AVP, Sports And Talent Marketing

Job Description

Responsibilities:

• Set the vision and strategy for WHOOP’s partnerships function, building a high-impact ecosystem of partners across sports, talent, organizations, teams, leagues, creators, ambassadors, and experiential.

• Own partnership portfolio strategy and investment decisions, ensuring WHOOP is partnering with the right people, properties, and platforms to drive brand awareness, cultural relevance, and long-term strategic value.

• Lead the sourcing, evaluation, structuring, and negotiation of major partnership opportunities, applying strong judgment to prioritize opportunities that elevate the WHOOP brand.

• Establish and evolve WHOOP’s roster strategy across elite athletes, sports organizations, creators, and cultural talent in close collaboration with Brand, ensuring alignment to brand positioning, audience priorities, and business goals.

• Lead the Creator remit, including experiential, to develop programs, partnerships, and in-market moments that expand WHOOP’s cultural presence and deepen brand connection with key audiences.

• Translate partnership agreements into exceptional brand programs by leading cross-functional planning and execution across Brand, Creative, Social, Communications, Product Marketing, Sales, Membership, and other teams as needed.

• Lead senior external relationships with professionalism and influence, representing WHOOP with credibility across agents, talent, league offices, team executives, creators, production partners, and other key stakeholders.

• Define and lead a clear measurement agenda across the partnerships portfolio, establishing success metrics, performance reviews, and decision-making frameworks that ensure every investment is actively managed, rigorously evaluated, and optimized for brand impact, cultural relevance, and strategic return.

• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing partnerships team, setting a high bar for strategic thinking, executional excellence, collaboration, and accountability.

Qualifications:

• 15 years of relevant experience across partnerships, business development, talent, brand activation, experiential, sponsorships, or related fields, with significant experience in premium consumer, sports, media, entertainment, or lifestyle brands.

• Proven track record of shaping, negotiating, and leading major partnerships that have delivered meaningful brand impact and strategic value.

• Deep understanding of the sports, culture, media, and talent landscape, with strong instincts for where brands can credibly and distinctively show up.

• Demonstrated success building and leading high-performing teams, with the ability to attract strong talent, develop leaders, and scale organizational capability.

• Experience managing complex external relationships at a senior level, including athletes, agents, creators, executives, league and team stakeholders, and production or agency partners.

• Strong ability to translate partnership opportunities into integrated brand programs that are creatively strong, operationally excellent, and commercially sound.

• Excellent judgment in balancing brand ambition, relationship value, business priorities, and return on investment.

• Strong commitment to embracing and leveraging AI tools in day-to-day tasks, ensuring AI-assisted work aligns with the same high-quality standards as personal contributions.