Senior Manager, Brand Marketing

Excel Sports Management is an industry-leading sports agency representing top-tier talent, blue-chip brands and marquee properties. Our success is rooted in our people, our high character reputation and our commitment to creating a diverse and welcoming workplace. We focus on team chemistry, collaboration, strong relationships, valuable networks, and ambitious ideas to deliver innovative solutions that keep our clients and agency ahead of the curve.

Excel Sports Management is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE).

Position Summary: Excel Sports Management is seeking an experienced Senior Manager, Brand Marketing to advise a key corporate client on their sponsorship and sports marketing investments by providing end-to-end solutions, including strategy, negotiation, activation, implementation, and partnership execution. This person will help create meaningful partnership strategies and support with the development of inspiring activation concepts, ideas, stories, and experiences for our clients.

Responsibilities:

• Manage the day-to-day progress of Excel’s Brand Marketing clients’ sponsorship activation and marketing initiatives with a focus on the fashion industry, managing women’s professional basketball portfolio inclusive of league, team and talent management
• Build and maintain positive client relationships that result in enhanced partnerships and increased opportunities for Excel
• Lead relationships with the team partnership and activation teams and & talent portfolio ensuring seamless integration and brand alignment
• Interact daily with clients and all appropriate agencies/properties to manage sponsorship programming initiatives
• Provide portfolio analysis, identifying relevant opportunities that yield strategic recommendations for clients
• Manage client-vendor relationships and coordinate necessary activation deliverables on behalf of clients
• Create activation briefs, recaps, event itineraries and staff plans
• Plan and lead client status calls which include scheduling and preparing agendas or status documents
• Work with the team to develop integrated marketing and activation recommendations (social, digital, traditional media, experiential, PR, events, etc.)
• Manage the creation and implementation of materials that support individual sponsorship initiatives, including the development of creative elements, preparing marketing activation presentations and other materials to be distributed to clients
• Coordinate the acquisition of relevant results to be used in generating sponsorship recap reports
• Build, sustain, manage, and reconcile budgets, along with providing client budget updates along each step of the process
• Manage internal resources and vendors to ensure the highest standard of work product is consistently delivered
• Conduct desk research and analysis to gain a greater knowledge of businesses and industries in order to create the best opportunities for our clients
• Attend and participate in staff events which may include some nights and weekends
• Travel to client events as necessary
• All other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required
• 6+ years of direct experience in sponsorship marketing or brand marketing strategy at a brand, property or agency
• Experience in basketball, women’s sports, and/or fashion industry is preferred
• Experience developing and implementing sponsorship marketing strategies and activations on behalf of clients or companies
• Account management expertise, managing day-to-day relationships and deliverables for clients

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities:

• Deep understanding of sports marketing (women’s sports is a plus) and account management with brands that have investments across sports
• Background and/or a passion for fashion, with an eye for cultural moments, styling, and storytelling
• Passionate about creative ideation including bringing fresh ideas and collaborative energy to the table, developing, and finishing the job all the way through
• Willing and eager to go above and beyond, help his/her teammates, coachable, curious, inquisitive, flexible, and multi-faceted
• Curious brand marketer that has multi-channel experience across a variety of different disciplines
• Ability to self-start and work within a small team and dynamic organization
• Exceptional communicator (written and oral) who overdelivers and strives to impress everyone around him/her with work ethic and willingness to go above and beyond
• Experience manag