Senior Partnerships Manager - CFCW

About the Role

This role is responsible for world-class strategic partner management, delivering industry-leading servicing and maximising commercial investment into Chelsea FC Women. It sits within the CFCW Commercial function and works closely with the Head of Partnerships, the CFC central partnerships team, the marketing team and other internal stakeholders. The role involves managing CFCW partnerships, activating partner rights and campaigns, and identifying commercial growth opportunities across the partner portfolio.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage CFCW partnerships in line with their business objectives and partnership KPIs, ensuring all contractual rights are delivered in a timely manner and to the highest standard.
• Plan, implement and evaluate effective partner campaigns using CFCW assets and IP, including proactive campaign ideas, delivery of assets in the correct specifications, working to deadlines with the marketing team, and capturing and reporting campaigns once live.
• Work with the wider 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 and collaborate with the CFC central partnerships team to ensure alignment across club-wide partner activations, escalating conflicts or opportunities to the Head of Partnerships as appropriate.
• Support the Head of Partnerships in maintaining a culture that enables club partners to network amongst themselves and work effectively with other members of the partnership team
• And 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.
• Deliver 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, and 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 integration into club marketing campaigns, events, CSR projects and player ambassador activity.
• Develop expertise on relevant partners, their industries and competitors within their category, identify relevant industry news and insights to communicate to the department, and lead meetings with internal stakeholders, club partners, their agencies and other external parties.
• Identify commercial opportunities to grow and develop club partnerships, including integration into events, CSR projects and player ambassador activity, and 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.
• Deliver against business objectives and KPIs, maintain healthy and proactive relationships with all partners, maintain first-class relationships with internal stakeholders across the CFCW commercial team and the broader CFC partnerships function

Required Experience & Qualifications

• Significant experience within the sponsorship or sports marketing industry.
• Experience of account managing brands.
• 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.
• A commercial mindset when approaching all partner relationships, 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.
• Experience as a 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.
• Willingness to work across locations and to be flexible with working hours, including weekends and occasional international travel.
• Successful applicants must complete a DBS Check prior to starting employment; depending on the role, other child protection screening may be required.

Preferred Skills

• Exposure to global activation.

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