Recruitment at National Basketball Association (NBA)

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is passionate about growing and celebrating the game of basketball. Through the intensity of the game and the amazing athletic skill of our players, we deliver excitement to hundreds of millions of fans around the world.

As a global sports and media business, the NBA is so much more. While Basketball Operations runs the league’s on-court activities, other departments manage relationships with television and digital media partners, develop marketing partnerships with some of the world’s most recognizable companies, oversee the licensing of NBA merchandise, and handle a wide range of responsibilities that drive the NBA’s success.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Marketing & Communications Lead – NBA Nigeria

Job ID: 10262
Location: Nigeria
Job type: Full time
Category: Marketing and Creative Services

Major Responsibilities
Marketing:

• Be a champion of the African basketball fan across all departments of NBA Nigeria.
• Make decisions regarding localization of global NBA campaigns and initiatives and manage execution thereof.
• Drive strategic decisions around fan engagement and the NBA brand to reach broader business objectives and targets.
• Lead all fan insights work, with the support of the insight’s teams based in New York and the marketing team in South Africa including management of global fan trackers, bespoke research for the region, and fan panels.
• Drive key performance indicators across marketing disciplines and update key stakeholders on campaign performance regularly.
• Ensure brand standards are upheld across all creative and messaging.
• Support marketing partnerships team with marketing campaigns or across all partner activities.
• Provide insights, ideas, campaigns, and budget for the Business Development team.
• Support licensee manager with marketing campaigns around licensee product
• Have a deep understanding of data analytics for decision-making and fan acquisition.
• Support all departments on all marketing needs and amplification of all initiatives

Communications:

• Supports the development of all NBA Nigeria communications efforts providing support to all needs across both business and basketball development
• Supporting a communications strategy for NBA Nigeria working with relevant NBA departments (Communications, International Marketing, Social
• Responsibility, CDS, Social & Digital Media, Global Partnerships and Media Distribution)
• Lead the development of the multi-channel marketing strategy, with a particular focus on social media, PR, and digital.
• Deliver the marketing communications strategy, ensuring brand messaging and creatives are consistent across all communication platforms.
• Ensure consumer and cultural insights are integrated into all marketing strategies and communication platforms

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, Business Management, Sports Management and/or relevant field of study.

Required Skills / Knowledge:

• Minimum of 7 years of marketing experience
• Strategic Marketing
• Strong presentation and communication skills
• Leading marketing campaigns
• Brand activation skills
• Storytelling
• Exceptional analytical, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills
• Experience bringing consumer insights into marketing campaigns.
• Strategic thinker, able to shape, develop and execute the strategy of NBA Africa
• Advanced knowledge of advertising and media effectiveness measurement approaches
• Experience building relationships with personalities and influencers.
• Good knowledge of basketball, NBA and the BAL. Sports landscape knowledge is a plus.
• Proactive, thorough, intellectually curious, detail-oriented, and highly organized
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• An interest in music, fashion, art is a plus.
• Strong MS Office skills including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Exceptional stakeholder management skills
• Conversational or Business French is a plus.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Job Title: Business Development & Marketing Partnerships Lead

Job ID: 11078
Location: Nigeria
Job type: Full-time (In Office)
Category: Business Development and Partner Management

Position Summary

• This position plays a key role in generating new sponsorship revenue for NBA Nigeria.
• The employee implements the new business development strategy with a focus on new partnership development – prospecting, pitching, negotiating, and securing new marketing partners.
• The role requires frequent travel throughout the African region and will work closely with the Marketing, Media, Events, and other groups to create and drive new revenue streams.

Major Responsibilities
Business Development:

• Drive the continued growth and expansion of NBA business and revenues.
• Develop and implement a new business development strategy for NBA, in consultation with the Head of NBA Nigeria and the NBA Head of Commercial.
• Build relationships with senior-level decision makers at prospective sponsors, relevant marketing agencies, event management companies, and promoters to generate new partners and other new business opportunities.
• Create, present, sell, and execute integrated NBA programs and initiatives.
• Support the entire sales process from proposal to deal memo submission and contract execution by liaising with other departments (Legal, Finance, etc.)
• Adapt current NBA marketing programs and create new initiatives tailored to the NBA
• Identify fan engagement opportunities to facilitate greater fan acquisition and one-to-one relationships with the current fan base.
• Maintain a working knowledge of the sales and marketing activities of prospective partners as well as the general advertising, marketing, and technology landscape to understand potential client solutions.
• Maintain a database of highly valuable targets and opportunities.
• Monitor the activity of other sports and entertainment properties in the region.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of the business development strategy for NBA Nigeria.

Internal Partnerships:
Partnership Sponsorship:

• Prospect, target, pitch, and support securing NBA Nigeria sponsorship, event, and media partnerships
• Develop and maximize networking opportunities with potential and existing sponsors
• Deliver impactful on-brand and on-target partnership programs for new business prospects
• Use storytelling to effectively sell-in partnership ideas to new business prospects
• Develop, visualize, and present customized partnership solutions for prospective sponsors
• Facilitate ideation by leading cross-functional brainstorms to inform creative solutions
• Liaise with colleagues globally across the NBA to uncover business development opportunities
• Maintain a strong understanding of industry marketing channels and technologies that clients may utilize in activating an NBA Nigeria sponsorship

Internal Partnerships:

• Establish and develop close relationships with all the NBA NY global account teams, ensuring that they are proactively informed about all NBA Nigeria plans, initiatives, and projects.
• Develop and execute a detailed and coherent plan focused on engaging the NBA NY global account teams with exciting and consistent presentations, aiming to get them on board with all NBA Nigeria plans, initiatives, and projects so those can be considered as key components for all global or regional new partnership opportunities and upsells.
• Represent NBA Nigeria in global pitches and status meetings, providing relevant information and insights about the NBA Nigeria plan, initiatives, and projects, while also outlining clearly how current and potential global partners would receive value through those.

Qualification and Experience

• Candidates should possess a Bachelor’s Degree required
• Minimum of 8 years of sales and/or business development experience
• Strategic thinker – able to shape, develop and execute the strategy for the NBA
• Strong persuading and negotiation skills
• A credible communicator, adept at operating at the board level
• Commercially minded and results-driven
• Excellent presentation skills
• Ability to work well within a matrixed organization
• A passion for sports preferred

Required Skills/Knowledge:

• Successful track record building business in Nigeria; must have a strong understanding of the market and a network of relationships across all sectors of Nigeria marketing and media landscape.
• Creative storyteller with the ability to sell conceptually.
• High-level connectivity – client-side and sponsorship/marketing community in general
• Ability to attain and exceed targets.
• This should involve delivering integrated programs that include media, print, interactive, and event-based assets.
• Entrepreneurial approach with a strong understanding of business fundamentals.
• A track record of securing sponsorship contracts for rights holders in sports.
• Knowledge of TV and digital sales, merchandising, and communications.
• Ability to develop creative solutions which will meet the objectives of prospective partners.
• Experience in working within a structured corporate environment.
• Business knowledge – being up to date with business/market/industry trends.
• A thorough understanding of the sports landscape (basketball and NBA knowledge preferable).
• Experience in working for a high-profile global organization.
• Experience in investment banking a plus.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online