Jana Nietze

• Year of graduation: 2026
• Current job title: Junior Account Executive
• Current employer: The Space Between
• Industry sector: Sports Marketing

I chose to study this course at the University of Northampton because I wanted to build a strong strategic understanding of marketing whilst also gaining the confidence to apply it in a fast-moving, international industry. I’ve always been interested in how brands connect with people through culture, sport and experiences, so it felt like the next step to help me turn that interest into a career. My long-term ambition is to work in Formula 1, so I wanted a degree that would strengthen both my commercial thinking and my understanding of global audiences.

I particularly enjoyed the strategic and creative elements of the course, particularly the modules that explored brand positioning, consumer behaviour, and international marketing, as they enabled me to understand how brands build relevance across different markets and audiences. I also enjoyed working on real-world style projects, which allowed me to think practically about campaigns, audiences and measurable results, linking closely to the work I currently do in sports marketing.

My studies helped my career development by enabling me to become more confident, commercially aware and strategic in the way I approach marketing challenges. It encouraged me to think beyond individual campaigns to consider the wider business objectives, audience behaviours and brand positioning behind them. From a personal perspective, it enabled me to become more independent and resilient, which was especially valuable when I moved to London to start building my career after graduation.

Since graduating, I’ve started my career as a Junior Account Executive at The Space Between, a sports marketing agency in London. My role involves supporting client-facing work, campaign delivery, influencer activations, events, reporting, and partnership communications and I’m gaining valuable experience across different areas of sports marketing. My long-term goal is to work in Formula 1, ideally in a role that combines brand strategy, partnerships, fan engagement, and international marketing. It’s a highly competitive industry, so I’m focusing on building relevant experience, developing strong industry knowledge, and growing my network step by step.

The most useful skills I gained from my degree are strategic thinking, audience analysis, research, communication, and campaign planning. In my current role, I often need to understand a client’s objectives, identify the right audience insight and support creative ideas that can deliver measurable results. The course strengthened my ability to present ideas clearly, manage projects and think critically about how marketing activity can create value for both brands and consumers.

My current focus is on building my career and gaining as much hands-on experience as possible in sports marketing. I’m particularly interested in projects that bring together sport, community, culture and brand engagement, and I hope to keep finding opportunities where I can contribute to work that has a positive impact beyond commercial results.

The advice I’d give to undergraduates interested in this career path is to be proactive, build relevant experience early and show genuine curiosity for the industry you want to work in. The thing that helped me the most was that my dissertation clearly focused on my passion for sports and F1, and I was able to show how deep my theoretical knowledge spanned on this topic. When paired with previous internship experiences in the field, this helped me secure my current position.

I would describe my experience at the University of Northampton as challenging, rewarding and career-shaping.