Director, Marketing Partnerships Lead – NBA Canada

This role leads the end-to-end management of the NBA's commercial partners across Canada, ensuring all contractual commitments are delivered to the highest standard. It acts as the primary interface between the NBA and its sponsors, guaranteeing seamless execution of rights, activations, and benefits to maximise partner satisfaction and retention. The position also identifies upsell opportunities, creates added value within existing agreements, and drives contract renewals.

• Lead the Marketing Partnerships team responsible for managing the NBA's commercial partners in Canada.
• Oversee the fulfilment of all contractual obligations and commercial rights, ensuring flawless execution of sponsorship activations and deliverables.
• Serve as the primary day-to-day contact for partners, maintaining strong relationships and acting as a trusted advisor.
• Collaborate with Business Development to ensure a smooth transition of newly signed partnerships into servicing.
• Drive additional revenue by identifying upselling opportunities and developing proposals to enhance existing agreements.
• Lead negotiations and renewals of partnership contracts, securing long-term commitments and strengthening relationships.
• Coordinate closely with cross-functional teams (Marketing, Events, Media, Merchandising, and Licensing) to deliver integrated and impactful activations.
• Monitor partnership performance through KPIs and reporting, providing insights and recommendations to partners and senior leadership.
• Build, manage, and mentor a high-performing Marketing Partnerships team, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and excellence.
• Ensure flawless delivery of contractual assets, best-in-class partner experience, consistent measurement, reporting and value demonstration, and maximisation of renewals and upsell opportunities.

• Ability to build and maintain strong, long-term partnerships.
• Skilled in negotiating and influencing at senior levels.
• Deep understanding of sponsorship agreements and rights delivery.
• Ability to ensure compliance with contractual obligations.
• Identifying upsell opportunities and creating added value.
• Strong understanding of revenue drivers and ROI for partners.
• Ability to foster collaboration across departments (Marketing, Events, Licensing).
• Managing multiple activations and campaigns simultaneously.
• Strong organisational and prioritisation skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, with English fluency.
• Ability to present strategies and results to internal and external stakeholders.
• Understanding of sponsorship models, fan engagement, and brand activation.
• Familiarity with the Canadian market dynamics and cultural nuances.
• Knowledge of integrated marketing campaigns, digital strategies, and experiential activations.
• Ability to interpret performance metrics and provide insights for optimisation.

• A passion for sports is preferred.

• The NBA currently provides eligible employees the option of working remotely one day per week.