The FA appointed a Senior Sales Manager to build progressive Women’s Game partnerships.
Overview
The FA is the governing body for football in England, with responsibility across elite, grassroots and community football.
The Senior Sales Manager, was a newly created role within The FA partnership sales team, designed to support the commercial development of the Women’s Game through progressive, value-driven partnerships.
Challenge
The FA needed to appoint a specialist commercial leader into a newly created role dedicated to the Women’s Game. The position formed part of a broader strategic reset for the commercial approach to women’s football. The FA wanted to grow its partnership sales team and appoint someone who could help shape a more progressive, category-led approach to commercial growth.
This was not a traditional sponsorship sales role. The FA needed someone with strong marketing experience, commercial insight and the ability to build compelling partner propositions. The ideal candidate would combine brand strategy, campaign thinking and a genuine passion for women’s football, translating the value of the Women’s Game into partnerships that resonate with brands.
Timing also played an important role. As a new position in a growing team, the appointment needed to support momentum within The FA’s partnership sales function and strengthen its commercial focus on women’s football.
The market was competitive. Women’s sport continues to attract increasing commercial attention, meaning organisations are competing for talent with the right blend of brand, marketing, commercial and partnership experience.
Solution
The organisation had worked with EISG previously and, when the need arose to fill a newly created role within a growing commercial team, they knew exactly who to turn to.
EISG began with a detailed briefing process to understand the nuance of the role and the type of profile The FA needed. The brief made it clear that the search should not be limited to traditional sales candidates. The priority was to identify talent with marketing experience, commercial judgement and the ability to develop tailored partner propositions.
The search strategy combined market mapping, headhunting, advertising, industry referrals and insight from previous commercial projects across sport. This allowed EISG to reach active and passive talent across football, women’s sport, brand partnerships, marketing campaigns and agency-led partnership models.
Assessment went beyond qualifications and previous job titles. Candidates were considered against their knowledge of women’s sport, passion for football, cultural fit, values alignment, brand experience and evidence of campaigns or propositions they had led. Particular focus was placed on candidates who could demonstrate the ability to build bespoke commercial solutions.
The FA was presented with a full shortlist, giving the hiring team a strong and carefully assessed group of candidates to review and compare.
“This search needed a commercial marketer, not a conventional sales profile. The focus was on proposition building, purpose and long-term value.” Lena Stroem, Consultant EISG.
Outcome
EISG approached 80 people, screened 24 candidates and shortlisted 8 . 4 candidates progressed to final interview.
The appointed candidate stood out for cultural fit, passion for women’s football, and experience in commercial solutions and partner marketing. Their background in building bespoke partner propositions aligned with The FA’s need for agency collaboration, brand insight and compelling commercial opportunities.
The appointment gives The FA a senior commercial lead focused on Women’s Football, supporting growth, stronger partnerships and positive impact.
This project highlights the value of targeted sports recruitment built on market knowledge, specialist assessment and access to commercial talent.
Want to know more
To read more about how EISG supports commercial and partnership appointments across sport, contact Lena Stroem who specialises in Marketing, Comms and Partnerships roles