Informa Festivals marks an exciting new chapter in B2B events, bringing some of the world's most influential creative, technology and business festivals together. We’re combining prestigious events like Cannes Lions, Black Hat, Money20/20, GDC, and London Tech Week with cutting-edge marketing intelligence platforms and advisory services to deliver unmissable experiences and insights.

Our festival-led approach reimagines traditional B2B events, creating powerful, immersive experiences that drive innovation and industry advancement. Building on decades of expertise and powered by Informa's international reach, we're shaping the next generation of business festivals.

We’re part of Informa, a FTSE 100 member recognised as one of Britain's Most Admired Companies, with trusted brands in specialist markets across 30+ countries.

This role is based in our 5 Howick Place  office.

The LIONS brand is probably most synonymous with Cannes Lions, The International Festival of Creativity, the definitive meeting place for the global creative communications and advertising community. It’s five days of inspiration, aspiration, unlimited magic and potential. The Festival has been championing creative excellence since 1954 with the goal of providing a global destination and the definitive benchmark for creativity that drives progress. 

LIONS is going through an exciting time as it’s recently repositioned as The Home of Creativity, supporting those in the business of creativity at every step of their journeys with an extended portfolio of new advisory, learning and intelligence services. Our purpose is to drive progress through creativity for an incredibly diverse and talented global creative community. 

You will join a team of change makers. The team’s purpose is to champion change to create the most powerful global creative community and drive growth for the brand. 

Role overview  

With phenomenal growth expected over the coming years and continued expansion into emerging markets, the LIONS Commercial Partnerships team is seeking a Senior Partnership Manager, Emerging Markets (Global Country Activations) to join our team. This role will report directly into the Head of New Business, Partnerships in one of the highest revenue driving teams in the company, and work with new business opportunities for global advertising and creativity clients. 

Our award-winning team works with world-class clients such as LinkedIn, Amazon, Microsoft, Spotify, Adobe, TikTok, Pinterest, Netflix, Google and more on creative partnership solutions.  

Our team is responsible for driving new business revenue consistently throughout the year against our events product portfolio and this person will be tasked with both identifying new prospects and responding to incoming new business opportunities. 

You’ll be providing a providing strategic thinking to commercialise emerging markets and take on our Global service offerings. You will take a full-service sales approach, working from initial prospect identification and incoming lead handling through to closing the deal and delivery of the partnership onsite at Cannes Lions. We are looking for an ambitious and organised business developer with an eye for creativity and new ideas who wants to work with the world’s most impressive clients to uncover opportunities. 

Key accountabilities 

• Responsible to develop & execute our emerging market strategy, focusing on APAC & LATAM

• Responsible for driving quarterly and event sponsorship revenue against Cannes Lions commercial partnerships/sponsorship inventory 

• Responsible for responding to incoming leads by developing compelling sales proposals and bespoke product solutions for clients  

• Develop a sales outreach strategy in partnership with the marketing & sales team 

• Maintain retention relationships and drive outbound new business conversations with new clients  

• Manage sponsorships sales and delivery process end-to-end, in partnerships with our operations team  

• Report and forecast on revenue trends - incoming & forecasted on a weekly, quarterly, and annual basis 

• Accurate tracking of new business pipeline 

• Partner with finance for any payment queries to ensure seamless transactions  

• Building relationships with key clients, encouraging upsells and repeat business  

• Supporting onsite delivery of Cannes Lions 2027, utilising this moment for future lead generation  

• Supporting ad hoc commercial projects as needed 

This list is not exhaustive and there may be other activities you are required to deliver. 

• 5-7 years experience in B2B, event or digital sponsorship sales  —or— business development with an agency

• Extensive experience working in emerging markets and strategising long-term growth

• Professional or fluent language proficiency in an APAC language such as Mandarin, Japanese or Korean is a PLUS but not a MUST

• Salesforce proficiency  

• Microsoft Office skills, including deck building in powerpoint  

• Excellent written and verbal communication  

• Knowledge of creative marketing industry is a plus  

• Experience in a commercial environment is a plus  

Additional information

We believe that great things happen when people connect face-to-face. That's why we work in-person with each other, or with customers and partners, three days a week or more. When you’re not spending time together in one of our offices or other workplaces – like at an Informa event – you get the flexibility and support to work from home or remotely.

We work hard to make sure Life at Informa is rewarding, supportive and enjoyable for everyone. Here’s some of what you can expect when you join us. But don’t just take our word for it – see what our colleagues have to say LifeAt.Informa.com

Our benefits include:

• Great community: a welcoming culture with in-person and online social events, our fantastic Walk the World charity day and active diversity and inclusion networks
• Broader impact: take up to four days per year to volunteer, with charity match funding available too
• Career opportunity: the opportunity to develop your career with bespoke training and learning, mentoring platforms and on-demand access to thousands of courses on LinkedIn Learning. When it’s time for the next step, we encourage and support internal job moves
• Time out: 25 days annual leave, rising to 27 days after two years, plus a birthday leave day and the chance to work from (almost!) anywhere for up to four weeks a year
• A flexible range of personal benefits to choose from, plus company funded private medical cover
• A ShareMatch scheme that allows you to become an Informa shareholder with free matching shares
• Strong wellbeing support through EAP assistance, mental health first aiders, a healthy living subsidy, access to health apps and more
• Recognition for great work, with global awards and kudos programmes
• As an international company, the chance to collaborate with teams around the world

We’re not solely focused on a checklist of skills. We champion energy and ambition and look for colleagues who will roll their sleeves up, join in and help make things happen. If it sounds like a match and you have most – although not all – of the skills and experience listed, we welcome your application.

If you would like to request reasonable adjustments or accommodations to assist your participation in the hiring process and, or in the advertised position, please inform the appropriate Talent Acquisition Partner for the role once they have been in touch. Your request will be reviewed and considered in confidence. At Informa, you'll find inclusive experiences and environments where all perspectives and backgrounds are welcomed. As part of this approach and our diversity and inclusion commitments, we are also formally an Equal Opportunities Employer. This means we base decisions on relevant qualifications and merit and do not discriminate on the basis of key characteristics and statuses, including all of those protected by law. Ask us or see our website for full information.

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