Strategist, Commercial Marketing

About the Commercial Strategy Creative Group

The world of sports partnerships has evolved. Its not just about exposure and awareness-building through signage anymore. Our partners often seek campaigns or programs that will help them achieve specific marketing objectives require a compelling strategy and big creative ideas. 

TheCommercial Strategy Creative Group (MLSEs Internal Agency) exists to enhance the fan experience and we do this by building killer marketing strategies for hundreds of Canadas top brands each group consists of strategy account management and creative specialists who collaborate on the development of diverse and award-winning partnership programs. We work together from brief intake to strategic development to creative development and execution with one clear ambition doing great creative work. Together.  

Our vision: To Enrich Fan Experiences 

For us great work is work that deepens fans relationships with the teams they love. Sometimes we adddimensionality to our fans appreciationof our players or rituals. Sometimes we connect fans more meaningfully with their community. Our Strategy team is unconventional; were a team of fans ourselves who are on a constant evolution to understand the things that motivate excite and influence our community. We root our plans in a strong expertise of our spaces teams and people and were proud to create the blueprints that inspire some of the most meaningful sports business programs in our industry. For us status quo isnt enough. 

We are looking for a mid-level Strategist with a passion for sports and culture to join the Commercial Strategy Creative Group. Reporting to the Senior Manager Commercial Strategy this role will focus on the strategic build of sports marketing programs for some of the countrys biggest brands leveraging our teams. As the ideal candidate you are a strategic energetic and organized thought-leader driven to deliver breakthrough marketing solutions rooted in sports and culture. 

In this role you will be asked to:  

• Lead brief intake sessions with MLSE partners aligning on season-long or campaign-specific marketing objectives for us to tackle through our strategic and creative work 
• Lead the development and delivery of inspirational creative briefs to our MLSE creative teams once the strategy is sold in 
• Lead the development of a strategic direction for our campaigns by leveraging industry-standard strategic frameworks  
• Lead the development of strategy presentations to sell our partners on a strategic direction before briefing in the creative teams 
• Develop high-level campaign thought-starters as jumping off points for our MLSE creative teams 
• Provide strategic feedback to our creative teams once they have gone through the creative development process to keep the campaign on-strategy  
• Help connect our creative work back to the campaign strategy in full-team client/partner presentations once the campaign takes shape  
• Lead research exercises across several areas to guide our strategies: fan research category research partner/brand research cultural research 
• Collaborate on post-campaign reports clearly outlining how our campaign performed against the objectives/KPIs of our partners  
• Lead the development of case studies and award submissions to help spotlight MLSEs incredible partnership campaigns 
• Collaborate with our Partnership Development team on pitches that require creative or strategic input  
• Collaborate with our brand teams to determine how our partners strategically integrate to our sports teams marketing programs  
• Work closely with other MLSE departments (Digital Labs Ticketing Game Ops Foundation/ Community) for campaigns that require the input of those groups  

Qualifications :

Note: Before reviewing the qualifications listed below we want you to know that we understand you may not meet all the qualifications described and have other relevant expertise and experience.  We invite you to please share this with us in the Message to the Hiring Manager section of our online application.

• 3 years of professional work experience in a marketing strategy role (agency partnerships consulting or brand) 
• Strong understanding of briefing processes and marketing strategy development (from insights and objectives to ideas) 
• Excellent at building presentations in a professional and creative manner (technical design skills via adobe or photoshop are a bonus but not mandatory) 
• Experience managing marketing budgets and ensuring executions remain within the plan 
• Proven ability to digest large amounts of information and clearly summarize key findings into actionable recommendations
• Experience executing complex marketing campaigns across various digital media channels 
• Experience working across multiple business categories is a bonus but is not mandatory  
• Sports or partnerships experience is a bonus but is not mandatory  
• Ability to serve as a highly motivated self-starter and collaborator 
• Ability to work to deadlines in high-pressure situations 
• Ability to apply strong time management skills across projects 
• Significant experience presenting complex campaign strategies and rationale to mid-level clients or senior internal stakeholders 
• Experience working with creative teams in a collaborative way  

Additional Information :

Apply by: June 30 2025

We thank all applicants for their interest however only those selected for an interview will be contacted. 

At MLSE we are committed to building an equitable diverse and inclusive organization.

We are an equal opportunity employer and we do not discriminate on the basis of race ancestry place of origin colour ethnic origin citizenship creed sex sexual orientation gender identity gender expression age record of offences marital status family status or disability. MLSE will provide reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities in the job application process. If you have difficulty using our online application system and you need an accommodation due to a disability please note this email is only for accommodation requests. Resumes sent to this email address will not be considered. 

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Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Full-time