Senior Manager - DTC Partner Operations, MS NOW

Versant Media; New York (NY); On-site; USD 135,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k)

Paid leave

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Versant Media seeks a Senior Manager of DTC Partner Operations to own the operational execution of MS NOW’s growing partnerships portfolio. You will bridge partnerships, project management, and cross-functional teams to launch and manage post-launch obligations.

The role serves as the main day-to-day contact for community, brand, and growth partners, ensuring timelines and deliverables stay on track and coordinating Marketing, Content, Product, and Legal efforts.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in strategic partnerships, partnerships operations, business development, program management, or related role.
• Experience managing multiple external relationships and internal workstreams simultaneously.
• Strong cross-functional coordination across marketing, content, product, and legal.
• Highly organized with scalable operating systems (plans, trackers, workflows).
• Clear communicator, written and verbal, across internal teams and external partners.
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience in subscription, media, or consumer-facing businesses is a plus.
• Experience supporting 0-to-1 product or partnership launches is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary point of contact for active DTC partners following handoff, managing day-to-day relationships and obligations.
• Own a consolidated view of all active partnerships—tracking deliverables, timelines, and status.
• Execute outreach to community organizations, values-aligned brands, and enterprise growth partners.
• Act as central project manager for partnership launches, coordinating across departments to ensure alignment and accountability.
• Manage internal workflows for asset sharing, QA reviews, and approvals, keeping processes efficient.
• Build and maintain launch plans with owners, timelines, and dependencies; lead post-launch reviews.
• Identify risks, delays, blockers; surface tradeoffs and drive resolution.
• Maintain operational systems and reporting for leadership visibility into partnership health.
• Coordinate with Business Development to ensure smooth handoffs in both directions as pipelines evolve.

Skills

Strategic partnerships

Partnerships operations

Program management

Cross-functional coordination

Relationship management

Ambiguity navigation

Subscription/consumer business

0-to-1 launches

Job description

Company Description

VERSANT (Nasdaq: VSNT) is an industry-changing media and entertainment business and home to trusted brands that shape culture, inform audiences, and build lasting connections. It operates across four core markets: political news and opinion, business news and personal finance, golf, and sports and genre entertainment. These markets are served through a powerful portfolio of iconic and innovative brands, including CNBC, MS NOW, USA Network, Golf Channel, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and Versant's sports division USA Sports, along with complementary digital assets including Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and GolfPass.

Job Description

Reporting to the Director, DTC Partner Operations, the Senior Manager of DTC Partner Operations will own the operational execution of MS NOW’s growing partnerships portfolio. This role sits at the intersection of partnerships, project management, and cross‑functional coordination — responsible for taking partnerships from handoff to launch and managing everything that comes after.

This role will serve as the primary day‑to‑day contact for active community, brand, and growth partners, keeping timelines, deliverables, and obligations on track while aligning internal teams across Marketing, Content, Product, and Legal. In addition to managing the active portfolio, this person will do proactive outreach to community organizations, values‑aligned brands, and enterprise growth partners not covered by our dedicated partner teams.

The ideal candidate is a highly organized, relationship‑oriented operator who thrives on bringing structure to complex, multi‑stakeholder work — and who takes pride in executing partnerships that are launched well, not just launched.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary point of contact for active DTC partners following the handoff from Business Development, managing day‑to‑day relationships and ongoing obligations
• Own a consolidated view of all active partnerships — tracking deliverables, timelines, and status across the full portfolio
• Execute outreach to community organizations, values‑aligned brands, and enterprise growth partners
• Act as a central project manager for partnership launches, coordinating across Marketing, Content, Product, and Legal to ensure alignment and accountability
• Manage internal workflows for asset sharing, QA reviews, and approvals, keeping processes efficient and documented
• Build and maintain launch plans with clear owners, timelines, and dependencies; lead post‑launch reviews
• Proactively identify risks, delays, and blockers; surface tradeoffs and drive resolution before they escape
• Maintain operational systems and reporting that give leadership visibility into partnership health and pipeline status
• Coordinate with Business Development to ensure smooth handoffs in both directions as the partnerships pipeline evolves

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in strategic partnerships, partnerships operations, business development, program management, or a related role
• Proven ability to manage multiple external relationships and internal workstreams simultaneously without dropping the ball
• Strong cross‑functional coordination skills, with experience aligning stakeholders across marketing, content, product, and legal
• Highly organized with a track record of building and maintaining operational systems (plans, trackers, workflows) that scale
• Clear communicator — written and verbal — who can move efficiently across internal teams and external partners alike
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and managing competing priorities in a fast‑moving environment
• Experience in subscription, media, or consumer‑facing businesses is a plus
• Experience supporting 0‑to‑1 product or partnership launches is a plus

Additional Job Requirements

• Must be willing to work in New York, NY.
• Must have unrestricted work authorization to work in the United States.

Benefits & Compensation

This position is eligible for company-sponsored benefits, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k), paid leave, tuition reimbursement, and a variety of other discounts and perks.

Salary Range: $135,000-$150,000, bonus eligible.

EEO & Recruitment Policy

VERSANT Media's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to [e-mail].

VERSANT Media is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. We include a good faith pay range for each position to comply with applicable state and local pay transparency laws and to promote equity across our organization. Actual compensation will be based on factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, experience, and location and may include additional forms of compensation and benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, etc.

VERSANT Media is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at VERSANT via email, the Internet, or in any form and/or method without a valid written Statement of Work in place for this position from VERSANT's Talent Acquisition team will be deemed the sole property of VERSANT. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by VERSANT as a result of the referral or through other means.