Commercial Director, Sports Marketing

This is a Full Time Job

This role sits within the Business Development / Commercial function and is responsible for managing the full lifecycle of commercial opportunities-from brand engagement and deal structuring through to execution and ongoing relationship management. In addition to strong commercial judgment and client-facing capabilities, the role requires close collaboration with relevant internal teams, working closely with Creative, Social, Legal, Finance, and Operations teams to deliver high-value, revenue-generating partnerships aligned with business objectives.

The role will primarily support Japanese clients across golf, tennis, winter sports and related disciplines, with additional value placed on experience across other sports where relevant.

Brand Development & Relationship Management
• Source, establish, develop, and actively manage relationships with key brands, partners, and commercial stakeholders to drive new business and repeat revenue, with a primary focus on Japanese clients across golf, tennis, winter sports and other core sports.
• Act as a primary commercial point of contact for assigned clients, ensuring high-quality delivery and long-term relationship growth.
• Identify client needs and align internal resources to deliver commercially successful outcomes within agreed budgets and timelines.

Business Development & Commercial Execution
• Identify and develop new business opportunities across sponsorships, endorsements, partnerships, rights, and related commercial initiatives within the Japanese sports market.
• Lead deal discussions from opportunity identification through execution, including scoping, pricing, and commercial structuring.
• Manage the deal process, ensuring alignment with internal teams and timely progression from proposal to contract execution.

Deal & Process Management
• Take ownership of team documentation related to deals, including proposals, contracts, and internal approvals.
• Coordinate and manage internal and external process communications related to commercial agreements, working closely with Creative, Social, Legal, Finance, and Operations teams.
• Ensure commercial terms, deliverables, and timelines are clearly documented and understood by all stakeholders.

Project & Budget Oversight (Commercial Focus)
• Monitor and manage commercial partnerships, including the development of project plans and revenue-related budgets.
• Track scope changes, budget adjustments, and commercial implications, ensuring alignment with agreed deal terms and business objectives.
• Support accurate forecasting and reporting of revenue and commercial performance.

Stakeholder & Team Collaboration
• Play a key role within the Commercial team, including managing client-facing deliverables and coordinating inputs from internal stakeholders.
• Manage ongoing communications to ensure that any issues, changes, or performance requirements impacting commercial projects are identified, documented, and addressed in a timely manner.
• Contribute to a collaborative, results-driven team environment, supporting broader commercial and business objectives.

Skills and Abilities
• Sales & Marketing
• Creative thinking
• Exceptional problem solving and negotiation skills
• Outstanding revenue generation and business development acumen
• Adaptability to rapidly changing situations/environments and proven capability to deliver results in highly matrixed organisations
• Manage high work load and rapidly changing priorities
• Outstanding interpersonal communication and influencing skills across all levels of business management
• Exceptional written and oral communication and presentation skills
• Demonstrated planning and follow-through capabilities
• Highest personal integrity and ethics
• Fluent in written and spoken Japanese and English

Qualifications and Experience
• Experienced sports marketing executive (minimum 5 years of experience in this sector)
• Significant impactful experience in the sales / business development industry (ideally from sport/media/entertainment/events)
• Demonstrated ability to sell to and exceed stretch financial targets
• Demonstrated ability to formulate, sell and grow new business assets
• Proven team management experience in mid to large organisaitonal structure