Position Overview
The Commercial Sponsorship Category Manager is part of the North American regional procurement team based in St Louis, MO. The Sponsorship Category Manager will have responsibility for the procurement needs of the ABI Sales & Marketing groups based in our Regional Sales Offices, Commercial Strategy office in New York, NY, and Labatt offices in Toronto, ON. This role will be responsible for strategy, project management, analytics, negotiations and implementation support for key Sponsorship projects and properties. The Sponsorship Category manager is expected to deliver financial efficiencies, cash flow, Marketing category strategy, global alignment and other requirements for ABI and the internal stakeholders.
Responsibilities
Responsibility for the negotiation, implementation, contracting, and ongoing management of commercial sponsorship agreements for US and Canada.
Manage the ABI Procurement contractual and day-to-day relationship with our sports and entertainment partners, in close collaboration with the ABI Marketing & Sales teams in New York and Toronto.
Primary responsibility for the analytics, budget, tracking and monitoring of our sponsorship agreements, execution and results on an ongoing basis across all of our local and national partnerships.
Coordinate category initiatives across internal stakeholder groups, back-office operations, senior management, legal, global procurement office and others.
Develop strong partnership relationships to ensure success of numerous local and national Partnerships.
This role will require some travel to internal commercial offices (primarily New York and Toronto) and select Sponsorship partner and industry events as needed.
Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Communications or equivalent; Master’s Degree preferred
5+ Years or more of relevant professional experience
Strong analytical and Project Management skills
Sourcing knowledge and understanding of sourcing processes across different categories
Basic knowledge of finance, accounting and legal requirements as it relates to commercial agreements
Communicating effectively by conveying information and ideas in a clear, meaningful and timely manner
Ability to establish and develop collaborative working relationships across functions and geographies
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in working for or with sponsorships, sports and entertainment properties, or marketing agencies
Hands-on procurement / category management experience
Data mining and data preparation experience utilizing sourcing and analytics tools such as SAP, Ariba, Emptoris, advanced MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, and others
Experience in FMCG/CPG industry
Experience drafting, implementing, and negotiating contractual requirements
Experience in being part of or managing global or geographically dispersed teams
