidates...
Please note, we are expecting a high volume of applications for this position; therefore, as a requirement, we expect all candidates to upload a covering letter as well as their CV. Due to the Christmas period, we are hopeful to host the 1st stage interviews on either the 16th or 17th of December via Microsoft Teams, and the 2nd stage will likely be in the new year at the head office in Farringdon.

Living the values through our behaviours:

• FOR THE LOVE OF THE WOMEN'S GAME - Every decision we make drives the growth, quality, and impact of women's football for future generations.
• GREATNESS NEVER SETTLES - We have the relentless drive to keep the women's game growing and reaching for more. We dare to push boundaries, innovate boldly and continuously rewrite the playbook.
• FIND A WAY TO WIN, TOGETHER - We move as one – lifting each other and having each other's backs. Together, we unite players, clubs, fans, and communities to achieve greatness.
• CHAMPION THE FEMALE ATHLETE, ON AND OFF THE PITCH - We celebrate and support female athletes, empowering them to shine in their football careers and beyond.
• PUT FANS IN THE FRONT ROW - Fans are the VIPs at the heart of our game. We must thrill, inspire, and connect with them to build lifelong loyalty.

Please note that the Women's Super League Football office is based in
Farringdon in Central London
. To find out more details about the organisation, please click here to be directed to the Women's Super League Football website.

Women's Super League Football welcomes applications from everyone. If you have any particular requirements in respect of the recruitment or interview process, please mention this during your application.

As part of the Women's Super League Football's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.