Marketing Manager

Business Unit: Marketing Function: Communications Date: 5 Aug 2026 Discovery – Marketing

Marketing Manager- Sponsorships and Experiential Marketing

About Discovery

Discovery’s core purpose is to make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives. We seek out and invest in exceptional individuals who understand and support our core purpose, and whose own values align with those of Discovery. Our fast-paced and dynamic environment enables smart, self-driven people to be their best. As global thought leaders, Discovery is passionate about innovating in order to not only achieve financial success, but to ignite positive and meaningful change within our society.

Areas of responsibility may include but not limited to

• Provides sponsorships and experiential marketing services, offering strategic direction and support across Business Units.
• Builds and manages operational relationships with internal stakeholders to ensure alignment and delivery of sponsorship objectives.
• Builds and manages external relationships and key partnerships with rights holders and service providers to maximise value and impact.
• Operationalises, aligns, and optimises large strategic sponsorship projects, ensuring effective execution and measurable outcomes.
• Executes large-scale events and activations, managing logistics, budgets, service providers, rights holders, and internal and external stakeholders.
• Facilitates cross-functional collaboration, integrating and harnessing team specialties and talent to deliver high-impact sponsorships and experiences.
• Cultivates an environment where creativity and innovation are encouraged, providing guidance and support to drive fresh ideas and solutions.
• Manages risk and ensures compliance across all sponsorship and experiential marketing activities.

AI-driven marketing and innovation

• Leverage Generative AI technologies to enhance sponsorship, experiential marketing, content creation, event planning and campaign development.
• Utilise AI-powered insights to optimise campaign performance, audience engagement and sponsorship ROI.

Creative design and content development

• Develop sponsorship and experiential marketing creative concepts using Adobe Express and Adobe AI tools or similar.
• Create high-quality marketing assets including presentations, social media content, event collateral, digital communications, invitations, signage and promotional materials.
• Support rapid content creation and versioning through AI-assisted design platforms.
• Ensure visual consistency and adherence to Discovery brand guidelines across all sponsorship and experiential marketing touchpoints.

Digital experience and content integration

• Integrate sponsorship activations across digital, social media and emerging platforms.
• Drive content amplification strategies that maximise the value of sponsorship rights and experiential campaigns.
• Partner with digital marketing teams to create connected customer experiences before, during and after events.

Technical Skills & Knowledge Sponsorship & Experiential Marketing Expertise

• Understanding of sponsorship strategy, rights management, and activation
• Knowledge of experiential marketing principles and event engagement tactics

Project Management

• Ability to plan, execute, and optimise large-scale sponsorship projects and events
• Budget management, scheduling, and resource allocation

Stakeholder Relationship Management

• Building and maintaining operational relationships with internal stakeholders
• Managing external partnerships with rights holders and service providers

Presentation & Communication

• Strong written and verbal communication skills for stakeholder engagement and reporting.

Brand Strategy

• Understanding of brand positioning and how sponsorships support broader business objectives

Generative AI and AI-enabled marketing

• Working knowledge of Generative AI technologies including Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Adobe Firefly or similar, and other emerging AI platforms.
• Ability to apply AI tools to marketing strategy, content creation, event planning, stakeholder communications and campaign optimisation.
• Experience creating AI-assisted reports, presentations, proposals and executive summaries.

Adobe Express and creative design

• Proficiency in Adobe Express for design and content creation.
• Experience utilising Adobe Firefly or similar, AI capabilities to generate and enhance creative assets.
• Ability to create professional-quality:
  • Social media content
  • Event branding assets
  • Digital advertisements
  • Infographics
  • Executive presentations
  • Sponsorship pitch materials
  • Marketing collateral
• Strong understanding of visual storytelling and content design best practice.

Digital content creation

• Experience developing content for multiple digital platforms.
• Understanding of audience engagement principles and content optimisation.
• Ability to rapidly create, adapt and personalise content for different stakeholder groups.

Data visualisation and reporting

• Ability to create executive-level dashboards and reports.
• Experience translating complex data into meaningful business insights.
• Understanding of data storytelling techniques and visualisation best practices.

Marketing technology

• Familiarity with marketing automation, CRM systems and digital reporting platforms.
• Understanding of emerging marketing technologies and their application within sponsorship and experiential environments.

Data Analytics

• Ability to interpret event and sponsorship data to inform strategy and optimise outcomes

Knowledge of Industry Trends

• Awareness of emerging trends in sponsorship, experiential marketing, and consumer engagement

Event Logistics

• Managing event logistics, including venue selection, supplier coordination, and on-site execution

Risk Management & Compliance

• Identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks across sponsorship and event activities
• Ensuring compliance with company policies and relevant regulations

Reporting & Measurement

• Ability to track, analyse, and report on sponsorship performance and ROI

Digital & Social Media Integration

• Understanding of digital activation, social media engagement, and content amplification for sponsorships

Creative & Innovation Skills

• Ability to ideate and implement creative sponsorship activations
• Experience fostering environments that encourage innovation

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Experience working with diverse teams (marketing, legal, finance, operations) to deliver integrated projects

Negotiation & Influencing

• Strong negotiation skills for partnership agreements and rights holder discussions

Contract & Rights Holder Management

• Familiarity with sponsorship contracts, rights negotiations, and compliance

Supplier & Vendor Management

• Experience managing service providers, agencies, and third-party vendors

Competencies

• Customer-focused
• Commercially minded
• Problem solver
• Manage and be responsible for budgets
• Influential leader
• Highly organised and able to manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Relationship Builder: Develops and maintains strong, collaborative relationships with internal stakeholders, external partners, and service providers.
• Strategic Thinker: Understands the broader business context and aligns sponsorships and experiential marketing initiatives to organisational objectives.
• Operational Excellence: Delivers projects efficiently, manages multiple priorities, and ensures high standards in execution.
• Creative & Innovative: Brings fresh ideas, encourages creativity, and actively seeks new ways to enhance sponsorship and event impact.
• Detail-Oriented: Pays close attention to logistics, compliance, and risk management, ensuring