Role Summary
Following the acquisition of our first portfolio team, Como Women, we are looking for a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to lead the club into a new growth chapter. The CEO will play a leading role in transforming Como Women into a commercial force and one of the best run organizations in football.
Working closely with the club’s Board of Directors, this role is ideal for someone with a sharp business acumen, a demonstrated track record of leadership, who thrives in highly-dynamic and fast-moving startup environments, and has deep conviction in the commercial viability of women’s football.
Before we get excited...
Before getting into the specifics of the role, there are a few non-negotiable requirements that we want to be upfront about. We pride ourselves in running open and inclusive hiring processes that can attract applicants from all sorts of backgrounds, but the requirements below are ones we don’t have flexibility on.
If you don’t meet any of them — don’t despair! There will certainly be more future job opportunities both at Mercury/13 and Como Women, as well as any future portfolio clubs.
Our non-negotiables
You must be fluent in both Italian and English — interviews will be conducted in both languages
You must live in the Milan metropolitan area ( Grande Milano) or be willing to permanently relocate there
You must be willing to work on a non-traditional schedule — leading a professional football club doesn’t allow for a traditional schedule. Being mobile during any given day, weekend games, and team travel will all be table stakes
You must have conviction in the business viability of women’s football! — if you are not convinced we can build a large and profitable business together, we completely respect that, but this role may not be the right one for you
Key Responsibilities (aka, your mission)
Generating commercial revenue for the club — one of your primary goals will be to materially grow the club’s commercial revenue through sponsorships and partnerships. You will receive ample support from Mercury/13 to make this happen, but as CEO we will expect you to be the #1 salesperson and brand-builder in the organization and relentlessly push forward the commercial development of Como Women
Modernizing the club’s operations — we will expect you to ruthlessly and maniacally focus on making Como Women one of the leanest and best-run football organizations in the world. We’ll rely on you to push everyone in the organization to create efficient processes that scale as the club grows. We will also expect you to lean heavily on modern software tools to make this happen.
Full ownership of the P&L — you will have full ownership over the planning and execution of the club’s yearly budget and will be ultimately accountable for every euro that the club generates and spends. While the growth in women’s football is tremendously exciting, most clubs today are still operating in resource-constrained environments. We’ll grow the club together, but financial discipline will be required from the start.
Building a high-performing team and culture — as the leader of the organization, we will look to maintain a high performance culture across the club. While you’ll have the full Mercury/13 organization behind you for support, we will lean on your leadership for all on-the-ground decisions.
Your skills & traits (aka, about you)
Entrepreneurial spirit — where others see problems, you see solutions. You will be operating in a dynamic and unstructured environment where success will be largely dictated by your ability to lead a transformation. You need to be self-motivated and unfazed by all the challenges that come with entrepreneurship
Commercial mentality — you need to be capable and comfortable pitching partners and closing commercial deals with little oversight. We’re writing a new commercial playbook, so creativity and resourcefulness will be essential
Experience in the business side of sports — your experience in the commercial side of sports, and even a strong pre-existing network, will help you move faster in the execution of our vision
Humility — no space for egos in high-performing team cultures, and to succeed in this role you will have to gain the trust and partnership of everyone at the club
Strong financial literacy — you’ll be managing a seven-figure P&L
Demonstrated leadership — we will care more about examples of dedicated leadership and people management than your most impressive feats as an individual contributor
Ability to build teams — we’d love to see a track-record of hiring A-players for the teams you’ve led
Some final thoughts before you apply...
We’re shooting for the moon. We’re aiming to do something truly ambitious: growing an independent women’s football club rapidly and profitably. Many observers may find this goal unrealistic, but we believe it’s achievable and are putting our money where our mouth is. We like to think the right candidate will be motivated by this challenge (and maybe even find extra-motivation in proving the naysayers wrong!)
Which means...
...if you are risk averse, this isn’t the right role for you. We always say that women’s football is akin to an early-stage startup: it has a tremendous growth potential but also some existential challenges to overcome. If you are looking for a stable and structured role, this ain’t it
Last but not least...
It’s early days in women’s football. There’s a lot of work ahead for us. While there’s exciting momentum in the women’s football space, we’re still at the very beginning. This is a “roll-up-your-sleeves’ type of opportunity. While we can’t guarantee that it’ll always be glamorous, we do think you’ll be hard-pressed to find a role in women’s football with higher impact.
Application timelines
Applications will be open until April 23rd, 2024 and you should expect to hear back from us with any potential next steps by April 30th, 2024.
About Como Women
Como Women is a professional women’s football club headquartered in Como, that is currently competing in Serie A Femminile, the highest league of women’s football in Italy.
The club was founded in 2020 by president Stefano Verga under the sporting title of Riozzese Como. In 2022, after securing every category promotion possible, the club achieved a historic jump to Serie A Femminile. In addition to the first team’s success, the club also encompasses a thriving youth academy, including U19, U17, U15, U12, and U11 teams.
In March, 2024 the club became Mercury/13’s first portfolio club and Mercury/13’s co-founders Victoire Cogevina and Mario Malavé joined the club’s board alongside remaining president Stefano Verga.
About Mercury/13
Mercury/13 is a multi-club ownership group focused on acquiring controlling stakes in professional women’s football teams in Europe and Latin America. Mercury/13’s vision is to become the industry standard of women’s football ownership, by identifying and investing in the next decade’s super clubs and fueling their commercial power to attract a massive, yet underserved, market: women.
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