Vice President, Executive Recruiter - Sports Practice

Vice President, Executive Recruiter – Sports Practice

WME is the world's preeminent talent agency. With over 125 years of experience, WME enables artists, athletes and brands to grow their businesses, leverage the full potential of their intellectual property, and bring projects to life that define the cultural landscape. WME's expertise spans books, comedy, digital media, fashion, film, food, licensing, music, sports, television, theatre, and more. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, WME's office locations include Australia, Chicago, China, London, Miami, Nashville, and New York. WME is part of WME Group, a global network of businesses that represent the world's leading talent, intellectual property and brands.

The Vice President, Executive Recruiter – Sports Practice will be a key member of WME's newly launched executive recruitment practice. This is a rare opportunity to help build something from the ground up – backed by the deepest network in sports and entertainment. You'll drive the full executive search lifecycle for C-suite and senior leadership mandates across sports franchises, leagues, and adjacent organizations, operating with the credibility of a 125-year-old global agency and the agility of a new venture.

You'll partner closely with the EVP & Senior Partner, WME Sports Property Solutions and Global Partnerships and leverage WME's unparalleled relationships with ownership groups, leagues, and front offices – sourcing and placing the next generation of sports business leaders while helping build the infrastructure and candidate pipeline that will define this practice.

Key Responsibilities Include But Not Limited To:

• Support the full executive search process across sports practice mandates – including candidate sourcing and screening, interview coordination, offer support, and onboarding logistics – ensuring seamless execution from brief to placement.
• Proactively cultivate and maintain a deep, curated pipeline of senior sports business executives – including GMs, CMOs, COOs, CROs, and other C-suite and VP-level leaders – that WME can draw on to present to clients quickly and credibly.
• Support trusted relationships with key decision-makers – including owners, presidents, CHROs, and board members – at sports franchises, leagues, and adjacent organizations to generate and retain client engagements.
• Draft and refine job descriptions for open mandates in partnership with clients; conduct and maintain compensation benchmarking and market intelligence across sports business roles to inform both candidate positioning and client advisory.

You Will Have The Following Strengths:

• 8+ years of experience in HR, talent acquisition, or executive recruitment – ideally with direct exposure to the team, league, or sports property environment (e.g., in-house HR or recruiting at a professional franchise, league office, or major sports property), with a meaningful portion focused on sports business, sports media, or adjacent industries.
• Strong understanding of how sports organizations hire – including org structures, comp norms, title conventions, and the decision-making dynamics between ownership, front office leadership, and HR.
• Deep existing network across sports ownership groups, front offices, leagues, and sports media – with relationships that translate directly into candidate pipeline and client opportunity.
• Highly organized and process-driven – comfortable managing multiple active searches simultaneously, tracking progress meticulously, and communicating clearly with both candidates and client contacts.

We'd Love If You Also Have?

• Prior experience at a recognized executive search firm with a sports or entertainment vertical, or in-house HR/people operations experience at a major sports property or organization (e.g., MLSE, AEG, a professional league, or similar).
• Familiarity with CRM and ATS platforms (e.g., Cluen/Encore, LinkedIn Recruiter) and comfort building and maintaining structured pipeline tracking systems.
• Comfort operating in a startup-within-a-company environment – building process and structure while simultaneously executing at a high level.
• Experience supporting diversity and inclusion hiring initiatives, succession planning, or organizational design conversations within sports or entertainment contexts.

Our Values?

• We are fueled by persistence, adapting and seeking solutions in the face of challenges.
• We support and elevate diverse voices, promoting equity and Inclusion within our company, industries and community.
• We operate with a spirit of Entrepreneurialism, a willingness to take risks and mindset that is built to disrupt.
• We rely on Collaboration across our network to power culture and unite people around the world.
• We hold ourselves to the highest standards of Excellence in every aspect of our work, including how we interact with one another, our clients and our partners.

Per local requirements and in the interest of transparency, the rate shown below reflects the prevalent current hiring range for this position. Hiring pay rates are based on a number of factors, including location and may vary depending on job-related qualifications, knowledge, skills and experience. The company strives to provide locally competitive rewards packages, which include base rate along with, as applicable, short- and long-term incentives, growth and developmental opportunities, and robust benefits, such as health care, retirement, vacation and other paid time off, and additional offerings.

Hiring Rate Minimum: $150,000 annually (minimum will not fall below the applicable state/local minimum salary thresholds)

Hiring Rate Maximum: $200,000 annually

WME is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, or religion or belief.