Analytics Manager

Position Summary EXL is looking for an experienced Analytics Manager with a sports background who will play a crucial role in providing analytics support to a client within our Sports, Media and Entertainment practice. The primary responsibility of this role is to partner closely with business and club stakeholders to identify high-value opportunities where data, analytics, and advanced insights can drive business outcomes. This role sits at the intersection of business strategy, consulting, and analytics, requiring strong business acumen and the ability to translate ambiguous business problems into actionable analytics opportunities. You will work with a dynamic team and will have true ownership and impact on developing analytics solutions and data products for the stakeholders. The ideal candidate brings a strong understanding of sports club business operations and fan lifecycle, combined with the ability to engage with senior stakeholders, understanding their strategic priorities and challenges, developing analytics-led solutions, and working closely with data science and analytics teams to deliver measurable value to clubs. If you’re a passionate sports fan who understands both the emotional and commercial dynamics of the industry - and you thrive in fast-paced, collaborative environments, we’d love to connect. Responsibilities: Identify and shape analytics opportunities with league and club stakeholders Build trusted relationships with club and league stakeholders and understand their strategic priorities, business challenges, and opportunities. Proactively identify areas where data and analytics can help clubs grow their fan base, increase revenue, and deepen fan engagement. Translate business problems into well-defined analytics opportunities, hypotheses, and use cases Help prioritize opportunities based on business impact, data availability, scalability, and feasibility Translate business needs into analytics solutions Partner with data scientists and analysts to translate business questions into analytical requirements, hypotheses, and solutions. Define analytical approaches, success metrics, required data, and expected business outcomes. Ensure analytics products and models are designed with the end user and business decision in mind. Perform hands-on analytics and develop actionable insights Use SQL extensively to extract, transform, analyze, and validate data. Perform exploratory and diagnostic analysis to uncover trends, patterns, opportunities, and business drivers. Work with large and complex datasets and combine information from multiple data sources. Use Python/Pandas and other analytical tools for deeper analysis, modeling, and visualization where appropriate. Turn analytical findings into clear, practical recommendations that clubs can act upon Maintain technical depth to independently investigate data, validate analyses, and contribute directly to analytical deliverables. Communicate with stakeholders and support delivery Present complex analytical concepts and findings in a simple, compelling, business-oriented manner. Build executive-ready presentations and narratives that connect data to business outcomes. Review analytical approaches, outputs, and recommendations to ensure quality and business relevance Required Skills 5+ years of experience in analytics, business strategy, consulting, or a related field, with meaningful experience working directly with a professional sports club/team or league. Demonstrated experience working directly with business stakeholders to identify and solve business problems. Strong business acumen with the ability to understand business objectives and translate them into analytics opportunities Strong SQL skills and hands-on experience working with large datasets. Experience with Python/Pandas or a similar analytics programming language Strong presentation, storytelling, and stakeholder management skills. Ability to operate independently in ambiguous environments and proactively identify opportunities.