Head of Partnership Innovation

This role will define and lead how Chelsea Football Club presents itself to prospective sponsorship partners, owning the end-to-end experience of engaging with the Club during the sales process. Sitting at the intersection of creative, strategy, and revenue, this individual will be responsible for developing distinctive, brand-led commercial ideas and experiences that set Chelsea FC apart in competitive pitch environments. The role will focus on ideating and shaping innovative sponsorship concepts, sales narratives, and prospect experiences that go beyond standard industry assets, ensuring Chelsea FC consistently presents tailored, compelling and differentiated propositions that resonate with each individual brand.

All external-facing outputs for new business, from sales presentations and Heads of Terms documents through to prospect experiences, itineraries, and premium gifting, will sit within this role, ensuring every touchpoint is creatively considered, strategically aligned, and executed to the highest standard.

• Commercial Platform Development
  • Lead the ideation of innovative, brand-specific sponsorship concepts and assets that differentiate Chelsea FC from competitors in new business pitches.
  • Develop tailored sponsorship ideas and assets based on a deep understanding of each prospective partner’s objectives, challenges, and audience.
  • Move beyond standard industry offering, creating “never seen before” or highly customised concepts that position Chelsea FC as the most relevant and forward-thinking Partner.
  • Work closely with internal teams to validate ideas and ensure all proposed concepts are feasible and deliverable.
• Deal Narrative & Commercial Storytelling
  • Shape how Chelsea FC tells its story in pitch environments, ensuring every proposal is clear, compelling, and built around the brand’s needs.
  • Oversee the development of Heads of Terms documents and supporting materials, ensuring they are simple, compelling and easy to understand.
  • Translate creative ideas into commercially persuasive narratives that strengthen the overall proposition and support deal conversion.
  • Partner closely with the commercial sales team to elevate the quality and effectiveness of every pitch.
• Creative Direction (Decks & Design)
  • Lead and develop the sponsorship design function, setting the creative benchmark for all new business materials.
  • Oversee the creation of best-in-class sales presentations, ensuring they are visually distinctive, strategically sharp, and tailored to each prospective partner.
  • Ensure Chelsea FC’s visual and narrative output consistently stands out against competitors in high-value pitch situations.
• Prospect Experience & Premium Touchpoints
  • Own the design and delivery of standout experiences for prospective partners across Stamford Bridge, Cobham, and international markets.
  • Create thoughtfully designed itineraries, matchday experiences, and interactions that bring Chelsea FC’s proposition to life in a tangible and memorable way.
  • Oversee all prospect-facing touchpoints, including invitations, gifting, and hosting, ensuring every detail reflects a premium, considered, and differentiated approach.

• Develop distinctive, brand-led commercial ideas that clearly differentiate Chelsea FC in competitive pitch environments.
• Improve the quality, creativity, and effectiveness of all sales materials, contributing to stronger engagement and higher conversion rates.
• Deliver standout prospect experiences that enhance brand perception and support new business outcomes.
• Ensure all external-facing materials are clear, compelling, and aligned to individual brand objectives.
• Successfully lead and develop a high-performing creative and operations team.
• Build strong alignment with commercial sales leadership, contributing meaningfully to the winning of high-value partnerships.

• Experience
  • Significant experience within a brand or agency environment with a strong understanding of how brands are pitched to and how partnership decisions are made.
  • Experience working on new business pitches, sponsorship strategy, or brand partnerships within a commercial or agency setting.
  • Proven experience developing creative, differentiated ideas or campaigns designed to win business.
  • Experience leading creative, design, or strategic teams.
• Skills and Behaviours
  • Highly creative thinker, with a track record of generating original, differentiated ideas that stand out in competitive environments.
  • Strong ability to translate brand objectives into compelling, relevant commercial concepts.
  • Excellent storytelling skills, able to bring ideas to life in a clear and persuasive way.
  • Strong visual and creative judgement, with a passion for high-quality design and presentation.
  • Commercially aware, with a clear understanding of what drives brand decision-making.
  • Collaborative mindset, with the ability to work across multiple teams to bring ideas from concept to reality.
  • Confident communicator, able to influence senior stakeholders and represent Chelsea FC externally.
  • Highly organised and adaptable, able to manage multiple high-profile pitches simultaneously.
  • Strong leadership capability, with the ability to inspire and develop multidisciplinary teams.

• 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.

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.