Sponsorship Specialist (Johannesburg)

Job description

The Sponsorship Specialist is responsible for supporting and driving sponsorship revenue through the proactive identification, development, and sale of partnership opportunities across the business’s multi-platform ecosystem.
The role focuses on executing sponsorship sales strategies by prospecting new clients, managing sales pipelines, and packaging integrated solutions across radio, digital, events, studio formats, and sports properties. Working closely with the sponsorship lead and commercial Integration teams, the sponsorship specialist ensures opportunities are effectively brought to market, commercially structured, and transitioned seamlessly into execution.
The role carries accountability for pipeline development, proposal delivery, and opportunity progression, contributing to sponsorship revenue growth through development of commercially viable partnership solutions for lead approval while building strong client relationships and market presence.

Sponsorship pipeline development:

• Proactively source and prospect new sponsorship clients.
• Build and maintain a strong pipeline across radio, digital, studios, and sports properties.
• Identify new category opportunities and partnership leads.
• Support the sponsorship lead in filling priority property pipelines.

Proposal development and solution packaging:

• Develop integrated sponsorship proposals aligned to client objectives.
• Recommend cross-platform packaging configurations across audio, digital, events, studios, and sports platforms.
• Coordinate inputs from marketing, programming, and Integration teams.
• Prepare partnership frameworks for lead review where commercial approval is required.
• Ensure proposals are delivered accurately and on time.

Deal conversion and revenue support:

• Drive opportunities through the sales funnel to closure.
• Lead day-to-day commercial negotiations with clients and agencies.
• Structure sponsorship proposals and partnership frameworks aligned to client requirements.
• Recommend pricing and value-exchange approaches within approved commercial guidelines.
• Escalate non-standard pricing, packaging, or inventory requirements to the Sponsorship Lead for approval.
• Track deal progress, approvals, and contract finalisation.
• Contribute to achievement of monthly and quarterly revenue targets.

Client relationship management:

• Build and maintain relationships with clients and agencies.
• Manage day-to-day communication on proposals and opportunities.
• Ensure strong service delivery during pre-sale engagement.
• Support renewals and upsell conversations.

Sponsorship property commercialisation support:
Support go-to-market execution of key sponsorship properties.

• Align partnership opportunities to available inventory across platforms.
• Track sponsorship inventory utilisation and sales status.
• Escalate premium asset requests or inventory conflicts to the sponsorship lead.
• Support sell-out of sponsorship assets across the annual calendar.

Minimum required qualification:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, marketing, media studies, or a related field.

Qualifications considered advantageous:

• Postgraduate degree or certification in project management, digital marketing, or media management.
• Advanced Excel or data analytics training for financial and inventory management.

Minimum years of experience:

• 5-8 years in commercial operations

Additional role requirements:

• Willingness to travel as required.
• Advertising, sponsorship, and digital media knowledge
• Strong financial acumen (capturing and managing revenue streams)
• Proficiency in commercial inventory and scheduling systems
• Strong communication, problem-solving, and relationship-building abilities
• Digital-first mindset with a passion for PMB brands and creative solutions
• Ability to offer creative solutions while maintaining synergy between promotional platforms
• Understanding of user journeys across multi-platform commercial content campaigns
• Experience managing multiple projects, meeting deadlines, and prioritising tasks effectively
• Ability to drive and implement technology adoption and system efficiencies