Senior Marketing Manager (Brand Partnerships)

About Wagamama

Wagamama embodies a vibrant food culture centered around fresh, Asian-inspired flavors, with over 165 locations across the UK. Established in 1992, the brand thrives on delivering excellent food, positive atmosphere, and community spirit.

Role Purpose

We are seeking a Senior Marketing Manager specializing in brand partnerships to boost guest acquisition and enhance brand equity. This position involves crafting, negotiating, and executing strategic partnerships alongside immersive live brand activations that resonate directly with our restaurant audience.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify and engage potential strategic partners at both national and local levels, performing commercial assessments, pitching, and negotiating partnership contracts to develop a strong pipeline.
• Develop partnership strategies aligned with overall marketing goals, target demographics, messaging, customer experience, and commercial objectives.
• Create and implement high-impact Tier 1 activation initiatives including events, in-restaurant experiences, branding, sampling, content creation, customer engagement, and attendee management.
• Oversee end-to-end management of experiential and sampling agencies, including pitching, onboarding, contracts, statements of work, and quarterly business reviews.
• Manage complete event lifecycles, encompassing briefings, budgeting, supplier coordination, campaign execution, and post-campaign analysis.
• Define Tier 1 KPIs and establish measurement frameworks to track and report on awareness, engagement, conversions, sales, loyalty sign-ups, and offer utilizes.
• Collaborate closely with regional leadership to support monthly operations, align campaigns across channels, coordinate media and PR agencies, localize brand messaging, and monitor budgetary ROI.

Candidate Requirements and Skills

• Excellent organizational skills with demonstrated expertise in event and project management.
• Strong commercial acumen and financial literacy, experienced in managing contracts and partnership rights.
• Exceptional relationship-building abilities and clear communication skills to influence both partners and internal stakeholders.
• Innovative and creative mindset with a passion for challenging norms to deliver culturally significant and impactful activations.
• Proven experience managing external agencies specializing in live events, experiential marketing, and sampling.
• Comprehensive campaign management skills, with an emphasis on digital, social media, and accurate ROI measurement.

Employee Benefits and Perks

• Competitive salary with a 20% performance bonus.
• Hybrid work model with onsite presence in London three times per week.
• Inclusive "come as you are" culture with modern office amenities including fresh fruit and soft drinks.
• Monthly £200 food allowance for enjoying Wagamama dishes.
• Private health insurance coverage extending to partners.
• 3% pension contribution scheme.
• Generous leave package of 25 days holiday plus bank holidays.
• Discounts across retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors.
• Family-friendly paid parental leave policies: 26 weeks full pay and 13 weeks half pay for expectant or adopting parents.

Additional Information

This role embraces a culture where food acts as a universal connector and welcomes people from all backgrounds to be part of the community and team.