Commercial Partnerships Manager

Commercial Partnerships Manager

Touchline Group | UK | Flexible/Remote

£35,000–£40,000 + uncapped commission

About Touchline Group

Touchline Group is an early-stage football commercial startup, and we're looking for someone who wants to help build it with us.

We're creating a new commercial model for football clubs, helping them generate more revenue by connecting their commercial inventory with brands that genuinely make sense.

We've already started building a portfolio of clubs across the English football pyramid, with opportunities ranging from creative partnerships in non-league football through to six-figure front-of-shirt sponsorships in the professional game.

Now we need someone to build the other half of the equation: brands.

The Role

We're looking for a Commercial Partnerships Manager with a genuine hunter mentality.

Your focus will be turning the growing portfolio of opportunities available through Touchline into commercial partnerships.

You'll identify brands, find the right decision-makers, create conversations, pitch opportunities, negotiate and ultimately close deals.

One day that might mean approaching a major national company about a front-of-shirt partnership. The next could be finding the perfect challenger brand for a completely unconventional sponsorship opportunity at a non-league club.

This is a new role in a startup, so you won't be inheriting a finished commercial machine.

You'll be helping build it.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify and research prospective sponsors across local, regional and national businesses

• Build relationships with CMOs, Marketing Directors, Brand Directors, partnership teams, agencies and business owners

• Match brands with relevant opportunities across the Touchline club portfolio

• Prospect proactively through email, LinkedIn, phone, networking and your own relationships

• Develop compelling sponsorship propositions rather than simply sending generic decks

• Pitch front-of-shirt, sleeve, training wear, stadium, digital, hospitality, community and other commercial inventory

• Manage opportunities from initial approach through negotiation to signed partnership

• Build a growing network of brands and agencies for Touchline

• Help shape our commercial strategy, processes and future team

About You

We're looking for someone who loves the chase.

You'll be proactive, commercially sharp and comfortable creating opportunities from nothing.

You'll be someone who sees a company sponsoring another sport and immediately wonders whether there's a football conversation to be had.

Someone who spots a major employer opening an office near one of our clubs and finds the marketing director.

Someone who doesn't wait for leads to arrive.

Previous experience in sponsorship, partnerships, media, advertising, events, recruitment, business development or football would be valuable, but we're not obsessed with where you've worked before.

We're much more interested in what you can build next.

You'll also need to genuinely love football.

Not just watching it, but understanding the clubs, supporters, communities and stories that make the football ecosystem so commercially interesting.

The Opportunity

This is where the role becomes slightly different.

We're deliberately not recruiting a Commercial Director today.

We want someone with the potential to become one.

As Touchline grows, we want this person to build and ultimately lead our commercial partnerships function.

Perform, generate revenue and demonstrate that you can build the function alongside us, and there will be a clear progression route through senior commercial leadership and ultimately into a Commercial Director position.

At that stage, we expect you to be building your own team rather than simply carrying your own target.

Progression into senior leadership will also bring increased compensation and eligibility to participate in a future Touchline share/options scheme.

We're not looking for someone who simply wants their next job.

We're looking for someone who sees the opportunity in joining a football startup early and wants to grow with it.

What We Offer

• £35,000–£40,000 base salary depending on experience

• Uncapped commission

• Flexible/remote working

• Significant autonomy from day one

• Direct involvement with clubs across the English football pyramid

• Clear progression toward senior commercial leadership

• Future share/options opportunity for the right person

• The opportunity to help build Touchline while it's still at the beginning of its journey

Touchline won't look the same in three years as it does today.

We're looking for someone who wants to be one of the reasons why.