Impact Lead

About:

The Rolex SailGP Championship is the most exciting racing on water, where anything can happen in short, adrenaline-fueled battles between national teams at iconic stadium destinations worldwide. Top athletes fly in identical high-tech F50 catamarans faster than the wind, at speeds exceeding 100 km/h. Founded in 2018, SailGP is one of the world’s fastest-growing sports and entertainment properties, now in its sixth season.

Driving change in the sports and entertainment industry, impact has been integral to SailGP’s DNA from the outset – with gender-balanced competition, youth and community engagement, and tangible environmental initiatives embedded into the fabric of our sport and partnerships.

This role will be based out of SailGP’s London-based offices in Kensington. We value an engaged workforce, powered by in-office collaboration – as such, employees are expected to work primarily from this space plus other SailGP locations, including SailGP Technologies in Southampton, when required.

Summary:

The Global Impact Lead is responsible for overall leadership of SailGP’s impact strategy, combining strategic leadership with tactical program delivery.

The role will work closely with SailGP partners and teams, as well as internal business functions to translate SailGP’s impact strategy into tangible action across the organization, events, teams, partners and wider ecosystem – while identifying opportunities for scalable opportunities that contribute to SailGP’s growth.

Reporting to the Global Director, Communications & Impact, this role plays a key role in shaping SailGP’s reputational strategy and ensuring SailGP remains a leader in the sport and entertainment industry. This is a position for someone who can operate strategically while being comfortable getting into the details.

The successful candidate will be collaborative, commercially-minded, entrepreneurial and able to identify opportunities, build partnerships and deliver measurable outcomes in a fast-paced global sporting environment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Central ownership of SailGP’s impact strategy, translating this into clear and relevant priorities and programs, with measurable outcomes across the organization and with partners. Lead on flagship impact programs.
• Work alongside SailGP teams, partners and host venues as well as relevant internal departments to develop and deliver scalable impact programs which generate value for the league and its partners.
• Provide strategic direction across youth, women’s development and wider social impact programming, working alongside the Youth & Women’s Development Manager.
• Embed impact across teams, events, operations, suppliers and partners, ensuring responsible business operations are embedded across the organization.
• Maintain SailGP's environmental compliance and management certifications, including ISO 14001 and ISO 20121, UN Sports for Climate Action, the World Sailing Sustainability Charter, plus broader requirements.
• Own SailGP’s impact measurement, carbon footprinting and reporting end-to-end, including carbon reduction and climate transition planning, offsetting and external disclosures that demonstrate environmental, social and commercial value, working with league partner Holtara.
• Support the development of new partnerships, funding opportunities and revenue streams that contribute to the long-term sustainability and growth of SailGP.
• Coordinate priorities, budgets, stakeholders and delivery across a broad global portfolio, combining strategic leadership with hands-on execution.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with SailGP teams, partners, suppliers and external stakeholders
• Represent SailGP as required in commercial and B2B / thought leadership engagements – helping to uphold the business’ reputation as it relates to corporate social responsibility.

What we're looking for:

• Experience in sport or major events; passionate about sport as a driver of change
• Significant experience in sustainability, ESG, impact or a related field, ideally within sport or events
• Strong knowledge of carbon management systems and relevant standards, including ISO 14001 and/or ISO 20121, plus external disclosures such as UNS4CA, CDP or equivalent frameworks
• Proven ability to develop strategy and turn it into measurable results
• Strong program management skills across budgets, stakeholders and multiple workstreams
• Commercially minded, with experience scaling or commercializing purpose-led programmes
• Confident communicator, able to influence senior stakeholders and build partnerships
• Comfortable working across global teams, with flexibility to travel and work outside standard hours
• Experience working in a commercially-led environment, including with partners
• Membership of ISEP, IEMA or a similar professional body, ideally at Practitioner level or above

SailGP is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace committed to building a team culture that celebrates diversity, equity and inclusion.