Account Director

BACKGROUND

RISE Sport | Culture | Entertainment (SCE) is an independent multi-disciplinary commercial agency based in Dubai, Riyadh and Jeddah. Our clients include major rights holders such as the Saudi Pro League, Royal Commission for Riyadh City and the Abu Dhabi Department for Culture and Tourism and brands including Qiddiya and NEOM.

RISE develop bespoke solutions for our client’s strategic and commercial challenges, we specialise in commercial and project-specific strategy, sales, rights development and organisational strategy / design.

We are seeking an experienced and passionate Account Director, with experience in football, to be based full-time in Riyadh, who is excited about the opportunity to join our rapidly growing team to develop and manage some of the world’s most exciting football partnership rights.

REQUIREMENT

The Account Director’s purpose is to lead the engagement between RISE’s football rights holders and their partner brands and maximise the returns to both parties. They will be responsible for managing the partnerships between our football rights holder clients and their sponsors and other stakeholders including venues, federations, agencies, and athletes.

The ideal candidate, will have a track record of managing high profile football partnerships in the Middle East and further afield. They will have significant experience of creating and implementing impactful partnership programmes, including planning, design, management, reporting and stakeholder management. They will be passionate and knowledgeable about sponsorship rights, valuations, and ROI, including broadcast rights, and comfortable working across the management spectrum, including c-suites and boards. They will have the ability to work as part of a busy team and manage multiple projects concurrently, confident in English and ideally Arabic.

The role will be based in Riyadh, KSA. However, regional and international travel may be required alongside remote work from client offices.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The primary function of the role is to oversee the management of contracted football partnerships and sponsorship agreements, including activation campaigns. The Account Director – Football Partnerships’ will be expected to understand brand and rights holder strategy and oversee the delivery of partnership programmes that maximise returns and drive value. They will be comfortable using data and analytical tools, developing reports and working with independent agencies, including digital and physical activation agencies and insight and reporting partners,

They will be expected to present frequently, both orally and in writing, including the development of bespoke sales decks and rights materials. They should expect to engage in market research and benchmarking and should be confident to prepare reports, valuations, ROI data and other materials in pursuit of sponsorship sales, renewals, and reporting.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• Proven experience in partnership management, ideally football / GCC experience.
• Proven track record in managing sponsorship sales, managing the complete sales cycle on major deals 
• Experience in sports, ideally within a rights holder, brand or agency.
• Experience with senior decision makers, including c-suite and boards, ideally in KSA / GCC.
• Exceptional presentation skills and ability to create proposals, reports and other written documents,
• Self-motivated and demonstrable passion for rights sales and implementation.
• Organised, reliable and excellent within teams (internal and external)
• Excellent communication, sales and negotiations skills in English and preferably Arabic.

QUALIFICATIONS

Candidates interested in this position must have:

• A University Degree from an internationally recognized institution, or equivalent vocational training related to sales, marketing, sponsorship or a relevant field.
• Sales training certification and / or PowerPoint or Keynote certification
• 6+ years in partnership management