AVP, Sports And Talent Marketing at WHOOP

At WHOOP, we’re on a mission to unlock human performance and healthspan. WHOOP empowers members to perform at a higher level through a deeper understanding of their bodies and daily lives. WHOOP is hiring a Head of Sports and Talent Marketing to lead and evolve a world-class partnerships function that expands the brand’s reach, sharpens its cultural relevance, and drives strategic value across the business. This is a senior leadership role responsible for shaping the partnership ecosystem around WHOOP across elite athletes, sports leagues, teams and organizations, creators, cultural and entertainment talent, ambassadors, and experiential, with experiential sitting within the Creator remit. This leader will define where and how WHOOP shows up through partnerships, identifying the right people, properties, organizations, and platforms to align with the brand, then translating those relationships into powerful, cross-functional brand programs. In close partnership with Brand and other senior leaders, the Head of Sports and Talent Marketing will help define roster strategy, investment priorities, and activation plans that support WHOOP’s continued brand evolution and ensure every major investment delivers maximum impact. Responsibilities: • Set the vision and strategy for WHOOP’s partnerships function, building a high-impact ecosystem of partners across sports, talent, organizations, teams, leagues, creators, ambassadors, and experiential. • Own partnership portfolio strategy and investment decisions, ensuring WHOOP is partnering with the right people, properties, and platforms to drive brand awareness, cultural relevance, and long-term strategic value. • Lead the sourcing, evaluation, structuring, and negotiation of major partnership opportunities, applying strong judgment to prioritize opportunities that elevate the WHOOP brand. • Establish and evolve WHOOP’s roster strategy across elite athletes, sports organizations, creators, and cultural talent in close collaboration with Brand, ensuring alignment to brand positioning, audience priorities, and business goals. • Lead the Creator remit, including experiential, to develop programs, partnerships, and in-market moments that expand WHOOP’s cultural presence and deepen brand connection with key audiences. • Translate partnership agreements into exceptional brand programs by leading cross-functional planning and execution across Brand, Creative, Social, Communications, Product Marketing, Sales, Membership, and other teams as needed. • Lead senior external relationships with professionalism and influence, representing WHOOP with credibility across agents, talent, league offices, team executives, creators, production partners, and other key stakeholders. • Define and lead a clear measurement agenda across the partnerships portfolio, establishing success metrics, performance reviews, and decision-making frameworks that ensure every investment is actively managed, rigorously evaluated, and optimized for brand impact, cultural relevance, and strategic return. • Build, lead, and develop a high-performing partnerships team, setting a high bar for strategic thinking, executional excellence, collaboration, and accountability. Qualifications: • 15 years of relevant experience across partnerships, business development, talent, brand activation, experiential, sponsorships, or related fields, with significant experience in premium consumer, sports, media, entertainment, or lifestyle brands. • Proven track record of shaping, negotiating, and leading major partnerships that have delivered meaningful brand impact and strategic value. • Deep understanding of the sports, culture, media, and talent landscape, with strong instincts for where brands can credibly and distinctively show up. • Demonstrated success building and leading high-performing teams, with the ability to attract strong talent, develop leaders, and scale organizational capability. • Experience managing complex external relationships at a senior level, including athletes, agents, creators, executives, league and team stakeholders, and production or agency partners. • Strong ability to translate partnership opportunities into integrated brand programs that are creatively strong, operationally excellent, and commercially sound. • Excellent judgment in balancing brand ambition, relationship value, business priorities, and return on investment. • Strong commitment to embracing and leveraging AI tools in day-to-day tasks, ensuring AI-assisted work aligns with the same high-quality standards as personal contributions.