Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Brand Partnerships Manager

🎯 Role Definition

The Brand Partnerships Manager is responsible for developing, negotiating, and executing strategic brand collaborations that drive revenue, awareness, and customer acquisition. This role leads cross-functional initiatives to identify partner opportunities, structure commercial deals, manage partner relationships, and measure partnership performance using KPIs and ROI analysis. The ideal candidate blends business development, marketing, and project management skills to deliver scalable co-marketing, sponsorship, and affiliate programs that align with brand strategy and company growth objectives.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior or Mid-level Business Development Representative
Partnerships Coordinator / Partnerships Specialist
Brand Marketing Manager or Sponsorship Specialist

Advancement To:

Senior Brand Partnerships Manager
Head of Partnerships / Director of Strategic Partnerships
VP of Marketing or Head of Growth

Lateral Moves:

Strategic Alliances Manager
Channel Partnerships Manager
Corporate Development or Sales Leadership roles

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead the end-to-end partnerships lifecycle: prospect new brand partners, develop tailored proposals, negotiate commercial terms, and manage contract close to ensure mutually beneficial, legally compliant agreements that drive revenue and brand objectives.
Build and execute a strategic partnerships roadmap aligned to company goals, prioritizing high-impact partner segments (co-marketing, retail, media, tech integrations, sponsorships, influencers) to scale awareness and customer acquisition.
Identify and evaluate partner opportunities using market research, competitive landscape analysis, customer insights, and financial modeling to create data-driven partnership business cases and forecasted ROI.
Own partner onboarding and activation plans, coordinating cross-functional teams (marketing, product, legal, finance, operations) to ensure timely deliverables, integrated campaigns, and consistent brand experience.
Develop bespoke co-marketing and campaign briefs, define creative and messaging alignment, and oversee joint go-to-market execution including paid media, content collaborations, events, PR, and social amplification.
Negotiate and structure commercial models including revenue share, CPL/CPA, fixed sponsorship fees, product exchange, or hybrid contracts ensuring profitability and measurable KPIs.
Manage ongoing partner relationships via regular business reviews, results reporting, and strategic planning sessions to expand scope, renew contracts, and identify upsell opportunities.
Design and implement partner attribution frameworks, measurement plans, and dashboards that track CAC, LTV uplift, engagement metrics, incremental revenue, and campaign ROI.
Produce detailed post-campaign analyses and executive summaries with insights, learnings, and actionable recommendations to optimize future partnership investments.
Set and manage quarterly and annual partnership targets (pipeline, signed deals, revenue, impressions, leads) and report progress against OKRs to senior leadership.
Lead partner co-innovation initiatives, collaborating with product and engineering teams on integrations, API partnerships, or joint product features that increase platform value and stickiness.
Create templates, playbooks, and standardized operating procedures for partner pitching, contracting, onboarding, and performance optimization to drive repeatable, scalable processes.
Run outreach and prospecting campaigns leveraging cold outreach, industry events, referrals, and platform tools (LinkedIn, CRM, partner marketplaces) to build and maintain a robust partnership pipeline.
Coordinate with legal and finance teams to ensure partner contracts comply with company policies, billing practices, intellectual property requirements, and reporting obligations.
Oversee partner marketing budgets, incentives, co-op funds, and media allocations to maximize demand generation and ensure accurate reconciliation and invoicing.
Manage vendor and agency relationships for partner-driven campaigns, including creative agencies, PR firms, affiliate networks, and influencer management partners.
Serve as the primary contact and escalation point for partner issues, ensuring timely resolution, SLA adherence, and continually strengthening partner trust and satisfaction.
Conduct competitive and channel partner analysis to identify whitespace opportunities, industry trends, and strategic risks to inform partnership strategy and prioritization.
Train sales and marketing teams on partner offerings, joint value propositions, and co-sell motions to amplify partner-led revenue growth and internal alignment.
Champion partner-centric storytelling across marketing channels, producing case studies, press releases, and content assets that highlight successful collaborations and drive new partner interest.
Manage sponsorship and event partnerships end-to-end, securing speaking slots, activations, and hospitality plans to maximize brand visibility and lead generation at conferences and trade shows.
Develop and maintain a centralized partner CRM and pipeline reporting system to ensure data accuracy, forecast reliability, and transparency for leadership decision-making.
Lead renewal and expansion negotiations with existing partners, leveraging performance data to secure improved commercial terms and deeper integrations.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc senior leadership requests for partnership strategy, market sizing, and go-to-market readiness assessments.
Collaborate with analytics and BI teams to refine partner attribution models and improve measurement accuracy for cross-channel campaigns.
Contribute to partner recruitment materials, sales enablement decks, and pitch collateral to streamline acquisition and shorten sales cycles.
Participate in cross-functional sprint planning and campaign retrospectives to continuously improve partner activation workflows and timelines.
Mentor junior partnership team members and support hiring and onboarding of new partnership roles as the program scales.
Establish and track partner satisfaction metrics (NPS, retention rate) and lead initiatives to improve partner experience and reduce churn.
Represent the company at industry events, webinars, and panels to network, source leads, and position the brand as a preferred partner in the market.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Partnership Strategy & Business Development — proven experience building multi-year partnership roadmaps, pipeline management, and closing strategic brand deals.
Commercial Negotiation & Contracting — strong ability to negotiate complex commercial terms, NDAs, MSAs, and sponsorship agreements with a focus on profit and risk mitigation.
Data-Driven Measurement & Analytics — experience with attribution models, KPI definition (CAC, LTV, ROI), A/B testing, and presenting quantitative business cases to stakeholders.
CRM & Pipeline Tools — proficiency with Salesforce, HubSpot, or similar CRM platforms for tracking partner opportunities and forecasting.
Campaign Management & Activation — hands-on experience managing co-marketing, influencer, affiliate, and sponsorship activations across digital and offline channels.
Financial Modeling & Forecasting — ability to build revenue models, budget plans, and perform scenario analysis to evaluate partnership economics.
Marketing Technology & Integrations — familiarity with APIs, co-branded integrations, affiliate tracking systems, and partner portals.
Contract Lifecycle Management — understanding of legal, billing, and compliance considerations in partnership agreements and partner SLAs.
Digital Advertising & Paid Media — working knowledge of programmatic, social and search ad campaigns used in partner co-marketing.
Reporting & Visualization — skill with dashboards and reporting tools (Tableau, Looker, Google Data Studio) to communicate partner performance.

