About the Role
Reports to: Head of Brand Partnerships
We're looking for a Brand Partnerships Manager to join our team. In this role, you'll own a strategic book of business, building partnerships between leading brands and our creators, driving revenue, and shaping how Smooth shows up in the market with the partners that matter most.
This is a mid-senior individual contributor seat for someone who's done the work before. You'll be expected to hunt your own pipeline, close your own deals, and lift the team through example, not formal management. Strong performers grow into Senior Manager, Brand Partnerships and beyond as we scale.
If you're a sharp closer who builds trust quickly, knows the creator economy or B2B media inside out, and wants to own real revenue at a fast-growing company, this role is for you.
What you'll do
- Own a strategic book of business, including named accounts, agency relationships, and brand-direct deals
- Hunt new pipeline through outbound prospecting and your existing network of brand and agency contacts
- Lead the full sales cycle: discovery, pitching, negotiating, closing, and ongoing support
- Develop and refine pitch frameworks, proposals, and category-level points of view on creator marketing
- Mentor Brand Partnerships Associates through your work, coaching by example, opening the deal floor for them, sharpening their pitches
- Partner with Creator Managers to align the right creators with the right brand opportunities
- Bring a real market POV on what brands are buying, what's resonating in creator marketing, and where Smooth has an edge
- Represent Smooth externally with senior brand marketers, agencies, and partners
What we're looking for
- 3-5 years of experience in media sales, brand partnerships, or a comparable revenue-carrying role
- A proven closing track record, quota attainment, multi-year deals, real book ownership
- Self-directed; you can take a number, build a plan, and execute without being managed
- Sharp closer instincts and the ability to navigate complex multi-stakeholder buy-in
- Strong written and verbal communicator who can pitch credibly to senior brand marketers and CMOs
- Understands the creator economy or brings real curiosity to learn it, and can articulate why knowledge creators are a different sell than lifestyle or entertainment
- Based in NYC or open to being in NYC (our team is in-office Mon-Thurs)
What we can offer
- Base salary: $75,000–$85,000, plus uncapped commission on closed deals
- On-target earnings: $200,000–$250,000+ in Year 1 for strong performers
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- Unlimited PTO (mandatory 10 days per year minimum)
- A direct line to the Head of Brand Partnerships and meaningful input into how the team builds
- A merit-based path to Senior Manager, Brand Partnerships and broader leadership as we scale, earned through performance, not tenure
Smooth Media is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status.
About Smooth
Smooth Media is the talent management company for knowledge creators — the people teaching, explaining, and breaking down the world through smart, insightful content. We serve as a true strategic partner to our creators — an extension of their team that helps them run, grow, and professionalize their business.