JOB TITLE: Head of Commercial Insights

DEPARTMENT: Commercial Strategy

LOCATION: Stamford Bridge, London

CONTRACT: Permanent, Full Time

JOB FUNCTION: The Head of Commercial Insights will lead Chelsea Football Club’s commercial insight, valuation and management-reporting capability.

Sitting within Commercial Strategy, this individual will be accountable for data and research, sponsorship rights and asset valuation, inventory management, internal partnerhship approval documents, revenue and pipeline reporting, budgeting and forecasting, category and competitor intelligence, and tracking of relevant commercial rules and regulations.

The role will turn large and complex data sets into clear commercial recommendations, focused sales stories and compelling statistics. It will maintain transparent, audit-ready models and deliver concise reporting that can be understood easily by Commercial leadership, Finance, senior executives and ownership.

The role will lead and develop the Commercial Insights team, set clear standards for accuracy and service, strengthen methodologies and processes, and ensure insight is embedded across the partnership lifecycle from targeting and valuation through to approval, activation measurement and renewal.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES:

Commercial Data, Insights & Storytelling

•      Lead the use, development and communication of data and insight to support prospective and existing partnerships, commercial planning and senior decision-making
•      Manage and interrogate large, complex and disparate commercial, audience, media and partnership data sets, ensuring sources are current, reliable and fit for purpose
•      Translate complex analysis into clear commercial recommendations, persuasive sales narratives and a focused set of statistics that strengthen pitches, negotiations and renewals
•      Create compelling business cases, benchmarks and insight-led propositions that demonstrate the strength of Chelsea FC’s brand, audiences, platforms and partnership opportunities
•      Raise the standard of data visualisation and analytical storytelling while ensuring every output is accurate, accessible and commercially relevant
•      Lead the responsible adoption of AI and large language models across Commercial Insights, using them to accelerate research, data analysis, valuation, reporting and sales-story development while maintaining rigorous human oversight, source validation, accuracy, confidentiality and data security. 

Sponsorship Valuation, Inventory & Deal Governance

•      Own the methodology and delivery of sponsorship rights, asset, package and deal valuations across principal, global, regional, women’s and other partnership opportunities
•      Build and maintain transparent valuation models that clearly distinguish sources, inputs, assumptions, calculations, sensitivities and outputs
•      Own the development and governance of deal-level P&Ls for sponsorship opportunities, ensuring all revenues, rights costs, delivery costs, commissions, contingencies and margin assumptions are complete, accurate and transparent
•      Own the Club’s partnership inventory framework, ensuring rights and assets are accurately recorded, valued, allocated, tracked and optimised to support sales, renewals and long-term revenue growth
•      Act as a key commercial stakeholder in the deal-approval process, coordinating valuation, inventory validation, due diligence and clear decision-support documentation
•      Oversee Premier League and other relevant approvals, maintaining a current and exhaustive understanding of applicable sponsorship rules and regulations

Revenue, Pipeline & Data Governance

•      Lead sponsorship revenue tracking, management reporting, budgeting and forecasting with the Commercial Strategy Director and Finance
•      Own commercial pipeline reporting and CRM data quality, including consistent definitions and reconciliation across internal sales teams, agencies and other lead sources
•      Produce concise reporting for senior leadership and ownership, clearly presenting movements, assumptions, risks and recommendations
•      Establish robust controls for source documentation, version management, reconciliation, error checking and review across all models and reporting
•      Maintain a proactive refresh schedule for core data sets, benchmarks and methodologies so teams work from current information
•      Manage internal and external data sources, research platforms, measurement tools and agency partners, ensuring quality and value for money

Market, Category & Partnership Intelligence

•      Own competitor benchmarking, prospect news tracking, sponsorship-market intelligence and the commercial matchday briefing, converting developments into clear implications for Chelsea FC
•      Build category and platform intelligence that improves targeting, identifies integration opportunities and strengthens commercial propositions
•      Lead the measurement and reporting of current partnerships, producing performance analysis, case studies and benchmarks that support optimisation, retention and upsell
•      Monitor developments in sponsorship, media, audience behaviour, research methodologies and technology, translating relevant trends into commercial opportunities

Team Leadership & Stakeholder Management

•      Set the team’s direction, priorities and service standards, balancing live opportunities and building trusted relationships across Sales, Activation, Finance and other Club functions
•      Lead, coach and develop team members through clear objectives, regular feedback and structured professional-development plans
•      Document methodologies, processes and ownership clearly, building team capability and removing single points of failure across critical workstreams

PERSON SPECIFICATION:

Experience:

•      Significant experience in commercial insights, sponsorship valuation, sports analytics, audience measurement or commercial strategy
•      Direct, recent and hands-on experience of building, reviewing and defending sponsorship rights and asset valuations
•      Experience gained within a sports rights-holder, sports or entertainment agency, specialist commercial consultancy, or audience and sponsorship-measurement provider
•      Demonstrable experience managing large and complex data sets and converting analysis into revenue-driving commercial recommendations
•      Experience of commercial management reporting, including revenue tracking, budgeting, forecasting, pipeline reporting or CRM governance
•      Experience producing clear analysis and models for senior executives, Finance teams and ownership-level stakeholders
•      Proven people-management experience, with the ability to set direction, manage competing priorities and develop high-performing analytical teams

Skills and Behaviours:

•      Advanced Excel and data-transformation capability, including complex formulas, structured models, PivotTables, data validation, scenario and sensitivity analysis, and error checking
•      Strong practical AI and LLM literacy
•      Ability to build intuitive and transparent models with clearly labelled sources, assumptions, calculation logic and outputs, supported by exceptional numerical accuracy and disciplined quality assurance
•      Commercial fluency in sponsorship structures, rights, inventory, audience data, media measurement and partnership-performance methodologies
•      Strong ability to reduce complex analysis into decisive sales stories, statistics and recommendations
•      Excellent storytelling and presentation skills, with the ability to produce clear, persuasive and visually engaging outputs
•      Confident and credible communicator, able to challenge assumptions, defend methodologies and influence senior stakeholders
•      Highly organised and adaptable, with a collaborative leadership style and the ability to prioritise multiple high-value opportunities, recurring reporting requirements and stakeholder needs
•      Experience with business-intelligence tools, database querying, data visualisation or statistical modelling would be advantageous

Our Expectations:

• To embody the club’s BLUE behaviours (Brave, Lead, Unity, Edge) in the approach to work and interaction with others
• To adhere to the club’s policies and procedures, including Health & Safety, Financial Authorisation, Confidentiality and GDPR.
• To act as an ambassador for diversity, equality, and inclusion, and demonstrate a positive commitment by treating others fairly in line with our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy and reporting any acts of discrimination through appropriate channels
• To create a safe environment and act to protect all young people and vulnerable adults that are either in your care or attending club premises, and report any concerns to the Safeguarding Lead
• To report any misconduct or suspected misconduct to the HR Department.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: 

At Chelsea we recognise that the diversity of our people is one of our greatest strengths and we are taking positive action to ensure our existing colleagues and job applicants can fully be themselves and bring their own unique experiences and perspectives to Chelsea FC. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.

If you need reasonable adjustments made to the recruitment process, please reach out to your recruiter, who will be able to advise and support you.

Chelsea FC is fully committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all children, young people and adults at risk (vulnerable groups). We therefore require all successful applicants to complete a DBS Check prior to starting employment. Depending on the role, successful applicants may also be required to undergo other child protection screening where appropriate.