Director of Sponsorships

About Kotinos

Kotinos is a Doha-based sports advisory and representation company that works with athletes, institutions, events, and sports-related products in Qatar, across the region, and internationally. Its work spans athlete representation, sports marketing, consulting, events, research, and data, with a strong emphasis on creating commercially effective and strategically positioned sports properties.

The business is in a phase of expansion, with growth across its commercial portfolio, the launch of new sports properties, and the creation of partnership opportunities for brands that want to engage with sport, culture, talent, communities, and major moments across Qatar, the GCC/MENA region, and global markets.

Role Summary

The Director of Sponsorships and Brand Partnerships will take the lead on sponsorship sales and partnership development across Kotinos’ athlete portfolio, events, and company-owned sports products. This is a senior revenue-driving position for a seasoned commercial closer who can activate a relevant network of brand, agency, and corporate contacts across Qatar, KSA, UAE, the wider GCC/MENA region, and international markets.

As Kotinos’ senior commercial lead, the person in this role will work with the internal team to improve sponsorship assets, shape persuasive commercial offerings, engage the market, manage pitch discussions, negotiate terms, and close deals. The role is also intended to help build a structured and repeatable sponsorship sales system that supports long-term growth.

This opportunity goes beyond selling existing inventory. It calls for someone who can help shape Kotinos’ commercial future by developing new opportunities, building brand relationships, supporting athletes and events, strengthening the sponsorship function, and contributing to wider organizational growth.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial leadership and revenue delivery

• Drive sponsorship and brand partnership revenue across athletes, events, and Kotinos-owned sports products.
• Independently source, present, negotiate, and close sponsorship and commercial partnership opportunities.
• Use an active, relevant, and immediately usable network of brand, agency, and corporate decision-makers from the start.
• Own opportunities from first contact to signed agreement, maintaining momentum, clear actions, and smooth handover to delivery teams.
• Lead sponsor negotiations to ensure deals are commercially sound, deliverable, and aligned with the relevant athlete, event, or product.

Partnership strategy, packaging, and positioning

• Define how Kotinos’ athletes, events, and sports products are presented to brands and commercial partners.
• Collaborate with the internal team to improve proposals, pitch materials, pricing, rights packages, and commercial messaging.
• Make sure each proposal clearly explains the opportunity, brand fit, value created, sponsor benefits, pricing, and next steps.
• Convert audience reach, visibility, engagement, media value, and business results into strong sponsor value propositions.
• Use market feedback, brand insight, and performance data to strengthen future proposals, pricing, packaging, renewals, and upsell potential.

Pipeline management, reporting, and commercial discipline

• Identify and pursue leads across sectors such as banking, telecom, airlines, luxury, automotive, FMCG, technology, real estate, tourism, media, entertainment, and related industries.
• Build and maintain a disciplined sponsorship pipeline and CRM process across Kotinos.
• Ensure every opportunity has a defined stage, owner, next action, expected value, probability of closure, and follow-up date.
• Give leadership clear visibility into active deals, stalled opportunities, revenue forecasts, commercial priorities, and key blockers.
• Keep outreach, follow-up, reporting, and internal coordination professional, timely, and commercially focused.
• Develop a more repeatable, scalable approach to sponsorship sales and brand partnerships.

Team building and organizational growth

• Contribute to the creation and development of Kotinos’ sponsorship function.
• Identify the people, tools, processes, and capabilities needed to scale the commercial team over time.
• Support the hiring, onboarding, and growth of future sponsorship and partnership team members.
• Mentor junior colleagues supporting research, proposals, outreach, account management, and partnership delivery.
• Work across the organization to align partnership opportunities with Kotinos’ broader goals.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a senior partnerships professional with deep experience in sponsorship sales, brand partnerships, commercial rights, media sales, sports business, events, entertainment, or a related field. The role is suited to someone who is a proven closer, not only a strategist or relationship manager, and who is comfortable directly approaching brands, leading meetings, negotiating commercial terms, and taking ownership of revenue outcomes.

A current and active contact base of relevant brand, agency, and corporate decision-makers is essential, as this network must be ready to activate immediately. The person selected should also have the discipline to professionalize the sponsorship process through pipeline tracking, consistent follow-up, capturing market feedback, improving proposals, and producing clear commercial reporting. Kotinos is seeking an entrepreneurial, ambitious, and hands-on individual who wants to build, sell, lead, and grow with the business.

Required Experience

• At least 10 years of relevant commercial experience.
• A proven record of closing sponsorship, partnership, media, event, entertainment, or brand deals.
• An active and senior-level network of brand, agency, and corporate contacts across Qatar, the GCC/MENA region, and international markets.
• Strong knowledge of sponsorship sales, brand goals, rights packaging, commercial storytelling, and partnership return on investment.
• Experience creating or managing a sponsorship pipeline, CRM system, or structured commercial reporting process.
• Background working with athletes, sports properties, events, media platforms, entertainment assets, or similar partnership-led environments is highly preferred.
• Proven ability to manage a sales pipeline and report clearly on commercial progress.
• Ability to speak, pitch, and negotiate fluently in both Arabic and English.

Location and Travel

The position is based in Doha, Qatar. Travel across the GCC/MENA region, and potentially internationally, may be required for brand, partner, and event meetings.

Compensation

The package includes a fixed salary plus performance-based commission tied to closed sponsorship and partnership revenue.