Head of Digital Strategic Partnerships & Business Development - 12 month fixed term contract / secondment

Want to do the best work of your life? With 24 million customers in 6 countries, make your mark at Europe’s leading media and entertainment brand. A workplace where you can proudly be yourself; our people make Sky a truly exciting and inclusive place to work. 

As the Head of Digital Strategic Partnerships & Business Development in this 12 month fixed term contract, you will play a pivotal role in shaping and executing Sky Media’s digital growth strategy. You will lead the identification, negotiation, and management of high-impact partnerships that drive innovation, revenue, and audience engagement across Sky’s digital advertising ecosystem. 
 
This is a high-visibility, commercially critical role that sits at the intersection of media, technology, and data. You will work closely with internal stakeholders across Sales, Operations, Product, Finance and Legal, as well as with external partners including social platforms, publishers, data providers, and emerging ad tech innovators. 

What you’ll do:

Broken this into 3 key area’s of Strategic Leadership, Partnership Development and Commercial Growth Strategy.

Strategic Leadership 

• Define and lead the digital partnership strategy aligned with Sky Media’s commercial and innovation goals. Working closely with the Director of Digital Advertising you will help to define the overarching vision for the Digital Business and lead a team to deliver against both long and short term goals,. 

Partnership Development 

Partnerships are a critical part of the Sky Media Digital ecosystem. You will lead the development and execution of a robust partnership strategy across three core areas: 

1. Supply Partnerships 

• Build and manage relationships with premium digital publishers, right holders, streaming services, and content creators to expand Sky Media’s supply footprint 

• Secure exclusive and high-value inventory partnerships that align with Sky’s brand and audience strategy 

• Collaborate with sales, yield, and ad operations teams to optimise monetisation across owned and third-party supply 

• Ensure compliance with brand safety, viewability, and quality standards across all supply partners 

• Explore innovative supply models and routes to monetizing that inventory 

2. Distribution Partnerships 

• Forge strategic alliances with major platforms (e.g., YouTube, Meta, TikTok, Spotify) and aggregators to monetise and expand Sky Media’s digital reach 

• Leverage new tools and ad products to ensure that Sky Media stays at the forefront of ad offerings within these third party environment 

• Look for new distribution platforms to continue expanding Sky’s footprint, and work closely with the Editorial teams to ensure that we are optimizing our output 

• Develop co-distribution and syndication models that drive incremental audience and revenue 

• Lead negotiations for data-sharing and audience extension agreements that enhance targeting and measurement 

• Ensure alignment with Sky’s data governance and privacy frameworks. 

3. Technology Partnerships 

• Work closely with Sales to understand where there is demand in the market, and analyse the opportunity for developing new products 

• Identify and integrate cutting-edge ad tech, martech, and data platforms that enhance Sky Media’s digital advertising capabilities 

• Collaborate with product and operations teams to develop bespoke solutions for Sky Media to take to market 

• Evaluate and build business cases to pilot emerging technologies such as AI-driven creative, contextual intelligence, and dynamic ad insertion 
   

Commercial Growth Strategy 

• Stay ahead of industry trends, competitor activity, and emerging technologies to inform strategic decisions and maintain Sky’s leadership in digital advertising 

• Present robust business cases, with clear analysis, for new ad products across Sky Media’s Social, Digital and Streaming ecosystem  

• Drive new revenue streams through innovative business models, joint ventures, and co-branded initiatives 

• Working closely with Sky Sports, News and Entertainment editorial teams to ensure close alignment between commercial and content, delivering required growth and unlocking new audience and revenue opportunities  

• Influence and align senior stakeholders internally and externally to support strategic initiatives and long-term vision 

• Define KPIs and success metrics for new products and partnerships and ensure continuous optimization and value delivery 

What you’ll bring:

• Proven experience in digital media, advertising technology, or strategic partnerships at a senior level 

• Strong commercial acumen and a track record of delivering revenue growth through partnerships and innovation 

• Deep understanding of the digital advertising ecosystem, including social media, audio and video distribution, programmatic, data, identity, and measurement 

• Team player mentality – always looking to excel through collaboration 

• Excellent negotiation and relationship management skills 

• Strategic and analytical thinker with the ability to translate vision into actionable plans 

• Strong leadership and communication skills, with experience influencing at a senior level 

• Passion for innovation and a proactive, entrepreneurial mindset. 

The Rewards:

There's one thing people can't stop talking about when it comes to #LifeAtSky: the perks. Here’s a taster:  

•  Access to free NOW, for streaming all your favourite shows   

•   A generous pension package   

•   Private healthcare   

•   Discounts and cashback at over 800 Retailers  

How you'll work:

We know the world has changed, and we want to offer our employees the chance to collaborate at our unique office spaces, whilst enjoying the convenience of working from home.

We've adopted a hybrid working approach to give more flexibility on where and how we work. You'll find out more about what this means for this role during the recruitment process.

Your office base:

Osterley:

Our Osterley Campus is a 10-minute walk from Syon Lane train station. Or you can hop on one of our free shuttle buses that run to and from Osterley, Gunnersbury, Ealing Broadway and South Ealing tube stations. There's also plenty of bike shelters and showers.

On Campus, you'll find 13 subsidised restaurants, cafes, and a Waitrose. You can keep in shape at our subsidised gym, catch the latest shows and movies at our cinema, get your car washed and even get pampered at our beauty salon.

Inclusion:

At Sky we don’t just look at your CV. We’re more focused on who you are and your potential. We also know that everyone has a life outside work, so we’re happy to discuss flexible working.

We are a Disability Confident Accredited Employer, and welcome and encourage applications from all candidates. We will look to ensure a fair and consistent experience for all and will make reasonable adjustments to support you where appropriate. Please flag any adjustments you need to your recruiter as early as you can.

Why wait?

Apply now to build an amazing career and be part of a brilliant team. We can’t wait to hear from you.

To find out more about working with us, search #LifeAtSky on social media. A job you love to talk about.

Just so you know: if your application is successful, we’ll ask you to complete a criminal record check. And depending on the role you have applied for and the nature of any convictions you may have, we might have to withdraw the offer.