Partnerships Manager

Clipper Ventures - Partnerships Manager

About us:

United by the desire for adventure, ambition, limitless boundaries and sailing excellence, the Clipper Ventures brands enable extraordinary sailing experiences by making them accessible, safe and human.

Clipper Ventures encompasses our flagship brand the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and our growing pillars; Clipper Events, SKIRR Adventures, Hamble School of Yachting and Clipper China.

The Clipper Race is a race without equal; one of the biggest challenges of the natural world and an endurance test like no other. A powerful blend of fiercely intense competition and stirring human endeavor. We aren’t afraid to compete and push boundaries - the world’s longest yacht race enables individuals to pit their wits, skills, and courage against the toughest oceans, with no previous sailing experience required.

Since 1996 the Clipper Race has developed over 7,000 people into competent ocean racers and built a reputation for showcasing brands and building international trade links between partners and host destinations.

What we are looking for:

The Clipper Race is looking for a Partnerships Manager to be responsible for growing and managing the Clipper Race partnership portfolio; that includes Team, Host Cities, Fleet and Supplier Partners. They’ll be a core part of the department that is also responsible for the Host City partnerships that deliver our Stopovers.

This role will be responsible for some of the most important partnerships in the Clipper 2025-26 Race (and beyond), so we’re looking for someone that has high expectations of themselves and the team.

The successful candidate will report into the Head of Partnerships and will be actively involved in constantly evaluating the partnerships offering whilst delivering meticulous attention to detail to ensure that partner accounts are serviced to the highest standard.

Key responsibilities:

• You'll be the day-to-day contact at the Clipper Race’s high-profile accounts, these are fast-paced accounts, and the Clipper Race is a live product, with constantly evolving stories.
• Responsible for account planning, development, management, on site activation, administration and evaluation, to include delivery of the partners contractual rights and benefits.
• Help develop creative activations, working with other internal departments and the client to consult on campaign objectives and deliver insightful, creative solutions for each partner.
• Manage and understand partner marcomms objectives and work closely with the in-house Communications and Marketing teams to ensure Race Partners have a dynamic, strategic and bespoke digital campaign that is profiled across both its own platforms and Clipper Race social and digital channels.
• You’ll be responsible for delegating to junior members of the team who will be working closely on supporting account management.
• Business development: Always be looking to find opportunities to bring onboard new partners and play a key part in the renewals process with existing partners.
• Work closely with key departments in the planning and execution of the partnership programme including Communications, Race Management, Marketing and Accounts.
• Sourcing and management of third-party suppliers.

Key requirements:

• Demonstrable experience of managing partnerships in the Sports/Entertainment/Live Events industry.
• An in-depth understanding of account management and event management.
• An in-depth understanding of the rights and benefits of providing timely, unique and often reactive deliverables to partners.
• The ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment – managing stakeholders expectations and prioritising workloads.
• You are a creative thinker, comfortable with delivering ideas away from the traditional, but equally at home with conventional marketing techniques.
• An ability to build positive working relationships with clients and suppliers alike, together with an understanding of cultural sensitivities when working with partners from across the globe.
• Experience of working with and delegating to event organisers.
• Negotiation skills to aid with contractual discussions.
• Marketing/Communications background (preferable) to help understand partner marketing objectives when working with the Brand and Communications teams to create unique and compelling content.

Due to the nature of the role and the Clipper Ventures business, this role will involve extensive international travel. This includes being away for approximately 2 weeks at a time, at least 6 times each race cycle (every other year).

The Executives in Sport Group are retained on behalf of Clipper Ventures to appoint a Partnerships Manager. All direct applications will be forwarded to The Executives in Sport Group.

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Please note that due to the volume of applications received, we are unable to provide specific feedback on unsuccessful applications.