SailGP
AV Planning Lead
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About:
The Rolex SailGP Championship is the most exciting racing on water, where anything can happen in short, adrenaline-fueled battles between national teams at iconic stadium destinations worldwide. Top athletes fly in identical high-tech F50 catamarans faster than the wind, at speeds in excess of 100km/h (60mph). Founded in 2018, SailGP is one of the world’s fastest-growing sports and entertainment properties, now in its sixth season.
SailGP is a global organisation with defined values that shape the culture of its team – Deliver Quality and Consistency; Evolve with Focus; Make it Count; Stand Together and Strike a Balance.
Summary:
The AV Planning Lead is a hybrid commercial and technical planning role within SailGP’s Venue Technology department. Serving as the vital bridge between high-spec technical delivery and strict financial discipline, this role ensures SailGP’s global audio-visual footprint is planned, specification-managed, and executed in the leanest, most cost-effective manner possible without compromising quality or operational reliability.
Working across SailGP internal teams, external contractors, and global venue partners, the AV Planning Lead owns end-to-end technical scoping, budget management, commercial negotiation, and schedule integration. Onsite, they attend every global event as a core member of the AV delivery team, maintaining commercial and high-level operational oversight while executing a seamless handover for physical execution.
Key Responsibilities:
Commercial Strategy, Financial Management & Negotiation
- Commercial Scoping & Lean Operations: Act as the primary commercial safeguard for AV operations, systematically auditing technical requirements across all departments to drive lean operational models, eliminate redundant kit, and maximize ROI across global venues.
- Budget Ownership & Forecasting: Manage the global AV budget end-to-end. Oversee cost projections, purchase order (PO) generation/approvals, invoice reconciliations, expense tracking, and variance analysis, working in close alignment with Venue Tech leadership.
- Supplier & Vendor Negotiation: Lead rigorous commercial negotiations with global and local AV vendors, equipment suppliers, structure providers, and local labor agencies to secure optimal contract terms, rate cards, and service level agreements (SLAs).
- Value Engineering: Interrogate technical designs and floor plans across all departments to identify value-engineering opportunities, lower freight footprints, and lower local labor requirements.
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Pre-Event Strategy, Planning & Schedule Integration
- Cross-Functional Alignment: Serve as the primary commercial and technical AV service lead for internal stakeholders, including Race Stadium, Hospitality, Premium Hospitality, Media, Fan Experience, and Fan Shop teams.
- Master AV Scheduling: Develop and integrate detailed AV planning schedules with the central SailGP planning function, covering load-in/load-out windows, and cross-functional milestones across all global race venues.
- Office & Stakeholder Collaboration: Work from the London HQ 3 days a week alongside Venue Tech, Infrastructure, and Event Operations teams to align AV timelines and budget constraints with master event schedules.
Departmental Specification & Value-Engineered Technical Scope
- Race Stadium Operations: Partner with Race Stadium Operations and local teams to define and confirm cost-efficient specifications for screen placement, LED sizing, PA design, audio balancing, connectivity infrastructure, and overall venue rig/derig schedules. Coordinate technical requirements and commercially viable solutions for prize-giving backdrops, fan experience activations, and concert/entertainment setups.
- Hospitality & Premium Hospitality: Collaborate on floor plan designs for the Adrenaline Lounge and Premium Hospitality spaces, ensuring TV locations, formatting, audio layouts, cable routing, rigging solutions, and power planning are optimized for both guest experience and commercial efficiency. Work with local power contractors and temporary structure suppliers to avoid scope creep and unexpected site costs.
- Media & Press Center: Confirm operational and technical requirements with the Media team for press conferences and media centers (including live broadcast feed handoffs and streaming capabilities) while managing local broadcast infrastructure expenses.
- Fan Shop & Additional Activations: Scrutinize and confirm AV support for merchandise/Fan Shop environments and special graphics/data integrations (e.g., real-time data engines), balancing technical innovation with lean deployment.
Logistics, Crewing & Cost Optimisation
- Freight & Asset Management: Partner with Global Operations to optimize air and sea freight logistics for touring AV kit, minimizing freight weight, container volume, and international transport costs.
- Crewing Administration & Efficiency: Manage crewing structures, travel arrangements, working schedules, and administrative overhead for global AV touring crew and local labor, ensuring optimal staffing ratios for container loading/unloading and packing.
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Onsite Event Delivery & Operational Handover
- Global Event Attendance: Attend every global SailGP event as a key member of the AV delivery team.
- Technical & Commercial Handover: Formally hand over site setup and physical installation leadership to the nominated Technical Production Manager, who oversees physical rigging, installation, and daily technical operations.
- Onsite Stakeholder & Vendor Oversight: Maintain high-level operational and commercial oversight during build, race weekend, and strike, serving as the main liaison between internal SailGP departments, local venue operators, and commercial vendors.
About You
- Commercial & Financial Acumen: Super commercially savvy with a proven track record of managing multi-million/significant event budgets, driving vendor negotiations, implementing lean operational principles, and achieving measurable cost savings without degrading delivery standards.
- Technical Expertise: Deep background in global live event AV production, complex venue technical planning, PA sound system design, LED screen pitch configurations, streaming video formats, broadcast connectivity integrations, rigging safety standards, and venue power distribution.
- Negotiation Skills: Assertive, skilled negotiator with experience structuring global rate cards, supplier contracts, and localized labor/vendor agreements.
- Operational Discipline: Proficient in organisational planning, prioritisation, cross-departmental budgeting, administrative tracking, and PO/invoicing workflows.
- Stakeholder Management: Confident, adaptable communicator who can challenge technical teams constructively on costs, brief senior leadership on financial performance, and negotiate with external suppliers globally.
- Collaborative & Agile Mindset: Thrives in a fast-paced, high-growth, start-up style sporting environment; able to balance independent financial decision-making with collaborative team culture.
Location:
LondonHQ
SailGP is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace committed to building a team culture that celebrates diversity, equity and inclusion.
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