A specialist digital commercial hire for England Rugby
Overview
England Rugby is the national governing body for rugby union in England. At the time of the search, the RFU was one year into a strategic plan designed to create transformational impact across the game.
A key part of that strategy was the ambition to become a more data-driven, user-centric organisation with market leading digital capabilities. The Commercial Digital Manager role was created to help optimise the value of England Rugby’s digital inventory, strengthen sponsor activation and maximise the commercial value of digital rights.
Challenge
England Rugby needed a rare blend of digital, commercial and sponsorship expertise. The role sat at the intersection of digital activation, branded content, rights packaging, audience segmentation and partner reporting. It required someone who could work across internal teams, including Partnerships, Content, Consumer Engagement, Technology and Analytics, while also building strong relationships with major partner platforms.
The challenge was the size of the talent pool. This type of role was still emerging across sport. Many rights holders did not yet have a direct equivalent, which meant there were very few people with a proven track record of building commercial value through digital inventory and sponsor activation.
The appointment also needed to be senior enough to operate with autonomy. As a standalone role, England Rugby needed someone who could bring experience, confidence and credibility from day one, rather than someone who would require close functional management.
Solution
EISG delivered a focused talent hunt across rights holders, agencies and adjacent commercial environments.
The search mapped relevant professionals across sports organisations, agencies and advertising businesses with experience in digital campaigns, sponsorship activation and rights delivery. The process was designed to identify individuals who could understand the commercial value of digital audiences and translate that value into partner-facing opportunities.
The assessment process went beyond role titles. Candidates were screened in depth on previous digital campaigns, their experience working with partners, their understanding of digital performance reporting and how they operated as individuals. This helped test whether each person could work across multiple stakeholder groups while still taking ownership of a new and evolving role.
EISG gave England Rugby clear market feedback throughout the process. The client was kept informed on where relevant talent sat and what level of track record was realistically available. This helped maintain alignment on the brief and gave the hiring team confidence in the shortlist.
“This was a very narrow market, so the search had to be precise, proactive and honest from the outset.” – Harry Trusslet, Lead Consultant, EISG
Outcome
England Rugby appointed a candidate with direct experience of building a comparable digital commercial function within a leading multi-club sports organisation.
This background gave the RFU access to proven expertise from one of the few environments where this type of role had already been successfully developed.
The search secured a specialist hire from a limited market. By approaching 52 individuals, screening 22 and shortlisting 5, EISG gave England Rugby access to a targeted group of people with the right blend of digital commercial, sponsorship and partner activation experience.
The final appointment provided the RFU with proven capability in an area that is becoming increasingly important across the sports industry. For rights holders, governing bodies and clubs, digital inventory is now a core commercial asset.
This appointment gave England Rugby the expertise to strengthen sponsor value, improve digital activation and support a more data-driven commercial strategy.
Want to know more
For sports recruitment specialists with deep experience across commercial, partnerships and digital appointments, contact EISG.