Commercial Development Manager

This is about mindset, not just CV. We want someone curious, who spots opportunity before anyone else and backs their own instinct. Ambitious and resilient, they chase what others miss and don't quit. They sell in a new way, fresh, designed, content-led, and back it up with decks that do the same. And they play for the team, not just themselves.

What does success look like in this role?

• A growing network of senior relationships across brands, platforms and rights holders
• Industry-leading sales materials and approach, from decks and content that look and feel like nothing else in the market, backed by a sales style that's proactive, sharp and genuinely creative.
• New meetings and pipeline generated through proactive outreach, not inbound alone.
• Conversion of early conversations into live briefs, RFPs and signed business.

Key Responsibilities:

• Proactively identify and open new commercial conversations with brands, platforms and rights holders - generating meetings, not just responding to inbound briefs.
• Build and manage a live pipeline of prospects across sports, entertainment and branded content, working with key production stakeholders.
• Lead brand sales decks from design to delivery. Sharp, creative, industry-leading work every time.
• Research market trends, competitor activity and client objectives, and turn that research into original ideas and points of view that open doors.
• Translate insight into commercial propositions and strategy, working with senior leaders to shape the pitch before it's written.
• Own relationships from first contact through to handover for delivery, keeping the client engaged throughout.
• Attend industry events and conferences, building a network that creates new opportunities.
• Work closely with partner delivery area owners, creative and production teams to shape propositions that are ambitious but deliverable.
• Track and report pipeline activity, conversion and outcomes against targets.
• Own the day-to-day management and hygiene of HubSpot, keeping opportunities, stages, and activity accurate.
• Support the continuous evolution of HubSpot, testing and implementing improvements to pipelines, workflows and reporting as the business changes.

Responsibilities may be amended, added to, or removed to reflect the changing needs of the production or organisation.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• A track record of proactively generating new business meetings and opportunities, not just responding to briefs.
• Confident building relationships with senior decision-makers at brands, platforms and rights holders.
• Genuine commercial instinct and curiosity about client objectives, market trends and where the industry is heading.
• Able to translate research and insight into a compelling commercial narrative and strategy.
• Comfortable operating without a brief, spotting and creating the opportunity.
• Experience in a commercial or sales role within sports, entertainment, media or branded content.
• Confident presenting ideas and strategies to senior stakeholders, internally and externally.
• Organised, with the ability to manage a live pipeline across multiple prospects at once.
• Collaborative, working closely with teams (creative to production) to shape propositions that hold up commercially and creatively.
• Strong design skills. Experience in Keynote is ideal. Photoshop knowledge is desirable.

Location:

The base for this position is Kew, London.

Working Days:

• 5 day week, x4 days in office and x1 day WFH
• You will be expected to work with the team to plan a schedule based on commercial and production requirements.
• There may be occasional weekend work.
• Whisper offers the option of flexitime hours subject to production requirements.

Start:

ASAP on a permanent contract

Salary:

Based on experience

Application closing:

5th October 2026

How to apply:

Please upload your CV and tell us, in your own way, why you are the right candidate for this role.