Head of Sponsorships and Experiential Marketing Gauteng

Discovery Limited is actively recruiting for a Head of Sponsorships and Experiential Marketing position in Gauteng. This is an excellent opportunity for professionals in the Marketing / Sales / Business Development sector looking to advance their careers.

• Experience Level: 10 - 15 years • Educational Background: Others or equivalent • Industry Focus: Marketing / Sales / Business Development • Location Preference: in Gauteng

The Head of Sponsorships and Experiential Marketing position is an important role within the Marketing / Sales / Business Development sector, offering meaningful career development and professional growth opportunities.

Your extensive experience in Marketing / Sales / Business Development qualifies you for leadership positions. This role offers the chance to shape industry practices and organizational direction.

When applying for this Head of Sponsorships and Experiential Marketing position, ensure your CV highlights: • Relevant experience matching the 10 - 15 years requirement • Educational qualifications in line with Others • Specific achievements in the Marketing / Sales / Business Development field • Any certifications or specialized training

The Marketing / Sales / Business Development sector in South Africa continues to show strong demand for skilled professionals. This position represents a valuable opportunity in the current job market.

---

Key Purpose 

The Head of Sponsorships sets the strategic vision and direction for the organisation’s sponsorship portfolio, ensuring it delivers measurable brand and business impact. This role provides strong leadership across the sponsorship function, driving the delivery of high value projects and establishing influential partnerships both internally and externally. As a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders, the incumbent provides expert guidance, strategic insight, and thought leadership, while empowering and developing a high performing sponsorships team. 

Areas of responsibility may include but not limited to: 

Strategic sponsorship leadership 

Lead the development and execution of Discovery’s sponsorship strategy, ensuring alignment to the organisation’s brand, business, marketing and client engagement objectives.  Identify, assess and shape high-impact sponsorship opportunities that strengthen Discovery’s market presence, differentiate the brand and create measurable commercial and reputational value. 

Commercial and financial management 

Own the sponsorship portfolio budget, ensuring disciplined financial planning, allocation, governance and return on investment.   Develop strong business cases, secure appropriate funding, negotiate commercial rights and ensure all sponsorship agreements deliver maximum value, strategic relevance and long-term partnership benefit. 

People leadership and team development 

Lead, coach and develop a high-performing sponsorships team, creating a culture of excellence, accountability, creativity, and continuous improvement.   Ensure the team is motivated, engaged, well supported and equipped to deliver against strategic, commercial and operational objectives.  Uses stakeholder feedback to inform personal and service delivery improvements. 

Brand, product and asset leverage 

Maximise the value of sponsorship assets by creating meaningful opportunities to showcase Discovery’s products, benefits and value proposition.   Drive integrated campaigns, activations, competitions and experiences that connect sponsorship properties to business priorities, customer engagement and brand growth. 

Sponsorship and experiential execution 

Oversee the successful delivery of Discovery Group’s mass participation event sponsorships, ambassador programmes and experiential marketing initiatives.   Ensure consistent execution, strong stakeholder coordination, brand alignment and high-quality delivery across all sponsorship touchpoints. 

Ambassador and thought leadership strategy 

Lead the group-wide ambassador strategy, ensuring ambassadors are strategically selected, effectively leveraged and aligned to Discovery’s brand, values and business objectives.  Provide strategic direction for thought leadership events and platforms that enhance Discovery’s credibility and market positioning. 

Stakeholder influence and partnership management 

Build and manage strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including executive leaders, business units, agencies, rights holders, partners and ambassadors. Use negotiation, presentation and influencing skills to secure buy-in, align priorities and drive effective decision-making across diverse stakeholder groups. 

 Skills 

Strategy development & implementation  Contract negotiation & management  Internal & external stakeholder management  People leadership  Budget management  Project Management  Translate intricate data and strategic insights into visually engaging presentations 

Competencies 

Values Driven  Optimistic  Learns on the Fly  Resilient  Instils Trust  People Savvy  Drives Results  Problem Solver  Negotiator  Presenter  Strong communicator 

Education and Experience 

Tertiary qualification (NQF level 7 equivalent) essential  Master’s degree (advantageous)  South African Chartered Marketer Qualification   A minimum of 10 to 15 years’ experience in a senior marketing leadership role, preferably as a Head of Marketing or equivalent within a large corporate environment, with proven experience in sponsorships and delivering high-profile events.