VP, Global Partnership Sales

The Company
Asia Football Group (AFG) is the exclusive commercial agency for the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) competitions from 2023-2028. AFG's partnership with the AFC covers the commercial rights for all major AFC National Team and Club competitions, including the AFC Asian Cup™, AFC Asian Qualifiers™, AFC Women's Asian Cup™, AFC Women's Olympic Qualifiers, AFC Champions League Elite™, AFC Women's Champions League™, and AFC Champions League Two™ as well as AFC youth and futsal competitions.

Driven by a shared passion and dedication to Asian football, our industry experts have a wealth of experience in global, regional, and local football marketing, and are devoted to delivering exciting and engaging Asian football content to fans on ground, on screen, and online. Working closely with the AFC and its stakeholders, Asia Football Group strives for the success and growth of Asian football, as well as redefining Asian football’s commercial standing within global football by addressing the shared business objectives of the AFC, its sponsors and media partners with solutions derived from optimising fan engagement and digitally driven innovations.

The Role

This is a senior new business role. You find and open the door to large global deals for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competitions. You then bring in support from colleagues and senior leaders to develop and close each deal. Your focus

• Large global deals with both established and emerging global and/or pan-Asian brands

• Main focus: non-Asian brands (for example European or US headquartered) 

• Additional area of focus:
  Korea

You find the leads. To develop and close each deal, you work closely with the partnership strategy, solutions and deal processing teams, and with the SVP, Partnership Sales and/or the Chief Partnerships Officer. You report to the SVP, Partnership Sales

Key Responsibilities 

• Build and own a pipeline of new global brands, mainly non-Asian and Korean 

• Find and build relationships with key decision makers at major brands

• Spot valuable emerging brand categories and open new doors

• Lead complex deals across global HQ’s, several regional offices and many decision makers

• Forecast sales accurately and adjust plans as the market shifts

• Work within our structured sales process, with accurate pipeline and reporting

• Share market insight to help shape and improve the partnership strategy

• Secure and lead first meetings and presentations with senior client stakeholders

• Drive the full sales cycle, from first contact to signed contract, with internal support

• Bring in the solutions team, the SVP, Partnership Sales and/or the Chief Partnerships Officer to develop and close deals

• Other responsibilities as directed by the Company from time to time 

Skills, Experience and Qualifications 

• 10+ years of new business sales experience, preferably within a commercial sports agency or sponsorship environment.
• In-depth knowledge of the global sports sponsorship market, including key investors, rights holders, and emerging trends.
• Proven track record of securing and closing high-value, multi-million-dollar international sponsorship deals across multiple markets.
• Established relationships with senior decision-makers at major global brands, particularly across Europe, the US, and Korea.
• Strong ability to develop and sell differentiated propositions, communicate value, negotiate, and close agreements with senior stakeholders.
• Excellent presentation and relationship-building skills, with confidence engaging major international clients and navigating complex, multi-market decision-making processes.
• Strong understanding of the Asian sports and commercial landscape, particularly Korea, with a passion for sponsorship and AFG’s vision for football in Asia.
• Self-driven, organised, and results-oriented, with the ability to generate leads, manage long sales cycles, work independently, and align activity with the overall partnership strategy.
• Willingness to travel frequently. Native or highly fluent English required; additional languages are a plus.
  

Interested parties please apply with your application letter, resume, current and expected salary, and availability by clicking "Apply" 

Applicants who are not invited for interviews within 6 weeks may consider their applications unsuccessful. Personal data collected will be treated strictly confidential and be used for the purpose of recruitment only. All collected information will be kept on our files for 12 months.