Manager, Club Sponsorships

The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) is one of the fastest-growing professional sports leagues in the U.S., powered by 16 clubs and a deep roster of the world’s best players, and built on record-shattering fan, media and commercial growth. Now in its 13th season, the league’s momentum continues to accelerate, with viewership and attendance numbers growing rapidly, social media fandom on the rise, team valuations massively increasing and new top sponsors investing in the NWSL brand. This unprecedented growth in audience, media reach, and franchise value reflects the NWSL’s expanding fan base and increasing dominance in the sports-media landscape and popular culture. The future of the NWSL is now — and we’re looking for world-class talent like you to help us continue the momentum. The Role The NWSL is seeking a Manager, Club Sponsorships to sit within the league’s Club Business team and serve as a strategic resource to clubs on all aspects of sponsorship performance. This role is focused on elevating club sponsorship operations league-wide through club relationship management, regulatory oversight, performance reporting and benchmarking, best practice development, and hands‑on advisory support. This role represents an opportunity to join the NWSL’s Club Business team in its early stages while also offering the opportunity to help shape the future direction of the department and ways that the League and NWSL Clubs collaborate to drive commercial value. The ideal candidate will have a "League and Club Mindset", meaning someone who understands that the league is only as strong as its individual clubs and possesses the diplomacy to manage stakeholders with competing interests. The ideal candidate will also possess strengths such as a commercial fluency in sponsorship sales and activation, a collaborative working style with internal and external stakeholders, a passion for operational excellence, a consultative mindset, and strong analytical instincts and rigor. The Manager, Club Sponsorship will work closely with club partnership teams across the league and cross-functionally with league departments such as Corporate Partnerships (Business Development and Partnerships Management), Consumer Products, Broadcast, and Legal. You will act as a strategic advisor, regulatory expert, and operational liaison, ensuring that club-level partnerships align with League Commercial Regulations while maximizing local revenue growth and gameday execution. In addition, you will also help build shared frameworks for measuring sponsorship value, identify revenue growth opportunities through cross-club benchmarking, and develop tools and resources that help clubs sell more effectively and service partners at a higher standard. What You Will Own & Drive Club Relationship Management & Advisory Act as the primary point of contact for Club Sponsorship departments, providing guidance on best practices in local partnership sales and activation. Serve as the league liaison to the NWSL Partnerships team to identify and navigate intersections between League-level partners and Club-level deals. Conduct regular club communications to assess club sponsorship performance, utilizing data to identify growth opportunities and risks across the league landscape. Develop subject matter expertise in the NWSL Commercial Regulations, guiding clubs through the complexities of league and club commercial rights, commercial category exclusivities, sponsorship inventory, and other topics. Collaborate directly with NWSL Legal to review sponsorship agreements to ensure compliance with league-wide governance. Mediate and resolve "category conflict" discussions, in collaboration with the League Partnerships department and Legal, between league-wide sponsors and local club sponsors. Operational Excellence and Club Communications Direct the preparation of monthly league-wide club sponsorship meetings, including the creation of high-level decks, pre-read materials, and actionable post-meeting recaps. Coordinate with the NWSL Partnership Management team to ensure clubs are successfully executing league-mandated gameday activations and contractual obligations. Support onboarding of new club commercial staff by providing training on league resources, reporting standards, and sponsorship best practices. Establish and maintain league-wide sponsorship reporting metrics to track inventory utilization, revenue trends, and contract lifecycles. Collect, organize, and synthesize sponsorship data from across the league’s clubs to produce consolidated views of partnership health and commercial trends. Partner with the league’s analytics function to integrate audience, broadcast, and attendance data into sponsorship valuation and proof-of-performance frameworks. Help develop cross-club benchmarking analyses on sponsorship revenue, pricing, category penetration, deal structure, and activation quality. Identify top-performing sponsorship strategies across clubs and surface insights that can be adopted league-wide. Facilitate knowledge-sharing across club partnership teams through regular working sessions, case study presentations, and peer learning forums. Develop and distribute sponsorship toolkits, playbooks, and best‑practice guides covering prospecting, proposal development, activation planning, and renewal strategy. Monitor sponsorship trends across the broader sports, entertainment, and women’s sports landscape to inform club and league commercial strategy. What You Will Bring Core Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Sports Management, Communications, or a related field. 4+ years of experience in sponsorship sales, partnership management, or commercial strategy—preferably in professional sports, entertainment, or media. Strong understanding of the sponsorship lifecycle including prospecting, packaging, pricing, activation, fulfillment, and renewal. Consultative approach—comfortable advising and influencing without direct authority across a distributed network of club teams. Analytical mindset with experience building reports, benchmarks, or performance frameworks for commercial or partnership functions. Excellent communication and presentation skills with the ability to distill complex data into clear, actionable insights for diverse stakeholders. Proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets, PowerPoint/Google Slides, and CRM platforms (Salesforce, HubSpot, or equivalent). Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple club relationships and deliverables simultaneously. Willingness to travel to club markets for site visits, working sessions, and select matchdays. Preferred Qualifications Experience in a league office, governing body, or multi-team commercial environment where the role involved supporting or enabling club/team-level revenue efforts. Familiarity with the women’s sports marketplace and the unique value drivers of women’s professional soccer. Experience building sponsorship valuation models, rate cards, or proof-of-performance reporting frameworks. Proficiency with data visualization tools (Tableau, Power BI, Looker) or business intelligence platforms. Experience developing training materials, playbooks, or enablement resources for sales or partnership teams. Existing knowledge of the NWSL’s club markets, ownership groups, and commercial landscape. Our Investment in You In addition to working in an incredible, inclusive, and committed‑to‑diversity culture, we offer: Competitive Compensation: $95,000 - $110,000 (Salary is contingent upon candidate qualifications and functional business needs). Time & Flexibility: Unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO), sick days, and an end‑of‑year office closure. Hybrid Work Model: Three days in-office and two remote days per week. Robust Health Coverage: Medical, Dental, Vision, and Mental Health benefits for employees and dependents. Financial Future: 401k with employer match and safe harbor contributions. Additional Perks: Commuter benefits, Short/Long-Term Disability, Life Insurance, Gym On-Site, and Voluntary Pet Insurance. Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion The NWSL is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are deeply committed to creating an inclusive and equitable environment for all employees. All employment decisions—including recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, compensation, and termination—are made without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, pregnancy or childbirth, personal appearance, family responsibilities, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity, political affiliation, source of income, place of residence, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military veteran status, unfavorable discharge from military service, physical or mental disability, or any other basis protected by applicable law. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the application process due to a disability, you may contact us at View email address on click.appcast.io. #J-18808-Ljbffr National Women's Soccer League