Head of Commercial - Football

Our client is looking to appoint a Head of Commercial to take full commercial ownership of its Competition Portfolio and build the commercial function behind it.

Our client runs prize competitions for football supporters, giving them the chance to win football prizes and merchandise. It is a profitable and fast growing business with a large and loyal football following, built on strong product instinct, speed and real football knowledge. Football supporters love what it does and they keep coming back. The business turns over around £4 million and the ambition now is to scale towards £15 million and beyond. The commercial function needs to be built properly to support it.

The role

This is genuine commercial ownership. You will own the Competition Portfolio and its P&L, covering revenue, prize economics, contribution and margin, along with portfolio architecture across pricing, prize mix, volume and categories. You will build the commercial operating system that turns ideas into plans, targets, decisions and learning, including annual and quarterly planning, a rolling twelve week launch calendar, forecasting and a weekly performance rhythm. You will also lead and develop the existing Competition function, which already brings deep competition knowledge and strong delivery. It is a senior and hands on leadership role with real decision rights, not a role that escalates normal decisions upwards.

What you will do

• Own the P&L. Grow profitable contribution across the portfolio, managing pricing, prize economics, promotions and cannibalisation.
• Build the operating system. Planning, forecasting, dashboards, decision rights and a weekly commercial cadence.
• Set the portfolio strategy. Mix, volume, categories and the rolling twelve week launch calendar.
• Test and learn. Run post campaign reviews and turn the findings into better commercial decisions.
• Lead the team. Develop the existing Competition function and work closely with Audience, Partnerships, Finance and Insights.

What you will bring

• A commercially proven leader from a fast moving consumer, sports or entertainment business, who has owned a meaningful P&L, revenue, margin or contribution target.
• Experience managing a portfolio of products, categories, campaigns or promotions, making frequent decisions as performance changes.
• A track record of building or materially improving commercial planning, forecasting and performance systems rather than only running ones built by others.
• Experience managing and developing a team, with the judgement to decide well on imperfect data.
• Typically from consumer businesses of roughly £10 million to £100 million, in areas such as sport, gaming and entertainment, high frequency ecommerce, digital retail or trading, ticketing or marketplaces.

Reward and benefits

• Competitive salary
• A discretionary bonus to be agreed.
• Genuine decision rights, high visibility and direct access to the CEO.
• A seat in a newly forming senior leadership team.

Location

Leeds based and office based, with the possibility of some hybrid working and a particular presence during onboarding, major launches and key commercial periods.

Our client is an equal opportunities employer.