Partnerships Manager & Content Ops

Contrarian Thinking•Austin, TX

2d•Onsite

About The Position

This role is for a Partnerships Manager & Content Ops lead at Contrarian Thinking. The ideal candidate will be able to close large brand deals and manage the data associated with them. Responsibilities include selling story-driven partnerships authentic to the brand, closing category partners (travel, auto, finance, luggage, lifestyle) on major deals, and moving beyond basic #ad reads. The role also involves building an AI-powered system to analyze content performance, acting as a liaison between content and other departments (sales, finance, marketing), and using analytics to understand content drivers like click-through rates, conversion to paid, and format compounding. This is a high-autonomy, high-ownership, AI-forward, and cross-functional role that requires strategic and operational skills.

Requirements

5-7 years of experience in brand partnerships, ad agency account direction, brand management, or content ops at a creator-led media company.
Proven track record closing or managing brand deals, preferably category partnerships.
Ability to present creative pitches in Fortune 500 boardrooms and secure deals.
Fluency with AI tools as a thinking multiplier, including chaining LLMs for research and analysis.
Comfortable with data analysis using tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot, and platform analytics.
Ability to read and interpret retention curves and understand their implications.
Strong diplomatic skills to provide constructive feedback and push back when necessary.
Low ego, high standards.
Clear, concise writing skills for briefs.
Bias toward action and proactive problem-solving.

Nice To Haves

Blended background in the required experience areas.

Responsibilities

Pitch, close, and shepherd partnerships from first meeting through campaign execution.
Build relationships with brand-side VPs and their agencies.
Develop creative concepts for Fortune 500 brands, focusing on story arcs and multi-touch integrations.
Sell partnership ideas internally to relevant teams.
Manage the follow-through loop with partners, protecting the company's voice while being a good steward.
Protect creative integrity without damaging partner relationships.
Act as the conduit between content and all internal departments (Sales, Marketing, Advisory, Events, Finance).
Translate data from internal departments into content ideas.
Operate and refine the Content Brain, including data workflows from various sources (Google Analytics, HubSpot, Avoma, platform APIs, Bitly, transcripts, social data).
Analyze content signals to answer questions about hook retention, framework conversion, and format compounding.
Manage the customer-facing event calendar and ensure platform alignment on messaging and cadence.
Build and maintain content team dashboards (views, watch time, CTR, retention, revenue per asset, partnership ROI).
Map the content production process from idea to repurposing, building templates, checklists, and SLAs.
Prepare leadership for strategy changes with data-backed briefs.
Sit in on sales and advisor calls to gather insights for content teams.