Director, Creator Partnerships

Ensemble; Newark (NJ); On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

An innovative branded entertainment studio is seeking a Director of Creator Partnerships. This senior-level role involves cultivating relationships with creators and representation teams, overseeing the selection and negotiation processes, and ensuring alignment between creative talent and brand partnerships. Ideal candidates should possess strong negotiation skills, cultural fluency, and a proven track record in talent management. This full-time position is pivotal to the company’s success in creating engaging and relevant entertainment across platforms.

Qualifications

• Experience managing multiple pipelines in casting.
• Ability to establish deep relationships within the creator ecosystem.
• Comfortable navigating complex agreements.

Responsibilities

• Oversee curation and casting for Ensemble opportunities.
• Maintain relationships with creators and their teams.
• Negotiate talent agreements balancing needs of brands and creators.

Skills

Culturally fluent

Negotiation skills

Relationship building

Organizational skills

Understanding of social dynamics in media

Education

3-5 years in talent management, casting, or digital media

Job description

Direct message the job poster from Ensemble

Award-winning global brand, marketing, advertising, and sports & entertainment entrepreneur and executive. Co-Founder & President of Ensemble (HOORAE…

ABOUT ENSEMBLE

Ensemble is the creator‑powered branded entertainment studio co‑founded by Issa Rae and backed by HOORAE Media. We build a more equitable future for underrepresented creators by connecting brands to culturally fluent creative talent and premium entertainment opportunities across digital, CTV/FAST, experiential, and IP.

Our work spans social‑driven originals, premium series, creator‑powered verticals, and brand‑funded entertainment that reaches audiences across all screens. We partner with today’s most ambitious brands — AT&T, PepsiCo, Mountain Dew, Popeyes, Clinique, Audible, Kraft Heinz, Starry — to deliver entertainment that blends cultural relevance with guaranteed media performance.

Creators are the backbone of Ensemble. They shape culture, anchor our programming slate, and drive the emotional connection between audiences and brands. This role is dedicated to championing them.

THE ROLE

We’re hiring a Director, Creator Partnerships — a highly connected, culturally fluent leader who will own Ensemble’s creator ecosystem end‑to‑end. This role oversees the process of curating, selecting, casting, negotiating with, and developing deep relationships with creators and the management firms, talent agencies, and representation teams around them.

This director will maintain and grow the talent network that fuels Ensemble’s brand partnerships and programming slate. They are equal parts tastemaker, dealmaker, relationship architect, and creator advocate — ensuring Ensemble always has the right talent attached to the right opportunity, at the right moment.

This is an externally‑facing role that sits at the center of Ensemble’s value proposition, with earned opportunities to provide thought leadership to the industry at‑large.

This role reports into our Head of Revenue Operations.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Curator Curation & Casting

• Own the creator and casting pipeline for all Ensemble opportunities: branded entertainment, social storytelling, premium series, and emerging IP.
• Maintain a constantly evolving POV on culturally relevant creators across verticals (sports, lifestyle, comedy, beauty, food, Gen Z culture, women’s sports, gaming, etc.).
• Evaluate creators for fit, credibility, narrative potential, audience alignment, content quality, and brand safety.
• Build curated creator “cohorts” and recommendation sets to support Sales, Development, and Creative.

Creator Relationships & Representation Ecosystem

• Develop and nurture deep relationships with creators, management companies, talent agencies, publicists, and HOORAE Media ecosystem partners.
• Serve as Ensemble’s primary point of contact for talent negotiations, ensuring deals are fair, efficient, and aligned with brand + creator expectations.
• Create a consistent communication rhythm with representation teams to keep Ensemble top of mind.

Deal Structuring & Negotiation

• Own negotiation strategy and deal terms across tiers of creators — from emerging voices to marquee talent.
• Partner with Legal and Production to structure agreements that balance creative freedom, brand needs, timelines, deliverables, usage, exclusivity, and compensation.
• Ensure all deals meet Ensemble’s standards for equity, inclusion, and transparency.

Creator Development & Long‑Term Relationships

• Identify creators with long‑term potential for Ensemble originals, franchise development, vertical expansion, and platform‑focused content.
• Develop creator‑first frameworks for collaboration, retention, and repeat work.
• Act as a culture‑forward advocate for creators, ensuring their voices and perspectives are represented in Ensemble’s work.

Cross‑Functional Partnership

• Partner with Sales and Integrated Marketing to provide curated creator shortlists, POVs, and sourcing strategies for pitches and RFPs.
• Work closely with Development to match creators with new IP concepts, formats, pilots, and premium‑content opportunities.
• Collaborate with Production to ensure smooth onboarding, communication, and creator experience from kickoff through delivery.

Systems, Process & Operational Excellence

• Build and maintain Ensemble’s proprietary creator database — talent profiles, rates, past collaboration notes, audience insights, content verticals, and brand fits.
• Introduce frameworks for evaluating creators objectively across cultural impact, audience composition, creative quality, and partnership reliability.
• Forecast creator availability and recommend staffing strategies for upcoming slates and campaigns.

WHO YOU ARE

• A culturally fluent operator with deep relationships across the creator, talent, and representation ecosystem.
• Experienced in working with creators across social, premium content, branded entertainment, events, and IP development.
• A confident dealmaker with strong negotiation instincts and comfort handling complex talent agreements.
• A tastemaker with a sharp sense of what’s next — who can identify emerging voices before they break through.
• A relationship‑builder who creators trust and reps respect.
• Comfortable working cross‑functionally with Creative, Sales, Development, and Production.
• Highly organized, deadline‑driven, and capable of managing multiple sourcing/casting pipelines simultaneously.
• Previous experience (3-5 years) in talent management, casting, creator partnerships, digital media, entertainment marketing, or talent agencies strongly preferred.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

• We do not represent talent, but Ensemble’s ability to routinely identify and work with the right creators on the right content becomes a strategic advantage as differentiated, diverse, and deeply aligned with our brand partnerships and content ambitions.
• Creators love working with Ensemble because the experience feels premium, thoughtful, and creatively empowering, and our reputation grows.
• Sales and Development move faster because casting POVs and creator recommendations are proactive, on‑brief, and culturally sharp.
• Repeat partnerships increase because creators feel invested in Ensemble’s ecosystem.

Job Details

• Senior level: Director
• Employment type: Full‑time
• Job function: Business Development and Sales
• Industry: Advertising Services

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