Account Manager - Sports, Brand Consulting

Job Description

Who We Are

Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is the leading entertainment and sports agency, with global expertise in filmed and live entertainment, digital media, publishing, sponsorship sales and endorsements, licensing, media finance, consumer investing, fashion, trademark licensing, and philanthropy.  Distinguished by its culture of collaboration and exceptional client service, CAA’s diverse workforce identifies, innovates, and amplifies opportunities for the people and organizations that shape culture and inspire the world.  The trailblazer of the agency business, CAA was the first to build a sports business, create an investment bank, launch a venture fund, found technology start-up companies, establish a philanthropic arm, build a business in China, and form a brand marketing services division, among other innovations.

Position Summary:

The CAA Brand Consulting Account Manager will play a critical role with one of our Brand Consulting clients. This position is responsible for supporting the strategic management and day-to-day execution of a premier collegiate sports and soccer sponsorship portfolio on behalf of the agency and its clients.

This role is responsible for supporting partnership strategies, commercial agreements, integrated sponsorship activations, and measurable business results across a broad range of collegiate and soccer properties. The candidate will support numerous sports verticals and strategy, identification, negotiation and management of partnership(s).  Additionally, the candidate will interface with the client while working cross-functionally with internal/external partners, vendors, clients and agencies.

The Account Manager will work across a wide range of initiatives—from talent partnerships to integrated marketing campaigns—ensuring seamless execution and delivering best-in-class work that aligns with brand objectives.

Essential Functions:

Partnership Strategy & Management

• Provide leadership in the day-to-day management of collegiate and soccer partnerships, with a focus on NCAA, conferences, universities, athletic departments, NIL initiatives, and campus engagement platforms.
• Develop and lead comprehensive partnership strategies, identifying, communicating, and maximizing sponsorship assets to deliver measurable value for clients and successfully secure stakeholder buy-in.
• Leverage established relationships across the collegiate athletics ecosystem, including universities, conferences, multimedia rights holders, agencies, and governing bodies.
• Support negotiations for sponsorship agreements, marketing rights, naming rights, and partnership renewals, demonstrating a proven history of delivering successful commercial outcomes.
• Support in the day to day management of collegiate sponsorship portfolios, often serving as the primary point of contact for university partners, conferences, rights holders, clients, and agency partners.
• Support direct client relationships, serving as a trusted strategic advisor throughout the partnership lifecycle.
• Participate in cross-functional planning and execution of integrated sponsorship campaigns, campus activations, hospitality programs, student engagement initiatives, and experiential marketing efforts.
• Partner with Data & Analytics teams to establish partnership KPIs, measurement frameworks, ROI reporting, and optimization strategies.
• Collaborate with Creative, Experiential, Social, PR, Digital, and Insights teams to ensure all partnership objectives are achieved.
• Identify new collegiate and soccer sponsorship opportunities across athletics, campus life, NIL, women's sports, esports, and emerging properties that align with client objectives.
• Mentor, develop, and manage junior team members while fostering a collaborative, high-performing culture.

Events & Activation

• Attend collegiate and soccer sporting events, championship tournaments, conference meetings, sponsorship summits, and client activations throughout the year.
• Support the execution of bowl game entitlement programs, ensuring contractual rights are fulfilled across branding, hospitality, media, digital, on-site activations, and executive stakeholder engagement.
• Support sponsorship activation planning from concept through execution, ensuring all contractual assets are fulfilled and client objectives are exceeded.
• Support hospitality programming (where applicable), VIP experiences, on-site events, and student engagement initiatives tied to partnership objectives.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree preferably in Marketing, Communications or similar discipline
• At least 4-6+ years of relevant experience; prior experience involving managing/supporting team and/or league sponsorships is preferred
• Management experience in mentoring and training team members
• Ability to travel and be on-site at events monthly
• Ability to quickly learn client industry, CAA responsibilities and CAA operational processes such as finance, legal and ops procedures
• Strong grammar, proofreading, and editing skills, with a keen eye for detail and consistency across all written materials
• Possess a strong financial acumen with the ability to accurately manage and reconcile large and multiple budgets
• Strong understanding and “pulse” on current events, pop-culture trends, and happenings – especially in the sports &  entertainment fields
• Must be proficient in MS Office
• Extremely detail-oriented and organized
• Curious and creative
• Ability to balance and progress multiple projects and project components at one time, on tight timelines

Preferred Skills:

• Agency experience highly preferred
• College and/or Soccer sponsorship industry experience a plus

Location

This role will be located in our New York office. The Brand Consulting department offers a flexible work schedule and requires a minimum three days per week on-site.

Compensation

The annual base salary range for this position is as follows:

New York, NY -$85,000 to $110,000.

This position is also eligible for benefits and a discretionary bonus. Ultimately, the salary may vary based upon factors including, but not limited to, relevant experience, time in the role, business sector, and geographic location, among other criteria. Please talk with a CAA Recruiter to learn more.

Benefits

At CAA, we offer a competitive compensation and benefits* package for all regular full-time employees:

Benefits where the company pays 80%-100% of the cost include:

• Medical Insurance
• Basic Life and AD&D Insurance
• Telemedicine
• Employee assistance and mental health counseling in person, virtually or through text
• Paid Vacation / Holidays
• Paid Sick Time
• Paid Parental Leave and Other Paid Leaves of Absence
• NICU leave
• Bereavement resources
• Adoption Benefits
• Educational Assistance
• Mental Health Resources
• Employee Assistance Plan

Employees may also elect to participate in voluntary benefits

• Dental, Vision Insurance
• 401K Plan
• Flexible Spending Accounts (Health Care and Dependent Care) 
• Health Savings Account
• Voluntary Life and AD&D Insurance

Employee Perks

• Commuter Benefits

*Benefits offered also include other statutory mandated benefits

Creative Artists Agency, LLC (the “Company”) is committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and will not discriminate on the basis of race (inclusive of traits historically associated with race, including hair texture and protective hairstyles), color, religion, creed, gender or sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), national origin, ancestry, age, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, family and medical care leave status, military or veteran status, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, political affiliation, an employee’s or their dependent’s reproductive health decision making (e.g., the decision to use or access a particular drug, device or medical service), or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.The absence of a permanent address is not a bar to employment. The Company does not discriminate against individuals based on housing status, including the absence of a fixed address.The Company also complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and applicable state and local laws with regard to providing reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities.CAA does not accept unsolicited resumes from third-party recruiters unless they were contractually engaged by CAA to provide candidates for a specified opening. Any such employment agency, person or entity that submits an unsolicited resume does so with the acknowledgement and agreement that CAA will have the right to hire that applicant at its discretion without any fee owed to the submitting employment agency, person or entity.