Commercial Director (FTC)

About MARI Group

MARI is a global events and experiences company powering world-defining live experiences. Our portfolio of premium live properties spans sports, art, and entertainment — including the Madrid and Miami Open tennis tournaments, Frieze (a leading voice in contemporary art), and Barrett-Jackson (the premium U.S. collector car auction company). MARI also includes TodayTix Group, the global e-commerce leader for cultural experiences, connecting millions of customers with the best in live entertainment.

MARI is reshaping the live events landscape — building a growing portfolio of category-defining events and brands that set the standard for what's next, across sports, entertainment, art, and lifestyle.

At MARI, you'll work alongside people who are passionate, curious, and driven — people who believe that live experiences have the power to shape culture, and who care about the work, the mission, and each other. We welcome outstanding applicants of all backgrounds and encourage everyone to apply.

About the Role

We are looking for a Commercial Officer on a Fixed Term Contract for Frieze London. In this role, you'll have ownership of Frieze's partnership and advertising revenues — keeping targets on track, pipelines healthy, and client relationships thriving at the highest level.

You’ll oversee budgets, forecasting, and cost management, while collaborating closely with the CEO, COO, and senior stakeholders. You'll also drive innovation — identifying new commercial opportunities across sponsorship and advertising — and represent Frieze externally, including international travel to fairs and client meetings.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned commercial leader with a strong track record in sponsorship and advertising revenue, a global contact book — particularly in the luxury sector — and the confidence to lead senior conversations with clients and stakeholders alike. Knowledge of the art world is a plus.

This is a full-time maternity cover contract, based in London. You’ll be part of a hybrid team that values both connection and flexibility. We'll cover the details of our hybrid schedule during the interview process.

International travel to attend Frieze fairs and meet clients is required. Flexibility around working hours often required.

What You’ll Own

• Maintain sales momentum in the absence of our Chief Commerical Officer and ensuring that partnership and advertising revenues hit budget and that there is a robust pipeline across the next 12 months
• Build new relationships with prospective clients globally; manage a pipeline of hundreds of prospective sponsors and ensure that these are attended to by the team
• Maintain strong relationships with existing sponsors and clients
• Manage costs across both departments in order to deliver against budget
• Provide regular financial forecasts for all advertising and sponsorship revenue and cost streams
• Review and refine all sponsorship pitches before they are issued to clients
• Draft, review, and manage all commercial contractual agreements with support from legal
• Represent Frieze to drive MARI-wide commercial projects. Collaborating with senior MARI stakeholders and the MARI sales team to share knowledge and support revenue growth across other MARI assets, where possible
• Lead weekly sales meetings with sales leads for both the partnerships and advertising sales teams
• Monitor performance of salespeople vs individuals financial targets and redistribute responsibilities accordingly
• Work closely with the CEO, COO, Finance Director and Heads of Departments to ensure smooth delivery of all advertising and partnerships related business
• Lead a team of 19+ employees across two departments – Partnerships & Advertising Sales
• Commercialrevenuegrowthacrossadvertisingsalesandpartnerships
• Accurate budgeting and forecasting
• Developmentofastrongteamofmotivated,highperformingsalespeopleandaccountmanagers
• Innovation – developing new commercial opportunities for Frieze across partnerships and advertising
• The ability to travel internationally and serve as a Frieze representative at various fairs

What You Bring

• Proven experience of generating commercial revenue through sponsorship deals
• Astrongportfolioofcontactswithglobalbusinesses–inparticularintheluxurysector
• Experience managing commercial teams
• Extraordinary interpersonal skills and the ability to manage difficult conversations, both with clients and employees
• Experiencedeliveringcomplexandambitiousprojects,bothatphysicaleventsanddigitally
• Experienceofmanagingawiderangeofactivitiesandtheabilitytoprioritiseandmeetdeadlines
• Ability to work under pressure, with high attention to detail
• Proactive and enjoys problem-solving
• Knowledge of the art world - a plus

Benefits

• Hybridworkenvironment(blendofin-officeandat-homedays)
• PaidParentalLeave
• EmployeeAssistanceProgramme
• Enhancedgyms,wellnessandfinancialwellbeingappsaccessviaWellhub
• Flexible Paid Time Off

Our Diversity & Inclusion Statement

MARI believes in the power of live experiences to unite people — and we know that can only be achieved when we reflect the full diversity of the world around us. As a global company that shapes culture across sports, art, and entertainment, we are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace and to practicing anti-discrimination across race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, and beyond. We recognise that systemic inequality and discrimination remain challenges across the events and entertainment industry, and we are dedicated to driving meaningful progress — both within our own organisation and across the wider industry we are proud to be part of.