Manager, Artist Relations Operations

Universal Music Group•New York, NY

13d

About The Position

We are UMG, the Universal Music Group. We are the world’s leading music company. In everything we do, we are committed to artistry, innovation and entrepreneurship. We own and operate a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising, and audiovisual content in more than 60 countries. We identify and develop recording artists and songwriters, and we produce, distribute and promote the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music to delight and entertain fans around the world. How We Lead: Merchandise and commerce are a part of the fabric of music culture. For artists, it’s a way to develop and further articulate their brand. For fans, it’s another pathway to connecting with an artist and the culture they represent. The Manager, Artist Relations Operations will play a central role in driving operational excellence across our deal flow pipeline. Reporting to the VP, Artist Relations, this role will project-manage the end-to-end workflow that supports new business opportunities—from early intake and internal alignment through pitch development and approvals—ensuring every deliverable, stakeholder, and status update is tracked and moving forward in close partnership with Business Affairs. This role requires a highly organized, proactive operator who thrives in fast-moving, artist-driven environments and can bring structure, visibility, and momentum to complex cross-functional work. The Manager will help support the broader operational needs of the Artist Relations team, enabling the group to stay focused on relationships, storytelling, and high-impact pitches. This position is designed to complement and extend the VP’s external-facing leadership by strengthening the internal systems that power the team’s success, in line with the Artist Relations function’s mission and working style. How You’ll Create

Requirements

3-5+ years of experience in project management, operations, partnerships, or deal/pipeline management—ideally within music, merch, entertainment, media, or a similarly fast-paced client environment.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams with many stakeholders, shifting priorities, and tight timelines.
Strong systems thinker with experience building and maintaining trackers, dashboards, and repeatable processes (CRM comfort a plus).
Clear, confident communicator—able to run meetings, capture decisions, and drive accountability without heavy-handedness.
Detail-oriented, highly organized, and proactive; you naturally anticipate what’s needed and prevent issues before they escalate.
Collaborative and culturally fluent; comfortable working with creative teams and client-facing leaders in artist-driven environments.
Discretion and good judgment handling sensitive deal information and relationship dynamics.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree preferred (or equivalent experience).

Responsibilities

Manage the rights acquisition pipeline: Project-manage the acquisition workflow in close collaboration with Leadership and Business Affairs, maintaining clear timelines, owners, dependencies, and status across all active opportunities and pitches through handoff to BA.
Run deal flow rigor: Manage trackers and dashboards, ensuring opportunities are up to date, risks are flagged early, and leadership has accurate weekly visibility.
Drive cross-functional coordination: Schedule and facilitate key meetings (discovery, internal approvals, pitch prep, decision points), capture next steps, and ensure follow-through across Artist Relations, Artist Strategy, Creative, BA, Commercial, and Account teams.
Manage pitch readiness and deliverables: Coordinate the creation of pitch materials and internal approvals, ensuring decks, narratives, research, projections, and pitch packages are complete, accurate, and delivered on time. Partner closely with Artist Strategy and Creative teams to build & manage a library of case studies and custom capabilities decks for various artist relations needs.
Standardize and improve process: Maintain templates, intake forms, checklists, and handoff packages; identify bottlenecks and continuously refine workflows to increase speed, clarity, and quality.
Ensure clean handoff to Business Affairs: Prepare and validate “BA-ready” deal packages (terms context, stakeholder notes, materials, approvals, deal history) to enable smooth negotiation and contracting.
Support Artist Relations team operations: Help run team rhythms (weekly pipeline reviews, priorities, meeting prep), manage light administrative needs, and keep the team organized for high-volume periods.
Act as a calm center of gravity: Bring clarity and momentum to ambiguous situations, communicate updates clearly, and create structure that allows artist-facing leaders to stay focused on relationship-building and storytelling.

Benefits

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
Including 100% coverage for out-patient in-network mental health services
Fertility coverage for eligible medical plan participants
Wellbeing reimbursements for fitness classes, spa treatments, meal services, travel, and so much more (up to $720/year)
Student Loan Repayment Assistance and Tuition Reimbursement
401(k) with 100% immediate vesting on the first 5% of your contributions, plus an additional UMG contribution
A variety of ways to prioritize much-needed time away from work including:
Flexible Paid Time Off (PTO) for exempt employees
3-weeks PTO for non-exempt employees
2-weeks paid Winter Break
10 Company Holidays (including Juneteenth and Wellbeing Day)
Summer Fridays (between Memorial Day and Labor Day)
Generous paid parental leave for every type of parent
Check out our full overview of benefits on the Perks Playlist page of the career site.