Job Description
England Netball (EN) is the national governing body for one of England’s biggest female team sports, netball. It oversees and is responsible for the strategic plan of the sport across the country. EN is a not-for-profit, customer focused sport business aiming to ‘lead a movement on and beyond the court. To uphold an unapologetic focus on women and girls whilst opening the game for new audiences to belong, flourish and soar’.
Netball has experienced a decade of extraordinary growth with the Vitality Roses 2018 Commonwealth Games Gold medal, alongside the hosting of the 2019 Netball World Cup in Liverpool, both leaving a thriving legacy of increased following and participation in the sport. Following the successes on the international stage, fans flocked to sold out arenas in early 2020 registering record-breaking attendances, and a diverse portfolio of participation programmes (including Bee Netball, Back to Netball, Walking Netball and Club Netball) scaled up significantly to support 3.1m participants to enjoy the sport annually, with 850,000+ participating on a weekly basis.
Post pandemic recovery across the netball network has been equally as impressive with memberships levels exceeding pre pandemic numbers and the 2022 Netball Super League season registering the highest levels of attendance, engagement and viewership in the league’s history.
Having launched a new 10-Year ‘Adventure Strategy’ for the sport in 2021, EN is now looking to build on the solid foundations above and drive forward plans for an exciting next chapter by unlocking further the commercial potential of the sport, accelerating professionalisation aspirations and taking the sport to new audiences through a reimagined brand.

THE ROLE
We are looking to appoint a Commercial and Marketing Director to head up a talented and motivated team and accelerate the growth of our revenue streams through the creation and delivery of a forward thinking commercial strategy.
The successful candidate will have a track record of securing significant partnerships in the sports industry, strong brand and marketing knowledge and experience of developing and managing successful strategies and teams.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
– Lead the strategic growth of revenues across Partnerships, Broadcast, Merchandising, Ticketing, Membership, Corporate Events, and Data Commercialisation. Driving forward an audience growth strategy for the sport and embedding EN’s purpose and brand in all we do. Providing expert advice to the EN Executive Team and Netball Super League Managing Director (NSL MD) regarding market trends, commercial contracts and global growth opportunities.
– Oversee the delivery of the partnership sales strategy, targeting high profile brands that drive EN’s purpose and align to our values and beliefs
Lead the relationship with EN broadcast partners, maximising reach and value from contract negotiations
– Oversee the merchandising and licensing strategy, driving revenue and growth across all England Netball product ranges, whilst introducing new ranges and sales channels
Oversee the ticketing strategy for the business, with a focus on taking the sport to new and bigger arenas, advising on venue, calendar and pricing.
– Oversee the development and delivery of the new membership strategy to provide a unique membership offering
– Lead the Marketing and Communications portfolio for the business, driving fan engagement, experiences and diversity through an innovative Audience Growth Strategy
– Develop and nurture an inclusive culture across a large staff team, inspiring and motivating them to succeed and thrive.
– Oversee and manage all commercial and marketing budgets ensuring commercial income targets are met

THE PERSON
Essentials
– An innovative, inspiring and entrepreneurial leader with a strong track record of creating and executing successful commercial growth strategies.
– Strong influencing and negotiation skills (including contract negotiation), resulting in the growth of trusted and mutually beneficial collaborations and partnerships.
– A strong marketing background, including leadership of the marketing strategies across digital, content and brand; including the ability to think about the ‘whole’ sport from grassroots to performance.
– A passionate leader with proven senior leadership experience in building high performing teams through a healthy and inclusive culture.
– Strong awareness of the broadcast and over the top (OTT) media landscape
Natural with numbers with an understanding of broader commercial revenues (for example ticketing, hospitality, merchandising, membership) and experience of budgetary optimisation.
– A motivating and engaging communicator with proven experience of reading external communications adeptly
– An agile and adaptable leader with the ability to problem solve and find solutions in pressurised environments
– A passion for women’s sport, purpose driven philosophy and a desire to make a difference
– Impeccable standards of personal integrity, mental resilience and emotional intelligence.

Desirables
– Experience of working within the sporting sector
– Experience of broadcast negotiations, wider media and digital landscape
– Proven experience of building a brand and a following
We are realistic we know that finding the perfect candidate is like finding the holy grail, please don’t be put off from applying if you don’t meet every single element of the above. We would love to hear from you to understand your experience.

ROLE LOCATION
Hybrid working will apply minimum of 2 days every other week or 1 day per week at Sport Park Loughborough (travel to the office not covered by package)
TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS
Some weekend and evening working is required, particularly around event time. National travel will be required for partner meetings.

How to apply
Please email your CV and Cover Note to englandnetball@eisg.com. RECRUITMENT PROCESS & TIMELINE: The full candidate briefing pack is available here: https://bit.ly/3WpHZMg Closing dates for applications is 13/01/2023 (before 5pm). Please note that candidates will need to be available for first and second interviews, if selected Executives in Sport will advise all candidates of outcomes at each stage of the process as soon as possible. – Closing date for applications: 13/01/2022 (before 5pm) – First stage interviews: February 2022 – Second stage interviews: February 2022 These dates are indicative and may be subject to change (except closing date). The Executives in Sport Group are retained on behalf of England Netball to appoint a Netball Super League Managing Director. All direct applications will be forwarded to The Executives in Sport Group. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES: England Netball is passionate about creating an inclusive workplace is committed to fostering a diverse workforce, ensuring equality of opportunity. We actively encourage applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds and life experiences, from underrepresented groups. We ask that applicants complete our diversity monitoring form. You are not obliged to answer any of these questions but the more information you supply, the more effective our monitoring will be. All information supplied is anonymous and will not be viewed by recruiting managers. https://forms.office.com/e/5Z3pUW5B2G