Partnerships Marketing Manager

Location: Abu Dhabi, AE

Opening Date: 14 Jul 2025

Full Time / Part Time: Full Time

Contract Type: Fixed Term

Closing Date of Applications - 23rd July 2025

Our Story

Established in 2013, City Football Group is the world’s leading private owner and operator of football clubs, with total or partial ownership of twelve clubs across the world. City Football Group also invests in other football related businesses and serves as a global commercial platform for our partners, whilst fulfilling our purpose of empowering better lives through football on a local and global scale, consistent with what “City” football has meant to people for over a century.

Our Winning Team

Our purpose is to empower better lives through football. We are proud of the role City Football Group clubs play in their localities, delivering positive economic, social and environmental impact through our operations and through programmes and activities that bring about meaningful, lasting change.

Based in Abu Dhabi and reporting to the Senior Partnership Marketing Manager – MENA (12m FTC), the Partnership Marketing Manager will oversee a portfolio of CFG’s global and regional commercial partners, with a focus on the Middle East. This end-to-end role includes partnership planning, activation, and cross-functional collaboration to ensure high-quality delivery. As a key member of the EMEA Partnership Marketing Team, the role also supports wider departmental initiatives.

Please be aware that this role is a 12-month fixed term contract, ideally looking to commence in September 2025.

This is Your City

As part of our team, you will be entitled to 26 days annual leave plus an additional day off for your birthday, private healthcare and a simply health cash plan, an annual discretionary bonus, plus a range of partnership and lifestyle discounts.

Your Impact

1. Leads on the consistent framework that enables Partners to develop compelling, competitive partnership strategies and activation plans. Fuels this process with insight and expertise and involves other Club departments as appropriate.
2. Immerses in the world of the partner, building a rich appreciation of their environment and a detailed understanding of objectives, opportunities and challenges. Explores areas where the respective outlooks (Club and Partner) share a commonality. Assesses opportunities to collaborate and maximise the return for both businesses.
3. Works in tandem with the Partnerships Operations team to ensure all Partnership rights are delivered with maximum effectiveness and efficiency. Continually looks for opportunities to refine and maximise ways of working.
4. Supports the Club’s regional objectives for the MENA region working closely with other departments including marketing and FRM.
5. Adopts an ‘objectives and measurement-focused’ mindset, enabling the department to build a full and true picture around the impact of the Partnerships. Engages Partners and works with them to co-create rich stories that demonstrate the power of association, with clear thread throughout (linking objectives to tangible results).
6. Takes the lead role in creating full end of season reports for Partners and explores innovative ways to present/tell the stories both internally and externally. Explores opportunities for awards submissions and other recognition/accreditation.
7. When workloads allow, the Partnership Marketing Manager will be expected to work collaboratively with Partnership Sales Manager and the Partnership Planning team to help shape compelling proposals. Attends meetings and pitches as required, to offer insight and expertise in relevant fields such as Digital and Media
8. Supports the Senior Partnership Marketing Manager in developing renewal strategies each season, providing Partner and category insight wherever relevant

What we are looking for

Essential

• Undergraduate degree or equivalent
• Familiar with sport sponsorship contracts and rights packages
• Skilled in partner/client service
• Knowledge of the Middle East landscape & culture
• Strong digital literacy
• Skilled digital management/consultancy
• Strong team ethic and collaborative nature – confident managing multiple stakeholders
• Flexible working attitude and approachable to respond to immediate business needs
• Solid commercial experience and acumen, with an inherent interest in this area
• Availability to travel for business needs
• Experienced/capable across all aspects of marketing and sponsorship, including:
• Strategy & Planning
• Activation & Rights Delivery
• Integrated communications
• Results Analysis & recommendations
• Negotiations & renewals

Desirable

• Competence in additional language (Arabic)
• Exposed to a rights-holder/club environment
• Exposed to overseas markets/business cultures
• Exposed to brands in the Middle East
• Post-graduate digital qualifications/courses
• Further marketing/sports-related credentials (Masters/Diploma etc…)

City Football Group promotes equal opportunities in employment and we positively welcome applications from all candidates regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

We will screen all applicants and select candidates whose skills and experience seem to meet our needs. We will carefully consider your application during the initial screening and will contact you only if you are selected for an interview.

Employment is subject to the provision of proof of eligibility to work in the UAE.