What to Expect
Reporting to the Head of Brand Strategy & Governance, this is an exciting opportunity for a proactive, commercially minded and creatively astute individual to join the Global Brand & Client Department at McLaren Automotive. The Brand Partnerships Manager shapes and delivers high-impact partnerships that enhance McLaren's brand desirability, create distinctive client experiences and support measurable commercial outcomes. Operating within the Brand Strategy & Governance team, the role builds and manages a considered pipeline of alliance partners across select ultra-luxury adjacencies, and oversees co-created experiences that blend McLaren's racing pedigree with its evolving luxury proposition. Acting as a connector across Product, MSO, Racing, Brand Marketing & Communications and Regions, the role ensures partnerships are strategically aligned, brand-right and consistently executed, sharpening relevance with UHNW audiences while supporting long-term growth.
Please note this is a 24 month fixed term contract
What You'll Do
- Partnership strategy and pipeline - define priority categories and target partners; set selection criteria (equity stretch, cultural credibility, audience synergy, ESG alignment) and maintain a 12–24 month roadmap aligned to brand and product narratives.
Deal architecture and governance — develop partnership term sheets (rights, content, hospitality, data, exclusivity), coordinate approvals with Legal and Brand Governance, and ensure clear co-branding and usage principles are upheld. Measurement and impact — set KPIs for awareness, luxury association, demand lift and advocacy; run postevent/product readouts with Regions and Communications; feed learnings into the Desirability Index.
UHNWI engagement — elevate concierge level experiences with privacy, discretion and service ritual; coordinate invitation strategy and bespoke access working with Markets and Client Experience.
Internal orchestration — align with Brand Strategy on narrative fit, with Brand Marketing & Communications on content and amplification, and with MLP where a partnership includes licensed product workstreams.
Budget and risk management — manage partnership budgets and valueinkind; assess reputational and operational risk with clear mitigations and exit clauses.
Market enablement — create repeatable playbooks and toolkits for regions/retailers to activate partnerships locally without diluting exclusivity or standards.
What You'll Bring
Experience in building and managing brand alliances within luxury or ultra-luxury environments, with a strong global network across relevant categories and a track record of delivering partnerships that positively impact brand perception and commercial performance.
Cultural fluency and taste: sharp editorial sense for what feels authentically McLaren; understands scarcity and craft at the very top of luxury.
Strategic negotiator: comfortable structuring complex rights, exclusivity and datasharing agreements; crisp, respectful challenger in senior forums.
Program leader: endtoend planning and delivery across multiple stakeholders and markets; meticulous on detail and guest experience.
Tools: Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 (CRM, events and client lists), Power BI/Fabric, Azure OpenAI/Copilot; - DAM/content collaboration; esignature/contract tools.
Ways of working: inclusive, discreet and highly collaborative; excellent written and verbal communication skills, with confidence operating in senior stakeholder environments.
Personal Attributes :
Creative & operational in equal measure, can operate under pressure, strong negotiator
Comfortable handling communication with all levels of the organization, written and verbal
Extremely high level of attention to detail
Out of the box thinking to bring the McLaren Brand to life
Confident in dealing with challenging situations and relationships
Able to adapt in a fast paced, high-pressured, ever-changing environment
Ability to manage own workload with ownership, be proactive in seeking support and guidance where needed
Resilient, energetic, passionate and enthusiastic
A natural implementer and highly focused, process oriented
Effective at working and collaborating within large teams
Able to engage and maintain frequent and constructive communication with intercultural teams and audiences
Capacity to multitask and work on projects with varied lead-times
A clear understanding of, and passion for the McLaren Brand is a key requirement
Knowledge of McLaren's racing and road car heritage is a must for this position
High Computer literacy
Literate in understanding and negotiating legal contracts
What We'll Do for You
We offer a wide – ranging benefits package, which includes:
Structured career development framework
25 days' holiday, plus bank holiday. Annual buy & sell up to five days
Enhanced company pension scheme
Discretionary annual bonus award
Private medical insurance and health cash plan
Life assurance benefit
Ability to apply for a sabbatical of up to one year after only two years' service
Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping
Generous parental leave policies
A range of wellbeing initiatives, such as employee assistance programme and free financial & mortgage advice
Who Are We?
No restraints. No limitations. We don't simply push boundaries. We completely rethink them. McLaren Automotive exists to create breath-taking performance road cars.
It takes a community to do what we do. A diverse group of people with many areas of expertise, united by their passion to deliver visionary products and set new benchmarks.
McLaren Automotive commits to equal opportunity for all. Diversity, Equality and Inclusion is at the heart of our impact, it drives our innovation and enables us to truly create something special. Join us on our journey.