Senior Manager, Brand Partnerships
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.
About the Role
Reports to: Head of Brand Partnerships
Smooth is building the most commercially serious brand partnerships team in creator media, and we need a Senior Manager to help lead it.
As Senior Manager, Brand Partnerships, you'll own the development and performance of a growing team of sellers. That means managing, coaching, and holding the team accountable to activity and revenue goals, while staying close enough to the work to review deals, sharpen pitches, and step in when something high-stakes needs your touch. You'll sit one layer below the Head of Brand Partnerships, with real influence over how the function is built and run.
This role also carries a meaningful stake in growing our Energy Central business, a B2B media platform that serves professionals across the utility and power industry. You'll need fluency in two selling environments: the creator-forward brand marketing space, where audience alignment and editorial trust are the pitch, and the more structured world of B2B media, where ROI, category exclusivity, and long-term advertiser relationships are what close deals.
Team Leadership
Manage, coach, and develop a team of Brand Partnerships Associates by running regular 1:1s focused on pipeline health, skill development, and performance
Set clear expectations and hold the team accountable to activity and revenue targets
Build a team culture that's sharp, collaborative, and commercially serious
Partner with the Head of Brand Partnerships on headcount planning, role design, and onboarding new sellers
Revenue and Pipeline
Own the team's revenue targets and pipeline reporting, tracking what's moving, what's stalled, and where to push
Review and support deals across the full sales cycle, from outreach and pitching through negotiating and closing
Identify patterns in wins and losses and use them to sharpen how the team sells
Maintain a personal book of strategic or high-value accounts where your direct relationships move the needle
Sales Strategy and Playbook
Build and refine the sales playbook, including outreach templates, pitch frameworks, objection handling, and proposal standards
Partner with the Brand Partnerships team to ensure creator inventory is packaged and positioned effectively
Stay close to the market and know what brands are buying, what's resonating in creator and B2B media, and where Smooth has an edge
Cross-Functional Partnership
Work closely with Creator Partnerships Managers to match the right creators to the right brand opportunities
Support the growth of Energy Central's B2B sales motion, helping adapt Smooth's partnership approach to the utility and power professional audience
Partner with marketing on positioning, materials, and go-to-market support
Bring a clear point of view to leadership on what the sales team needs to perform
5-8 years of experience in media sales, brand partnerships, or advertising, ideally in creator economy, digital media, or agency environments
Proven experience managing or mentoring a sales team (you've coached people to perform and you take that seriously)
A strong closer with a track record of hitting and exceeding revenue targets
Comfortable being a player-coach: you can lead a team while staying hands-on in deals
Sharp communicator, written and verbal, who can pitch credibly to senior brand marketers and simplify complexity under pressure
Understands both the creator economy and B2B media and knows why knowledge creators are a different sell than lifestyle, and can hold their own in a conversation about B2B media ROI
Based in NYC or open to being in NYC (our team is in-office Mon-Thurs)
Base salary: $85,000 - $100,000, plus commission
On-target earnings: $175,000 in Year 1, $225,000 in Year 2 (your earning potential grows directly with the success of your sales team)
Health, dental, and vision insurance
Unlimited PTO (mandatory 10 days per year minimum)
Direct access to leadership and a real seat at the table as the revenue org grows
A meaningful role in building something that matters, a serious, profitable media business in a space most people are still figuring out
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.
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