Manager Sports Marketing Football - EM South at adidas Group

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organisation:

• Development and strategic oversight of the Emerging Markets (EM- South) Sub-Saharan Africa Football Sports Marketing portfolio. This entails leveraging teams, players, grassroots platforms and key football culture moments to deliver strong local adidas brand visibility, football credibility and commercial impact across Sub-Saharan Africa within EM South (EMS).

Key Responsibilities:  

• Work closely with the Senior Sports Marketing Manager to develop and deliver a strategic plan for the Sub-Saharan Africa Football category within EMS.
• Work closely with the Senior Sports Marketing Manager to identify, recruit and manage the best current and next-generation football talent across EMS, with a focus on athletes who can drive brand heat, football credibility and commercial relevance.
• Service football players, clubs, federations, agents and brand partners, including negotiation, contractual management and ongoing relationship maintenance.
• Act as liaison between football athletes, clubs, federations, agents, brand partners and adidas internal departments, including Brand Activation, omni-channel, PR/newsroom, Sales, Legal and Global Football.
• Develop and manage football contracted players, clubs and federations’ seeding programmes, including product service, stock management, future orders and Gift of Kit requirements.
• Track contractual appearances, rights delivery and partner obligations, while encouraging optimal social media presence and positive adidas visibility across football partners.
• Share knowledge and insights of the football industry landscape to improve cross-functional teams’ understanding of the broader football ecosystem across Sub-Saharan Africa within EMS.
• Recommend and participate in the planning of future adidas football partnerships, player signings, club and federation opportunities, grassroots initiatives and culturally relevant football projects across EMS.
• Evaluate cross-functional synergies between contracted football partners and adidas to maximise brand, commercial and consumer impact.
• Work closely with the Senior Sports Marketing Manager and Brand Activation managers to develop and leverage football athlete, player, club and federation opportunities across their owned social media platforms and key adidas brand channels.
• Facilitate promotional appearances of adidas-contracted football players, club and federation assets, ensuring they are properly briefed and prepared for media, retail, community and brand activation moments.
• Comply with Contract Agreement Form (CAF) procedures and P&L construction for new football partners or renewals according to the Sports Marketing strategy.
• Responsible for management of the Football Brand Partner budget and monitoring Sports Marketing financials relative to the category, including costs, return on investment and planning.

KPI’s:

• adidas share of contracted and high-potential football talent across priority Sub-Saharan Africa markets within EMS.
• Strong adidas visibility across key football moments, including boots, teamwear, licensed product and campaign activations.
• Partner social media content positively featuring adidas football products, campaigns and brand moments.
• Successful delivery and optimisation of contractual rights across football players, clubs, federations and brand partners.
• Growth of the Sub-Saharan Africa Football category market share within EMS.
• EMS Net Sales, Sub-Saharan Africa Football category growth, full-price sell-through and DTC/E-com traffic.
• Marketing Budget (Maex) compliance and accurate budget tracking.

Key Relationships:

• Africa export team, EMS Sports and Culture Marketing, Brand Activation, EM and Global Sports Marketing, Global Football, PR, Legal, Agencies, Clubs, Federations, Players, Athletes, Agents and Brand Partners.

Knowledge, Experience and Capabilities

• Extensive knowledge and passion for football across Sub-Saharan Africa within EMS, including the professional club landscape, federations, player pathways, agents, grassroots football, fan culture and football consumer behaviour.
• Strategic influence, with the ability to identify, evaluate and secure potential football brand partners within the Sub-Saharan Africa Football category.
• Ability to build and maintain key industry and high-profile relationships across clubs, federations, players, agents and football stakeholders.
• Strong EQ and empathy to best service the needs of top football athletes and partners in a supportive, respectful and professional manner.
• Integrity to best honour the interests of adidas and its football brand partners.
• Ability to exercise independent judgement and decision making in a fast-moving football environment.
• Ability to network, influence and leverage internal and external partners across the football ecosystem.
• Strong understanding of football product, including boots, teamwear, licensed product, training product and lifestyle opportunities linked to football culture.
• Proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook).
• Strong organisation bias, with attention to detail in tracking key KPIs, contractual commitments, appearances, product servicing and budget requirements.
• Impressive oral, written and presentation communication skills.

Required Education and Experience

• University degree in business, ideally with marketing and sales focus.
• 7 - 10 years of Brand and Sports Marketing experience with an agency or client-side consumer goods company, ideally including Sub-Saharan Africa football, partnership management, athlete management or club/federation servicing.
• Fluent written and spoken English language skills.