Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization:

This role helps build and manage a market-leading portfolio of sports partners across New Zealand, including athletes, teams, clubs and federations. The focus is on identifying the right partnerships and bringing them to life in ways that support adidas brand and category priorities.

You will play a key role in using sport and culture to tell compelling product and brand stories, helping position adidas as the leading performance brand in the market.

Key Responsibilities:

• Support the development and delivery of the local Sports Marketing plan in line with business goals
• Identify partnership and activation opportunities that support brand priorities and work with the wider marketing team to bring them to life
• Build and manage a diverse portfolio of athletes, teams, clubs and federations that supports key categories and business objectives
• Ensure all partners reflect the adidas brand in a strong and authentic way, both on and off the field
• Manage contract discussions and negotiations in line with budget, market value and business priorities
• Ensure sports marketing activity and partner agreements are managed in line with global policy and local requirements
• Support the integration of local partners into major brand campaigns and initiatives
• Develop and deliver activation plans that maximise the impact of sports marketing partnerships
• Manage the local partner budget and track spend effectively
• Oversee partner-related activity in close collaboration with the broader brand and marketing teams
• Look for opportunities to connect partnerships across multiple categories to create greater impact
• Provide high-quality day-to-day support to contracted partners and maintain strong working relationships
• Build and maintain relationships with key people across the sports industry to support brand objectives
• Ensure athletes, teams and partners wear and represent adidas products in a way that supports the brand’s positioning
• Provide on-the-ground support for sports marketing activity and events as required

Key Relationships:

• Brand Marketing, Product Development, Category Planning, Sales, Finance and HR
• Athletes, teams, clubs, federations and agents
• Global Sports Marketing teams

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Strong network across the sports industry, including federations, teams, athletes or agents
• Strong understanding of the sports and cultural landscape in New Zealand
• Confident communication and presentation skills
• Strong organisation skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities
• Commercial awareness and sound judgement
• Strong attention to detail and ability to work at pace
• Good analytical and reporting skills

Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:

• Proven experience working directly with professional athletes, sports teams, clubs, federations or agents
• University degree, ideally in Business, Marketing, Sports Marketing or a related field
• At least 3 years’ experience in sports marketing, partnerships or brand activations, ideally within a global or international brand
• Experience managing partnerships, contracts and activations end to end