Group Director, Sports & Entertainment Partnerships

Summary:

We are seeking a Group Director to join MediaCom’s Creative Systems Sports & Entertainment Partnerships team.

MediaCom Sports & Entertainment Partnerships is a specialist brand engagement division of Creative Systems, MediaCom’s newly launched in-house agency built to transform clients’ brand relevance and accelerate growth.  The division’s main aim is to transform the role of partnerships as a conduit to drive demonstratable growth: from reactive to strategic, from siloed to integrated, and from unaccountable to measurable.  We act as a 360 agency, helping clients develop and executive partnerships platforms that can compete for the most precious asset of their customers – their time.  Adopting entirely channel and property agnostic approach, our strategy, recommendations and execution are entirely underpinned by data, resulting in consistently higher ROI, better brand alignment, higher engagement and more pronounced business benefits.

Objectives of the Role:

The Group Director, Sports & Entertainment Partnerships will serve as a senior member of the Partnerships team within Creative Systems and client lead across retained Partnerships accounts, including various other project programs across the U.S. 

The ideal candidate for this role has deep experience across the Partnerships landscape and is comfortable and confident providing end-to-end solutions and expertise – from partnership strategy development all the way through to negotiation and execution oversight.  The have a strong experience developing, negotiating and overseeing complex, cross-channel programs leveraging IP/Partnerships to drive brand-love and business success. They are a strategic thinker with the maturity to navigate and communicate complex relationships, programs, and environments.   

The Group Director of Partnerships will oversee two junior team members, managing excellence in delivery/ projects on specific retained accounts.  They will also support the Heads of Entertainment & Sports in new business development. As the lead on two retained client businesses, the Account Director is driven and motivated to create and grow opportunities beyond the immediate client needs.  They are skilled at listening for and seeing opportunities to provide additional value and lead clients to bigger ideas & innovative new approaches.  

The Group Director, S&E Partnerships supports the MediaCom ambition to be each of our clients most valued business partner, famous for inspiring people and exceptional results. The candidate would be excited by our unique model and share in Mediacom’s passion to work within the ever-evolving media landscape, while delivering integrated cross-channel solutions, specifically seeking to leverage entertainment & sports partnerships to elevate consumer engagement.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Build & maintain senior level internal and external relationships 
• Oversee selected MediaCom clients, as it pertains to new partnership opportunities, which will allow for increased revenue and profitability of existing client accounts 
• Directly lead retained S&E accounts while overseeing other project and consultative programs 
• Reporting into the Head of Sports & Head of Entertainment you will be responsible to provide regular client and program updates, while also managing more junior team members 
• Manage and inspire direct and indirect reports, providing mentoring and coaching to foster personal development 
• Achieve revenue and profitability targets as defined and agreed to with executive management  
• Develop rapport with clients and other agency partners by providing day-to-day client contact, managing the relationships, expectations, and troubleshoot conflicts with senior clients and team members as they arise
• Guide the team to identifying opportunities, strategic thinking and subsequent development of integrated marketing programs across 
• On-strategy project planning and execution according to Agency standards within established budgets and timeframes
• Manage of project financials in accordance with agency policy and procedure
• Building, managing and reconciling budgets 
• Work in partnership with leadership to develop staffing plans that support the business
• Deliver compelling client and new business presentations
• Support MediaCom client leaders with information, data, ideas, POVs, etc. in and around the S&E Partnership space
• Drive integrated thinking and solutions for clients in partnership with other disciplines
• Maintain and build industry relationships and contacts 
• Participate in Creative System creative brainstorming sessions and MediaCom client briefs 

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: 

• High energy, disciplined, ability and desire to mentor with magnetic and passionate personality
• Strong influencing skills and the ability to interface effectively with multiple levels of management and clients ranging from senior corporate executives to other strategic partner companies
• Strong ability to drive insight development and strategy creation which drives big ideas and partnership programs
• An inspirational client leader with high energy and hunger to succeed; disciplined with a need to mentor, possessing a passionate personality
• Accomplished multi-tasker and team player with strong leadership and motivational skills
• Tremendous integration skills, with ability to work across, and in concert with, various marketing channels/media disciplines

Qualifications and Experience: 

• 8 years Sports & Entertainment experience with an emphasis on partnership strategy, development and negotiation 
• Created, negotiated, and managed multiple sports and entertainment IP agreements, from strategy through to activation 
• Previous experience guiding multi-disciplinary and cross-agency teams to meet client goals
• Strong understanding of Media and Content channels
• Demonstrated ability to deliver outstanding client work, that achieves client goals, wins a place on the agency’s show reel and garners industry-wide recognition
• Extensive account management background at a senior level, understanding how to develop organic & new business growth
• Deep negotiation experience across multitude of property-types, inclusive of driving final long form agreements
• Excellent written and verbal communication & presentation skills
• Strong industry contacts

About MediaCom:

Welcome innovators, initiative takers and instigators.  We are 8,500 of the world’s leading media communications specialists, in 125 offices, across 100 countries. We have a global client roster that’s the envy of our peers. Adidas, Coca-Cola, Mars, P&G, Richemont and Sony to name but a few. 

We help brands unlock growth through media. Our Systems Thinking approach combines data, technology and creativity to design communication strategies that build brands and generate sales. We’re part of WPP, the world's largest marketing communications services group, which gives us access to the richest data sets and most robust benchmarks in the business. All this has helped us become the first network to hold the big six Media Network of the Year titles concurrently. 

But the real secret to our success is simple (and not really a secret). It’s our People First, Better Results philosophy. We know that when we invest in our people, we’ll deliver better results not only for them, but also for our clients.  We also know that talent comes in all shapes, sizes, genders and ethnicities. That’s why we are open environments that celebrate difference. 

Do you want to work with smart, creative, enthusiastic people? So do we. Welcome to MediaCom! 

www.mediacom.com

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GroupM and all its affiliates embrace and celebrate diversity, inclusivity, and equal opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We are a worldwide media agency network that represents global clients. The more inclusive we are, the more great work we can create together.