Soft Skills

Strategic Thinking — capability to identify high-impact partnership opportunities aligned with company objectives and long-term brand vision.
Relationship Management — exceptional interpersonal skills for building trust and long-term rapport with partner stakeholders at senior levels.
Cross-Functional Collaboration — proven ability to coordinate marketing, product, legal, finance, and operations to execute integrated partner initiatives.
Persuasion & Storytelling — strong written and verbal communication to craft compelling partnership proposals and executive briefings.
Project Management — excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple concurrent partnership launches.
Adaptability & Problem Solving — resourceful approach to overcome operational or strategic hurdles during deal execution.
Negotiation & Influence — confidence in leading contract negotiations and driving consensus among internal and external stakeholders.
Time Management — ability to prioritize high-impact activities and meet tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
Analytical Curiosity — inquisitive mindset to dig into data, uncover insights, and translate learnings into actionable partner optimizations.
Leadership & Mentorship — experience guiding junior team members and fostering a culture of shared accountability and continuous improvement.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Communications, or related field.

Preferred Education:

MBA or relevant advanced degree in marketing, business strategy, or corporate communications.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Marketing
Business Administration / Management
Communications / Public Relations
Economics
Data Analytics / Business Analytics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–8 years in partnerships, business development, brand marketing, or sponsorships, with at least 2–4 years in a manager-level or standalone partnership role.

Preferred:

5+ years managing brand partnerships or strategic alliances, preferably with experience in consumer brands, media, retail, ad-tech, or platform businesses.
Demonstrated track record of closing six-figure partnership deals, managing cross-functional activations, and delivering measurable ROI.
Experience working with enterprise partners, agencies, influencer networks, and affiliate platforms.
Prior exposure to international or multi-market partnership rollouts is a plus.