Senior Manager, Athlete Marketing

Company Description

The Sr. Manager Athlete Marketing is responsible for developing and implementing the overarching strategy for Red Bull’s athlete marketing program, ensuring alignment with global brand objectives and regional needs. This role involves managing a national portfolio of locally and nationally relevant athletes and overseeing strategic partnerships with teams, leagues, and federations. Key responsibilities include creating and nurturing plans to strengthen the connection between athletes and the Red Bull brand, providing professional support to drive positive brand impact, coaching and mentoring Athlete Marketing Managers and Specialists, and ensuring athletes' stories and successes authentically represent the brand through strategic initiatives and campaigns. This position aims to partner with the world’s top athletes and create a sports hero for every Canadian.

Job Description

STRATEGY

• Develop and communicate national athlete marketing strategy, aligning with global objectives and regional needs.
• Design national efficiencies for executions, marketing, activations, and guide the annual business plan.
• Drive the team to create innovative athlete marketing and media opportunities.
• Lead concept creation for projects, marketing tactics, and content from ideation to implementation.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Sales, Finance, and Operations on annual athlete marketing plans; develop retail programs with Sales and Brand teams.
• Increase Red Bull's brand presence in mainstream sports, Olympic disciplines, fitness, and active lifestyle.
• Identify and capitalize on sports trends; develop unique tactical opportunities with athletes to enhance brand image.
• Identify new playgrounds, athletic trends, sports media rights, and innovations to evolve Red Bull’s sports presence.
• Ensure alignment with global athlete marketing strategy and serve as a liaison with International HQ.
• Leverage Red Bull’s global athlete portfolio and partnerships to meet local market demands; provide insights to optimize athlete leverage.
• Explore athlete-relevant opportunities to drive brand growth and visibility.
• Consider media rights, social media, and 'name, image, and likeness' in athlete contracts and goals.

MANAGEMENT

• Manage and diversify the national athlete portfolio, ensuring top talent selection.
• Lead negotiations with athlete representation, creative, and marketing agencies.
• Provide tailored support, including marketing tools, salary, bonuses, communications, and performance guidance.
• Organize and deliver up-to-date athlete branding guidelines, ensuring efficient material storage and logistics.
• Set athlete targets and manage athlete communications via Red Bull Sportsnet.
• Coordinate business support for top athlete projects, offering country-specific insights.
• Own budget and brand appearance for national athlete activities, adhering to international guidelines.
• Ensure the Athlete Marketing team manages athlete relationships and partnerships.
• Oversee the RBCA athlete roster, improving performance tracking and portfolio balance with HQ.
• Deploy national athlete strategies in-store, collaborating with Sales and Brand teams.
• Include Creators in athlete activities to broaden reach among Canadian consumers.
• Ensure athletes communicate product efficacy during key fitness and lifestyle events.
• Collaborate with internal partners to create engagement metrics for athlete brand image.
• Utilize third-party relationships to communicate product efficacy through athletes.

EXECUTION

• Identify new talent, personalities, partnerships, and opportunities that fit the Red Bull brand; scout for athletes and develop custom branding solutions.
• Partner with the Media Network to maximize exposure and reach.
• Hire, manage, and lead teams and agencies for athlete project execution.
• Procure strategic partnerships to offset project costs and add brand value.
• Develop distribution strategies with the Media Network, teams, leagues, and sports organizations.
• Collaborate with Communications, Programming, and Media House to create credible content for priority athletes.
• Coordinate support for top-performing athletes and partnerships to deliver the brand vision.
• Enhance contribution to Brand, Sales, MN, and Field teams, ensuring effective deployment of athlete assets.
• Create streamlined tools for athlete marketing training, tracking, evaluation, reporting, and archiving.

LEADERSHIP

• Showcase Red Bull as an innovative brand in sports by building a strong network and being approachable.
• Lead and support the team with project kickoffs, leveraging current project management principles.
• Align activities with broader business needs through cross-departmental collaboration.
• Share best practices and lessons learned nationally and globally with sports, regions, and marketing teams.
• Set standards for reporting, target setting, brand messaging, evaluation, and ROI for Red Bull and partnerships.
• Provide best-in-class tools and support for athlete marketing and management.
• Deliver feedback on project highlights and ideas, including evaluation standards.
• Optimize budgets by challenging expenditures against ROI.
• Coach team members to develop comprehensive marketing, communication, and performance plans for each athlete asset.

