Media Development and Rights Manager / Senior Manager

Media Development and Rights Manager / Senior Manager

Location: London, GB

Opening Date: 10 Feb 2025

Full Time / Part Time: Full Time

Contract Type: Permanent

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.

The Media Development and Rights Manager will lead the club's and group's efforts in the dynamic and rapidly evolving world of broadcast and publisher relations. This role is commercially driven, with the successful candidate tasked with implementing systems, strategies, and approaches to achieve departmental revenue targets.

Your Impact:

We are seeking a proactive individual who will identify new opportunities, negotiate deals, and foster relationships, collaborating with various internal departments (Partnerships, Sales, Content, Production, Product, and Group Marketing) to optimise revenue from the Manchester City FC and City Football Group media estate. This role will also focus on expanding the publishing and broadcast partner network year on year.

The Media Development and Rights Manager / Senior Manager will provide expert consultancy across the department and wider organisation on media and content rights. Working closely with our legal teams, this role will advise marketing, product, event, and partnership teams on regulations surrounding the use of footage and content for marketing purposes.

Furthermore, the position includes clear accountability for financial planning and forecasting, working closely with departmental heads to track budgets, revenue projections, and KPIs.

What You Will Do:

1. Lead the development and execution of plans to grow the broadcaster and publisher partner network year on year, achieving revenue growth in line with annual budget targets.
2. Build and nurture strong relationships with key Premier League and UEFA broadcast partners, driving collaborative marketing initiatives in priority fan growth markets alongside local and group-wide marketing teams.
3. Foster relationships with priority publishers within the sports and news vertical (such as FootballCo, OneFootball, Yahoo, DAZN, Smartframe, and IPB publishers). Proactively pitch new ideas for joint business growth across the portfolio.
4. Provide cross-departmental guidance on Premier League (PL), UEFA Champions League (UCL), and other league or federation licences to enhance content delivery, marketing, and commercial activation. Collaborate with legal and other stakeholders to resolve challenges, applying problem-solving and decision-making skills.
5. Manage and track the delivery of key project milestones, offering recommendations, sharing insights, and monitoring KPIs to influence wider strategies. Regularly update senior stakeholders on project status.
6. Potential responsibility for line management of a direct report, providing guidance and coaching for development.
7. Stay informed on innovations within the sports broadcasting and consumption vertical, particularly technological advancements that impact rights holders and fans. Keep key stakeholders updated with analysis of trends, including TV viewership data.
8. Take a lead role in managing special projects within the department, such as City Studios Growth or Original Programming.
9. Lead the team's financial planning process, including monthly media revenue reporting, KPI tracking, and supporting annual budget planning and 5YP forecasting.

What You Will Bring:

1. Strong commercial awareness, including understanding deal structures, basic negotiation, revenue stream evaluation, and legal judgement.
2. Excellent project management skills.
3. Analytical skills to evaluate complex long-form written documents and basic numerical data.
4. Proactive approach, with the ability to identify relevant industry trends and suggest new initiatives.
5. Strong communication and presentation skills.
6. Ability to build and manage stakeholder relationships.
7. Willingness to quickly acquire new skills and knowledge.
8. Independent problem-solving and decision-making capabilities.

Nice To Have:

A keen interest in the world of sports consumption, media, and technology.

Inclusive Workplace:

City Football Group is committed to creating an inclusive environment where all employees feel valued and supported. We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

If you require any disability-related adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know in your application.

We promote equal opportunities in employment, ensuring all candidates are considered based on their skills and experience. During the screening process, we carefully review all applications, and we will contact you if you are selected for an interview.

Additional Information:
Employment is subject to proof of eligibility to work in the UK. Due to our safeguarding promise, all UK-based CFG roles require a DBS check upon starting employment, which may be basic, standard, or enhanced depending on the role and responsibilities.