Ignition Collective
Senior Account Director – Global Sponsorship (Formula One)
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Role Type Permanent • Full-time • Director
Description
Position: Senior Account Director – Global Sponsorship (Formula One)
Role: Full-time, employed
Location: Silverstone, UK – Hybrid working with global travel
Salary: Dependent on Experience
About Us
Ignition Collective is a forward-thinking agency that does brilliant things, together. We excel in delivering exceptional marketing and client service solutions, creating impactful experiences across sport, automotive, and entertainment. We are committed to building long-term partnerships, delivering outstanding client service, and fostering a collaborative culture where creativity, strategic thinking, and commercial excellence thrive.
Role Overview
Ignition is seeking a highly experienced Senior Account Director to lead the partnership of a high-profile OEM brand in Formula One, managing a global sponsorship programme. The successful candidate will combine strategic thinking, exceptional client service, and commercial leadership to drive account growth, profitability, and long-term client partnerships. They will balance client expectations with agency priorities, resource planning, and commercial objectives. We are looking for a commercially minded agency professional with significant experience within a marketing, sponsorship, or integrated agency. They will have a proven track record of leading client service teams, managing multiple concurrent workstreams, protecting agency commercial interests, and delivering complex programmes. They will confidently manage changing priorities, challenge client requests where appropriate, and ensure all work follows agreed scope and agency processes.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, mentor, and develop an account team of six, with previous experience managing at least three direct reports.
- Serve as the senior point of contact for the client, building trusted long-term relationships.
- Lead planning and delivery of sponsorship campaigns, activations, and events.
- Prioritise multiple client workstreams while balancing competing deadlines and resources.
- Manage timelines, budgets, and profitability across the account.
- Manage out-of-scope requests through the agency change control process, ensuring additional work is scoped, approved, and commercially managed before delivery.
- Work collaboratively across creative, strategy, production, finance, legal, and communications teams.
- Build strong relationships with rights holders, media partners, and stakeholders.
- Lead budgeting, forecasting, KPI reporting, and post-event evaluations.
- Ensure compliance with sponsorship agreements and maximise contractual value.
- Effectively prioritise team workloads and support individual development.
- Build trusted relationships with senior agency leadership, managing upwards through proactive communication, commercial awareness, and timely escalation of risks, opportunities, and client issues to support informed decision-making.
- Support agency growth through continuous improvement, collaboration, and new business opportunities.
- Develop sponsorship strategies aligned to client objectives.
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Key Skills & Experience Required
- Minimum seven years’ experience in sponsorship, account management, or client services in a sports environment.
- At least three to five years leading complex sponsorship programmes.
- Significant experience working within a marketing, sponsorship, creative, or integrated agency.
- Experience managing and developing teams, including at least three direct reports.
- Experience managing multiple concurrent client workstreams.
- Strong commercial awareness, including budget management, profitability, and scope control.
- Excellent client management and stakeholder engagement skills.
- Strong understanding of Formula One sponsorship (highly desirable).
- Excellent project management, organisation, and prioritisation skills.
- Confident managing scope changes and challenging client requests constructively.
- Outstanding communication and presentation skills.
- Willingness to travel internationally and work outside normal hours when required.
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What You Will Get from Us
- The opportunity to make an impact and develop your career
- An innovative and friendly workplace
- A flexible office and working from home policy – minimum of 3 days in the office
- Pension scheme
- Workplace benefits
- 25 days holiday + public holidays + winter break
- Two wellness days per year
- Access to weekly performance, health, and wellness sessions and workshops
- Quarterly team coaching sessions
- Your birthday off
- Ongoing professional training and development
- Relocation package of up to £6,000 over six months for eligible candidates
Why Join Us?
At Ignition, you’ll be part of a collaborative agency working at the forefront of global motorsport sponsorship, leading one of our flagship accounts while developing your career within an ambitious and supportive team.
Company Overview
Born as a motorsport and automotive marketing agency in 2013, we honed our skills in the fast-paced, technical, competitive world of racing. This drove us to provide solutions to tight, immovable deadlines and deliver to a high standard on time. Teamwork was the only way to succeed, and creative problem-solving became second nature. All good stuff, right? So why should these qualities be limited to motorsport and automotive marketing? We realised our approach would add value to businesses from other industries. So we grew. Our creativity grew. Our team grew. Our ambitions grew. But not our egos. No. We’re decent people doing work we love. And doing it well. As an independent agency, we won’t hold you to ransom with heavy retainers. We believe in finding a way of working that suits everyone. And we think that’s why so many of our clients have been with us for years.
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