PARTNERSHIP

• Identify and engage with the most fitting sports organizations to expand Red Bull's presence into regional markets.
• Lead partnership negotiations and guide the team towards strategic and authentic partnerships aligned with Red Bull's brand guidelines.
• Drive all marketing activities related to teams, leagues, and federations, sharing Red Bull brand values and product knowledge with partners. Foster relationships with key stakeholders within these organizations.
• Establish Red Bull as a functional beverage and innovative brand within team sports by engaging with athletes, trainers, opinion leaders, club partners, communities, industry stakeholders, agencies, and media.
• Set up workflows and workgroups to ensure the execution of team marketing projects are defined during business planning. Monitor all executions and manage the annual budgets.
• Demonstrate creativity by developing individual and innovative marketing concepts, including events, athlete projects, media network and digital formats, field marketing activities, and brand campaigns.
• Report project executions to the Head of Sports Marketing and handle related reporting within the Red Bull Sportsnet.

COMMUNICATION

• Clearly communicate roles to all core team members and ensure proper execution.
• Establish Red Bull as a functional beverage in sports by strengthening product communications and education.
• Collaborate with the National Athlete Manager and Specialist, and marketing teams on impactful local projects.
• Work with the Red Bull Media network to create supporting communications and content plans.
• Collaborate with HQ departments like risk management and legal to evaluate and mitigate risks.
• Participate in meetings and trainings to share learnings and align strategies.
• Screen and respond to athlete-related consumer requests.
• Increase cross-departmental awareness and utilization of athlete activities.
• Apply successful models in Canada based on key learnings from other countries.
• Provide strategic input based on local business needs for adaptation by other countries.
• Work with HQ Athlete teams to develop new practices, tracking, and analysis.

ADMINISTRATION

• Support sports and regions in building out targets & business plans.
• Drive SportsNet tracking compliance, timely updates, and news postings.
• Provide strategic and timely feedback for employees and leadership.
• Fiscally responsible for national athlete marketing budget.
• Review & provide feedback on athlete plans, proposals, and recaps.
• Support with ongoing feedback for mid-year and end of year performance evaluations as needed.
• Mid-year and end of year reviews, and annual compensation planning.

Qualifications

• 6+ years in sports or athlete marketing, preferably with an agency, brand, or federation.
• Demonstrated knowledge of the Canadian and global sports landscape, including key athletes, leagues, governing bodies, and emerging industry trends.
• Extensive network within sports, creative, and media industries.
• Strong leadership, innovation, organization, and team skills.
• Excellent understanding of media and digital landscapes and trends.
• Expertise in partnership success, performance, marketing, and communication.
• Supervision of marketing projects, strategy, communication, logistics, finance, legal, and sales challenges.
• Personal skills: leadership, creativity, public speaking, innovative, sporty, open-minded, confident, motivated, team-oriented, friendly, loyal, communicative, responsible, organized, stress-resistant, calm.
• Proficient in PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Outlook, Adobe Creative Suite.
• Educated in sports, experiential marketing, or media with work experience in sports industry, event or marketing agency, sport institution, federation, or as a journalist. Experience in inventing and organizing sports projects.
• University – Bachelor’s Degree (preferred)
• Fluent in written and spoken English (second language appreciated)

Additional Information

The expected annual base salary range for this position is $117,135 to $129,465.The actual base salary for this position will depend on various factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s qualifications, skills, experience and work location. This position is also eligible for an annual bonus in accordance with the terms of Red Bull’s bonus plan.

Red Bull Canada is committed to treating all people in a way that allows them to maintain their dignity and independence. We believe in integration and equal opportunity. Accommodations are available throughout the recruitment process and applicants with a disability may request to be accommodated throughout the recruitment process. We will work with all applicants to accommodate their individual accessibility needs.