Senior Partnerships Manager

About Us

Six Nations Rugby is the official organising body of the annual men's, women's and U20s Six Nations Championships and the Autumn Nations Series. Working in partnership with its member unions and federations in England (RFU), France (FFR), Ireland (IRFU), Italy (FIR), Scotland (SRU) and Wales (WRU), Six Nations Rugby has responsibility for the commercialisation of centralised commercial rights, and the promotion and operation of the renowned Six Nations Championships and Autumn Nations Series.

The Six Nations Championship is the oldest international rugby tournament in the world, dating back to its original incarnation in 1883 and expanding to its current format of six teams in 2000. It consists of three highly competitive annual tournaments across men's, women's and U20s rugby. The media rights and certain commercial rights of the Autumn Nations Series have recently been centralised, with Six Nations Rugby now supporting the growth and development of these matches for all six unions.

About the role

Six Nations Rugby is recruiting for a Senior Partnerships Manager to join the Partnerships team at a hugely exciting time for the organisation, and sport in general. Across its Championships, Six Nations Rugby has seen huge growth and engagement with global fans, and the ambition to tell the stories at the heart of these competitions will continue to be a key priority for the business.

The Senior Partnerships Manager will be a highly motivated and entrepreneurial individual with an understanding and passion for the sports landscape and delivering best in class partnerships.

With ambitions to be known for delivering truly unmissable experiences for fans, on a year-round basis, Six Nations Rugby is at the forefront of exploring ways to reach and engage a global audience. As such, this role offers an incredible opportunity, at a pivotal point in the sports history, to play a vital role in using partnerships to tell these stories.

The Senior Partnerships Manager role is to manage partners, delivering and implementing an innovative, best-in-class partnerships programme for Six Nations Rugby.

You will manage partner accounts including the Official Hotel Partner and Timing Partner. You will also support supplier relationships to manage costs across partnerships to support and achieve strategic business objectives. The right person will bring a great deal of experience and knowledge on how we build great partnerships and achieve KPI's and strategic objectives across the business.

You will work closely with the Head of Partnerships and Licensing, Director of Marketing and Partnerships, Director of Growth and the marketing and content departments to deliver the partnerships programme for Six Nations Rugby, while also being a key figure in the partnerships team providing best in class service for all partners.

Working closely with the HOP you will be a lead working on key partners including the Official Timing and Hotel partners and, retail accounts and the link between internal teams, agencies, unions, broadcasters and partners on delivering all rights for your accounts. This role requires a deep understanding of the global sporting commercial landscape, the ability to develop long lasting and deep-rooted relationships with senior decision-makers, and a demonstrable track-record of managing multi-million pound sponsorship accounts in multiple markets.

As Senior Partnerships Manager you will:

• Be a key part of the innovative Six Nations partnerships programme, including current and new partners in multiple territories
• Lead & manage key Partnership accounts and deliver best in class service to your allocated partners
• Work closely with the Head of Partnerships to maximise and achieve strategic objectives for partners and Six Nations
• Oversee the onboarding of your allocated Six Nations partners, while building excellent relationships with all partners
• Create excellent working relationships with 6 Nations team, partners, broadcasters and Unions

We're looking for:

• Minimum 5 years-experience managing partnerships end-to-end
• Someone who wants to make a difference, and is an innovator and leader
• Entrepreneurial spirit – can work independently to deliver
• Someone who wants to make a difference but isn't afraid to do the day-to-day work to make partnerships successful.
• Clear understanding of match day assets and deliver across multiple territories and countries.
• Extensive experience at an equivalent sporting level for a multi territory sports brand
• Experience and proven track record delivering best in class partnership programmes
• Knowledge and experience managing in bowl and broadcast rights
• Experience managing research organizations and suppliers
• Proven record in delivery of digital rights
• Knowledge and management of ticketing and hospitality requirements essential
• Well-networked with an understanding of European commercial markets
• Relentless focus on results and ROI - you have big ambitions
• A brilliant communicator - you're a storyteller who adapts to your audience
• Excellent cross-functional collaboration; creativity; and project management skills in rapidly changing environment
• Licensing experience beneficial
• Forward thinking and bringing new energy and experiences to our team
• Ability to read, write and speak French and Italian are not essential, but would be beneficial

These are the core competencies we're looking for:

Creativity & Innovation
- Ability to generate and translate an idea into a product or service that creates value for business.

Drive & Energy
- Self–motivated and driven to succeed, focused on results and passionate about the job.

Communicating with Impact
- Ability to effectively exchange information, news, ideas and meaning in a business environment whilst building trust