Digital Partnerships Director, International Content Partnerships

The NBA is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace.  To safeguard our employees and their families, our visitors, and the broader community from COVID-19, and in consideration of recommendations from health authorities and the NBA’s own advisors, any individual working onsite in our New York and New Jersey offices must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The NBA will discuss accommodations for individuals who cannot be vaccinated due to a medical reason or sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance.

    Position Summary

We are seeking a Director in the International Content Partnerships department. ICP manages NBA’s media rights internationally. As the media landscape transitions to digital, the NBA has a growing portfolio of partners that are integrated across NBA’s digital products (nba.com, NBA App and NBA League Pass). The Director of Digital Partnerships will play a critical role on managing NBA’s international digital partners. These include media companies (e.g. ESPN), Telecoms (e.g. Telefonica, AT&T), digital marketplaces (e.g. Rakuten) and many others.The role is a hybrid between business and technology and the Director of Digital Partnerships will focus primarily on the account management of ICP digital partners. While not a front-line business development role, the position will support business development teams, vet integration aspects of the deals and take the lead in the onboarding and account management of NBA’s international digital partners. The job will also entail significant interaction across many other departments of the organization: product, engineering, analytics, marketing, legal, finance, etc.This role will also lead or co-lead onboarding and product account management for NBA ID / account linking partners. With that, the footprint of the partners managed will be domestic (Verizon, Amex, etc.), international (Rakuten, Alipay, Vivo, Movistar, etc) or global (Nike, YouTube, etc).

    Major Responsibilities

• Become fluent with all areas of NBA’s digital partnerships i.e. Strategy, Platforms, Products, Business Models, Operations etc.

• Plan, oversee and coordinate the onboarding of NBA’s digital partners, for example: implement authentication of mobile subscribers of carrier X in country Y entitling them to access a NBA League Pass package within NBA App. This entails the ability to lead fully or partially elements across the business cycle of our media partnerships.

• • Contribute to drafting and reviewing proposals, term sheets, and agreements. Advise on best digital business frameworks to maximize partnership opportunities.

  • Onboard partners into our digital platforms to enable such digital partnerships. Onboarding elements include authentication, entitlement, branding, localization, promotion, and customer support among others.

  • Account manage digital partners through the live of the agreements, enhance partnership components and ensure mutual value creation.

  • Apply lessons learned and find incremental value as part of renewal processes.

• Liaise and coordinate with regional offices and internal stakeholders in NY/NJ for a smooth account management and operation of NBA’s digital partnerships.

• Work with internal analytics team to develop and have readily available analytics, tracking, and reporting of DTC partner performance.

• Assist in the development and marketing of DTC partner digital experience across platforms.

• Review NBA’s digital offerings to ensure best practices and leanings are applied on a global basis. Help devise integrated licensing opportunities with the NBA’s digital products and third party platforms and services.

• Understand marketplace trends, new products/technologies and consumer behavior to spot opportunities.

     Required Skills/Knowledge

• Consistent record in leading multiple projects, setting priorities and meeting deadlines in a fast-paced work environment.

• Experience with project management and account management. Ability to plan, oversee, and implement projects from beginning to end. Ability to see the big picture and also to have attention to detail.

• Ability to gather and analyze data from a variety of sources, draw conclusions and act on findings.

• Complex and innovative problem-solving, critical and strategic thinking capabilities.

• Ability to lead discussions that will result in the best product possible or the best solution to the problem at hand. Capacity to communicate persuasively at various levels of the organization.

• Team worker and Team leader. Ability to work cross-functionally in a global, matrix organization.

• High sense of ownership, urgency, and drive.

• Be able to articulate business strategy, insights and supporting rationale succinctly and effectively.

• Committed to quality, able to deliver outstanding fan experiences and value.

​​​​​​​Experience Needed

• Minimum of 8 year of experience. At least 5 years of experience in technology or digital media business / services.

• Understanding of digital media landscape including key players and trends.

• Understanding of web and mobile technologies.

• Experience managing external partners and vendors.

• International experience or knowledge highly preferred. Language skills a plus.

Educational Background Required

• MBA from well-recognized school preferred

• Bachelor’s Degree with technical major preferred

Salary Range: $160,000 - $190,000 

We Consider Applicants For All Positions On The Basis Of Merit, Qualifications And Business Needs, And Without Regard To Race, Color, National Origin, Religion, Sex, Gender Identity, Age, Disability, Alienage Or Citizenship Status, Ancestry, Marital Status, Creed, Genetic Predisposition Or Carrier Status, Sexual Orientation, Veteran Status, Familial Status, Status As A Victim Of Domestic Violence Or Any Other Status Or Characteristic Protected By Applicable Federal, State, Or Local Law.