About Us

Melbourne City FC, formerly known as Melbourne Heart FC, was established in 2009, inspired by a vision for a broad-based community team, celebrating cultural diversity and sporting passion through football.

Becoming known as Melbourne City FC in 2014, the Club is wholly owned by the City Football Group and plays its home games at AAMI Park, a 30,000-capacity stadium in the heart of Melbourne’s sporting precinct.

Since its inception, the Club has built a reputation as one of Australia’s best on and off the pitch with a proud history of youth development and on-pitch success for both men’s and women’s teams.

Melbourne City has secured several trophies in recent years with an A-League Men’s Championship (2020/21), two A-League Men’s Premierships (2020/21, 2021/22) and one FFA Cup (2016).

The women’s team, which formed in 2015, have been crowned A-League Women’s Champions four times (2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2019/20) as well as A-League Women’s Premiers twice (2015/16, 2019/20).

Managed by Club legend, Patrick Kisnorbo, the Club’s training and administrative base is now located at Casey Fields in Melbourne’s southeast – following a relocation from the Club’s former training ground, CFA Melbourne (Bundoora) in July 2021.

A brand-new City Football Academy is currently being constructed in Casey Fields, and once completed will become one of Australia’s best sporting facilities.

The new CFA Melbourne features advanced new training pitches for the Melbourne City first teams, elite youth team pitches, dedicated community pitches, world-class medical and sports science facilities, and expansive office space. It is also CFG’s centre for football operations in the Asia Pacific region and the training and administration base for the affiliated Women’s team, which was founded in 2015.

About The Role

Working closely with the Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), the Director of Commercial and Marketing and the Head of Partnerships, this role is a senior sales position contributing significantly to the commercial revenue of Melbourne City Football Club (‘the Club”).

The postholder is responsible for partnership sales and will excel at presenting and negotiating with senior marketing decision-makers at brands across a range of sectors.

 Reports To Director Commercial & Marketing

 Key Working Relationships

• CEO
• Director of Commercial and Marketing
• Partnership Department
• Legal Department
• Finance Department
• Club Partners

 Key Responsibilities

• Develop leads and secure meetings with prospective partners through research, outbound calls and building an industry network.
• Presentation of partnership opportunities to senior executives at prospective partner brands.
• Develop bespoke and tailored partnership proposals to suit the needs of individual companies.
• Close partnership deals, including the negotiation of commercial terms and working alongside the legal team to conclude contractual agreements.
• Develop relationships with relevant media and sponsorship agencies.
• Maintain accurate records and database of all sales and business development activities.
• Carry out any other duties as reasonably directedly, within the postholder’s scope.

General Responsibilities

• Compliance with the Club policies.
• Compliance with the Club’s health and safety procedures.
• To undertake such other duties as may be reasonably expected.
• To maintain professional conduct at all times.

Scope

• Out of office hours and weekend work, where required to meet the demands of the business.
• No direct reports.

Desirable Skills and Experience

• Considerable experience and proven track record of exceptional sales achievements in the sports or media industry.
• A sound understanding of sponsorship and brand partnerships.
• A proven network of senior marketing professionals across Australia.
• Excellent presentation skills and highly professional.
• Proven experience in negotiating partnership agreements.

Personal Attributes

• Outstanding communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Creative, innovative, enthusiastic, flexible & resilient.
• Ability to work autonomously and collaboratively.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Highly self-motivated with the ability to motivate others.
• High achiever with a strong work ethic and willing to go the extra mile to achieve outcomes.
• Honest and reliable with the ability to apply discretion.
• Commitment to equal opportunities.

Next Steps

• Please submit a resume and cover letter, including why you would be a good fit for the Head of Partnership Sales to Josie Lahey at jlahey@sriexecutive.com or call +61 478 803 255 for a confidential conversation.
• Closing date for applications is Friday 10^th February 2023. We look forward to receiving your application.

About SRI

SRI is a global executive search and consulting firm, servicing the rapidly converging industries of sport, media, and entertainment. We work as one partner-led team with staff based in key global markets across 11 offices on four continents. We offer dedicated and specific sector, function, and region expertise. Our services include executive search, board assessment, succession planning, salary benchmarking, advising clients on their internal and external hiring strategy, new market entry and multi-vacancy projects.

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is a fundamental priority for SRI. Our philosophy focusses on embedding inclusive behaviours and processes across every element of our business practices, internally and in our work with clients and candidates.

Tagged as: A League, Commercial, Football, Head of Sales, Melbourne, Partnership Sales, Sponsorship