Vice President, Consumer Brand, Sports - Burson

Responsibilities

• Lead Client Communications Programs - Develop and execute integrated earned media and communications programs for leading consumer brands, sports properties, and entertainment clients. - Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to clients, providing senior-level counsel on media strategy, reputation management, athlete partnerships, sponsorship activations, and brand storytelling. - Build and maintain strong relationships with key client stakeholders while proactively identifying opportunities to deepen partnerships and grow business.
• Drive Earned Media Excellence - Lead earned media strategy and execution across sports and consumer brand accounts, driving impactful coverage and measurable business outcomes. - Leverage deep knowledge of key sports, consumer, lifestyle, entertainment, and business media outlets, publishers, journalists, podcasts, newsletters, broadcast partners, and emerging media platforms. - Develop media strategies that generate earned coverage, cultural relevance, and audience engagement across traditional, digital, social, and emerging channels. - Build and maintain strong relationships with sports, consumer, lifestyle, entertainment, and business media.
• Lead Athlete Activations and Experiential Programming - Develop and execute athlete activation programs that align with client business objectives and brand narratives. - Identify and manage athlete, ambassador, influencer, and talent partnerships that drive visibility and engagement. - Lead the planning and execution of press trips, media tours, product launches, experiential activations, sporting event programs, and marquee consumer experiences. - Partner closely with talent agencies, athlete representatives, leagues, teams, and industry partners to maximize program impact.
• Provide Team Leadership - Manage, mentor, and develop account teams while fostering an inclusive, collaborative, and high-performance culture. - Provide ongoing coaching and career development support to junior and mid-level team members. - Lead cross-functional teams across strategy, creative, social, influencer, analytics, and production disciplines to deliver integrated client solutions.
• Contribute to Agency Growth - Play an active role in business development, including prospecting, pitch strategy, proposal development, and presentation delivery. - Lead or contribute to new business opportunities by developing communications strategies and presenting recommendations to prospective clients. - Identify opportunities to expand existing client relationships through strategic counsel and innovative programming. - Partner with account leadership to identify organic growth opportunities, support account planning and resource management efforts, and contribute to the overall financial success of the business. - Represent Burson as a subject matter expert in sports communications, athlete partnerships, consumer brand marketing, and integrated communications.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in sports communications, consumer brand marketing, earned media, public relations, or integrated communications, preferably within an agency environment.
• Deep understanding of the consumer sports landscape, including major leagues, teams, athletes, media ecosystems, sponsorship trends, fan engagement strategies, and cultural moments that drive conversation.
• Proven relationships with leading sports, consumer, lifestyle, business, and entertainment media outlets, publishers, and journalists.
• Demonstrated success developing and executing integrated earned media campaigns that generate impactful coverage and measurable results.
• Significant experience planning and executing press trips, media events, product launches, experiential activations, and large-scale event communications programs.
• Proven success leading athlete activations, sponsorship campaigns, endorsement programs, and talent-driven consumer marketing initiatives.
• Strong client-facing presence with exceptional presentation, storytelling, and executive communication skills.
• Experience counseling senior executives and marketing leaders on communications strategy, media engagement, and reputation management.
• Demonstrated ability to lead integrated teams and collaborate effectively across disciplines to deliver business results.
• Experience attracting, managing, mentoring, and developing high-performing teams in a fast-paced environment.

Benefits

• We offer a competitive benefits package; click here for more details: https://mybenefits.wpp.com/public/welcome .