Senior Partnerships Manager

Sperton Global AS; New York (NY); On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Sperton is seeking a Senior Partnerships Manager in New York City to lead the supply-side growth of a sponsorship marketplace.

You will bring rights holders onto the platform, help them list and monetize their sponsorship inventory, and build strategic relationships with sports properties, venues, and events. This is a hands-on, high-ownership role with potential to build a dedicated partnerships team as the business scales.

Qualifications

• 2–5 years in partnerships, BD, sales, or related role.
• Proven ability to build relationships with external partners.
• Strong negotiation, communication and stakeholder skills.
• Comfort in fast-paced, early-stage startup environments.

Responsibilities

• Own the strategy to acquire and onboard rights holders.
• Identify and engage sports teams, leagues, venues, and event owners.
• Build senior relationships with rights holders and decision-makers.
• Lead commercial negotiations with major properties.
• Collaborate with founders on growth strategy for supply side.
• Improve partner experience, marketplace adoption, and performance.
• Identify opportunities to expand partnerships and inventory.
• Establish metrics and processes to scale acquisitions.
• Build and eventually lead a rights-holder partnerships team.

Skills

Partnerships

Business development

Negotiation

Stakeholder management

Strategic thinking

Leadership potential

Job description

Location: New York City, USA
Employment Type: Full-time
Work Arrangement: On-site – 5 days per week
Seniority Level: Senior / Experienced Individual Contributor
Experience: 2–5 years

About the Role

Sperton is looking for a Senior Partnerships Manager to lead the supply-side growth of a rapidly growing sponsorship marketplace.

In this role, you will be responsible for bringing rights holders onto the platform, helping them list and commercialize their sponsorship inventory, and building strategic relationships that establish the marketplace as a preferred channel for sponsorship sales. Working closely with the founders, you will develop the partnerships strategy, establish repeatable processes, and lead high-value conversations with major sports properties, venues, and event organizations.

This is a hands‑on, high‑ownership role suited to someone who can combine relationship building, commercial negotiation, strategic thinking, and execution. As the business grows, you will have the opportunity to build and manage a dedicated rights‑holder partnerships team.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the strategy for acquiring and onboarding rights holders to the marketplace.

• Identify and engage sports teams, leagues, venues, event organizers, and other sponsorship inventory owners.

• Build and maintain senior‑level relationships with key rights holders and decision‑makers.

• Lead commercial negotiations and strategic partnership discussions with major properties.

• Collaborate closely with the founders to shape the marketplace's supply‑side growth strategy.

• Work with internal teams to improve partner experience, marketplace adoption, and commercial performance.

• Identify opportunities to expand existing partnerships and increase the volume and quality of available sponsorship inventory.

• Establish performance metrics and processes to support scalable partnership acquisition.

• Build and eventually lead a rights‑holder partnerships team as the function expands.

What We're Looking For

• Approximately 2–5 years of relevant experience in partnerships, business development, sales, account management, or a related commercial role.

• Experience building relationships with external partners and developing commercially valuable partnerships.

• Strong negotiation, communication, and stakeholder‑management skills.

• Ability to identify opportunities, initiate conversations, and move complex commercial discussions toward closure.

• Comfort working in a fast‑paced, early‑stage startup environment with evolving priorities.

• Ability to take ownership of projects and develop processes from scratch.

• Strong commercial judgment and an understanding of revenue generation.

• Confidence communicating with senior stakeholders and leading high‑value partnership discussions.

About Sperton

Sperton is an international recruitment and workforce solutions company supporting organizations with talent acquisition, staffing and consultancy, People Management, Global Mobility, and business support. We connect professionals with opportunities where they can contribute their expertise and create meaningful business impact.