Brand Media Lead- Sports and Innovation

Who You Will Be Working With

As our Brand Media Partnerships Lead, you will join a collaborative, forward thinking team of media experts passionate about helping iconic brands connect with audiences in meaningful and culturally relevant ways. In this role, you will support Nike, working at the intersection of sport, culture, and performance driven media strategy.

You will partner closely with cross functional teams across programmatic, planning, activation, analytics, and finance to build integrated investment strategies that extend beyond traditional RFP responses. This team thrives on innovation and values diverse perspectives, strategic curiosity, and operational excellence. You will also play a key role in mentoring junior team members and strengthening publisher relationships across the evolving sports and media ecosystem.

If you are energized by shaping modern media partnerships rooted in culture and measurable business outcomes, this is an opportunity to make meaningful impact.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Lead the strategy, negotiation, and execution of sport and culture driven media partnerships that extend beyond traditional publisher buys and elevate Nike’s presence across leagues, athlete platforms, live sports, and emerging ecosystems.
• Identify and evaluate publishers, streaming platforms, emerging leagues, and athlete led channels aligned with Nike’s audience strategy, ensuring partnerships balance cultural relevance with measurable business impact.
• Translate strategic concepts into scalable activation plans, structuring custom partnerships that deliver against brand objectives and performance KPIs.
• Own end to end oversight of integrated campaigns across direct partnerships, display, video and CTV, audio, and emerging sports platforms, ensuring operational excellence from planning through reporting and billing.
• Partner closely with programmatic teams to align direct and biddable investments, guiding budget allocation, yield optimization, and channel agnostic decision making across the broader media ecosystem.
• Maintain fluency in the evolving programmatic and sports media landscape, including marketplace dynamics, measurement frameworks, live sports distribution trends, streaming innovation, and Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumption behaviors.
• Lead day to day client engagement for Nike, advising on partnership evaluations, investment tradeoffs, and performance implications while ensuring flawless execution and KPI delivery.
• Translate performance data into clear, compelling narratives, delivering actionable insights, post campaign analyses, and forward looking recommendations that inform future strategy.
• Mentor junior team members and contribute to cross functional initiatives that strengthen partnership workflows, foster innovation, and elevate team capability.

What You’ll Bring

• 4+ years in digital media strategy, campaign management, media partnerships, or a related field, with a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Proficiency in account planning and brand media, enabling you to lead strategic and impactful media campaigns.
• Experience supporting sport focused or culturally driven brands.
• Familiarity with live sports media, streaming distribution models, or NIL ecosystems.
• Experience managing custom content programs or integrated sponsorship activations.
• Hands-on experience with content creation, supporting effective media operations and deliv
• ering compelling storytelling in partnership with media publishers.
• Ability to work on a cross-functional team to ensure cohesive, 360-degree media strategies.
• A strong understanding of marketing metrics, planning and analysis, and market research and consumer behavior to drive data-informed strategies.
• Expertise in tools like Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics, and Microsoft Excel to analyze data, provide actionable insights, and improve performance.
• Exceptional partner management skills, fostering trusted relationships with media partners and internal teams to drive innovation and success.
• A collaborative approach to mentoring and supporting junior team members, fostering their growth and development.
• A commitment to curiosity and adaptability as a continual learner, staying at the forefront of media innovation while prioritizing client success with a customer-focused mindset that seeks opportunities to deliver meaningful value.
• A dedication to people-focused leadership, fostering collaboration, innovation, and professional growth by leading by example and nurturing strong relationships that empower others to excel.