About Us:

APL is a team of people who are passionate about our vision to be the league of choice for modern Australians & New Zealanders, uniting communities through a shared love of football.

Our team champions our leagues by empowering clubs to deliver football excellence and build lifelong connections with fans, to unlock our potential for growth within the global game.

The Opportunity:

The role of the Head of Marketing & Data is pivotal in helping us achieve that mission and deliver on the significant growth potential within the Leagues and our Clubs. With a more youthful supporter base than other Australian sporting codes, this role is critical in unlocking generational support for the league and our clubs through the development of an annual marketing strategy, campaign strategies and driving brand awareness for our leagues.

Reporting to the Director - Clubs & Operations, the Head of Marketing & Data will lead a team of three to deliver best in class marketing, data and brand campaigns to drive consumer and fan growth for our league and our clubs. The role will require a deep understanding of sports consumer habits, experience in delivering multi-channel marketing campaigns, an ability to develop and build collaborative relationships for optimum success, whilst delivering impactful campaigns for the A-Leagues, our club’s and partner’s brands.

The Responsibilities:

• Develop and lead the league’s fan growth strategy to grow consumer revenues across the league and clubs
• Lead the development of an annual league marketing strategy to assist in driving league and club objectives, including major campaigns for key APL calendar milestones (Season Launch, Major Events, Finals Series) and owned digital and broadcast products.
• Lead the planning and management of annual marketing budgets including campaign spending, agency retainers and contractors.
• Oversees the planning of multi-channel and integrated MarComs strategies and plans, driving collaboration with League departments (communications, commercial, broadcast, product, content, events) and Club Departments (media, PR, marketing, consumer business)
• Lead the strategy for data infrastructure, martech platforms and business analytics to support league and club marketing sophistication - driving greater automation, efficiency and personalisation.
• Own relationships with key external agencies to develop go-to-market pricing and products for league events
• Foster relationships with key external agencies and league partners to plan and leverage opportunities for broader campaign success.
• Manage fan relationships, including APL’s FRG, and stakeholders and instigate key research projects to improve consumer understanding and insights
• Develop product concepts and promotional programs to assist in driving the key fan and consumer growth objectives.
• Ownership of the APL brand strategy and architecture, including representation of all clubs.
• Lead the monitoring, review and reporting of all activity results, campaign effectiveness and ROI to be shared with internal and external parties.
• Continually assess and benchmark the league and our clubs against consumer data insights and trends and develop consumer research projects as needed to assist in consumer strategies.
• Stay abreast of key marketing industry trends and regulations and professional standards to drive best practice.

Our Values:

EVERY FAN IN MIND - We respect the privilege and responsibility that comes with our mission to unite, entertain and grow our game.

PLAY OUR OWN WAY - In order to get and stay ahead of the game, we create and innovate.

WIN TOGETHER - The only way to win is to win together; who makes the assist is as important as who scores the goal.

GET OFF THE BENCH - We don’t sit on the bench - we expect everybody to get up and involved.

PLAY FAIR - Sport is all about competitiveness and fierce rivalry, but we always play fair!

We believe in creating an inclusive environment, and we encourage anyone interested in this role to reach out and start a conversation, regardless of gender or the number of skills that match your profile.

About You:

Essential - 

• Tertiary education in marketing or relevant area of expertise
• Minimum 10 years experience in marketing, experience in sport preferred.
• Track record of developing strategies that achieve growth results
• Experience in managing data infrastructure to support marketing success
• Exceptional written, presentation, and verbal communications skills that can be applied across organisational levels
• Proactive, forward thinking and able to push delivery of external and internal stakeholders while maintaining positive and collaborative relationships
• Ability to rapidly gain and build trust and confidence of internal and external stakeholders
• Excellent judgement and creative problem solving skills
• Energetic, flexible and collaborative who can positively impact their team members and the strategic objectives of the business.

???????Preferred - 

• Understanding of sport consumer revenues (ticketing, membership, merchandise etc).
• Experience in delivering event-based marketing campaigns.

Why work for us?

You’ll get to work as part of an elite team of passionate and like-minded individuals. On top of that, we offer:

• Hybrid working arrangement.    
• Generous leave entitlements including company paid parental leave.
• Monthly mobile phone allowance.
• Employee Recognition Program.
• Plus benefits, discounts and tickets.

Above all, we love football and, if you do too, you’ll love working with us. So if you’re excited about this opportunity, please ‘Apply now’.

APL does not accept unsolicited CVs from recruiters or employment agencies. Please note only shortlisted applicants will be contacted. Thanks for your understanding.