Senior Specialist, Partnerships

Bicester, England, United Kingdom

12/3/2024

Formula E is an electric single-seater World Championship with innovation and sustainability at its core. The series races in some of the world’s most iconic cities, with the intention to educate, excite and inspire about the electrification of racing and mobility.

Our position on the Formula E grid not only reflects our commitment to EV motorsport but the aim to accelerate McLaren Racing’s sustainability journey and reach a new, more diverse global audience.

In 2023, the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team completed its first season, collecting two pole positions and one podium finish. In 2024, we added a further two pole positions and podiums, including our first-ever electric racing victory, as Sam Bird won the São Paulo E-Prix.

Purpose of the Role:

Working across the Formula E partnership portfolio, the purpose of this role is to take responsibility for the day-to-day operational fulfillment of key Partners, such that the contractual rights are fully leveraged and maximised, while the long-term individual and company relationships are created and maintained.

We are looking for someone with a passion for our sport (and what it stands for), but also someone that can demonstrate sustained success over several years of working with brands and on sponsorship and marketing campaigns within sport/entertainment. You should be prepared to bring and show your passion, enthusiasm and prior experience for this role as part of the recruitment process.

Role Dimensions:

• Reports to Lead/Senior Partnerships Manager.
• Focus primarily on managing the day-to-day delivery of contractual rights, benefits and campaigns against agreed strategy and KPIs for key Formula E Partners.
• Provide comprehensive support through annual partnership cycles, including strategy, delivery, and measurement.
• Provide support to the Lead/Senior Manager and wider commercial team as and when required.
• This role may require some race travel and repeated business travel both within the UK and internationally, and consequently flexibility in working hours will be required.
  
  
  

Partnership Responsibilities:

• Develop a strong understanding of partner business objectives, brand marketing strategy, target delivery and growth markets, competitor set and clear KPI’s to evaluate success against.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including rights-holders and agencies.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including rights-holders and agencies.
• Support the Lead/Senior Manager in creating an integrated partnership marketing strategy for each partner.
• Manage the delivery of the partner’s 360 activation plans to ensure that rights are maximised to achieve partner objectives and KPIs.
• Deliver broader partnership reporting by maintaining detailed asset tracking, producing wrap reports, and creating case studies to highlight successes and inform future strategies.
• Be pro-active to build new opportunities and initiatives that could strengthen the value of the partnership.
• Commercially focused mindset with focus on retention and upselling partnerships.
• Set best practices for project and fiscal management along with strong client and internal communication.
• Work collaboratively in cross departmental project groups.
• Build internal reputation and knowledge of the wider business.
• Operate with our core values in mind – Brave, Respectful, Innovative, Inclusive, Energetic.
  
  
  

Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• As a Senior Specialist, you will be a career professional with high level skill and expertise within the partnerships and commercial fields.
• Significant and demonstrable experience in managing and delivering partnership marketing activities, sponsorship, brand/product marketing, sales, and communications campaigns.
• Demonstrate an ability to understand our partners’ own business drivers and strategies.
• Proven planning and organisation skills capable of dealing with several concurrent workstreams and identifying potential risk areas problems before they happen.
• Ability to work under pressure, prioritise workload and respond to partner briefs on time and within budget is essential.
• Ability to analyse problem areas and develop solutions with a practical, can-do mindset.
• Knowledge of, and passion for the sports marketing, entertainment, and sponsorship landscape.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills (both verbally and written) paying close attention to detail, given frequent interaction with several stakeholders.
• Fluent in English.  Other languages would be an advantage.
  
  
  

Personal Attributes:

Personable – As one of the primary and key faces to our partners, clients and the marketplace, must be an effective and confident communicator.

Accountable - A proven winner, someone who is driven and comes with an outstanding work ethic and expects the best from themselves and their people.

Collaborative – Engages the partnership ecosystem, networks and alliances to support long term success of the account.

Organised – Ability to run, track and deliver multiple accounts/workstreams and activity at the same time.

Motivated – Approaches work and delivery with good energy and proactive mindset.

Commercial-mindset – Proactively explores and creates new commercial opportunities for the partner and McLaren Racing business to deliver positive ROI.

What can McLaren offer?

We strive to provide a fun, innovative, collaborative and open culture where everyone’s input is welcome, and everyone feels part of our achievements. We encourage and support diversity, equity and inclusion, work hard to create a culture of continuous improvement and support this with a proactive approach to management and personal development.

NEOM McLaren Electric Racing is based at the Bicester Heritage site on the edge of Bicester. There are multiple lunch options all within a walkable distance as well as on-site kitchen facilities, indoor and outdoor break-out areas. The site is 1 mile from Bicester North Train Station with regular trains from London and Birmingham.

We encourage hybrid working patterns to give you options to balance your home life and hobbies with your work, and offer a comprehensive package of benefits including private healthcare, car schemes, life insurance and generous pension contributions.