Senior Manager, Business Development & Brand Partnerships

Whalar Group•New York, NY

2d•$120,000 - $130,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Lighthouse is looking for an Associate Director, Brand Partnerships to help turn our Creator campuses in Brooklyn and Venice into a marketing platform brands want to buy, not just a venue they rent. You'll own sales of our turnkey brand activations in the $50,000 to $100,000 range against your own revenue target, and spend around 40% of your time as right hand to our VP, Business Development & Brand Partnerships on larger deals, pitch materials, client communication and post-sale kickoff. This role is built for someone from media buying, publishing or account management who's ready to move into sales, with hands-on mentorship and a clear path to a full, independent sales role.

Requirements

2–3 years in agency media buying, publishing, account management or integrated marketing, or at a Creator network or influencer platform, and a clear drive to move into sales.
Experience building media plans or presenting them to clients, including working with rate cards, guaranteed impressions and eCPMs.
A deep, practical understanding of social media and Creator economics; you're active on Instagram or TikTok yourself and know what Creators want from a brand deal.
Confidence pitching in client meetings, writing your own pitch materials, and running a focus group and presenting findings.
Proficiency with AI tools for building decks, media plans and client materials quickly.
Strong project management skills, so you can hold scope, timelines and handovers across several teams and keep deals on track after they're sold.
Excitement about building a career in sales, a collaborative approach to working shared deals with your manager, and a desire for hands-on coaching as you grow.

Responsibilities

Sell and close The Lighthouse's turnkey, off-the-shelf brand activations, mostly one-off events at our Brooklyn and Venice campuses in the $50,000 to $100,000 range, protecting speed and margin.
Join inbound client calls with the VP, help grow opportunities into larger partnerships, and take ownership of the deals that land below that threshold, keeping your pipeline accurate and up to date.
Act as the VP's right hand on larger deals, polishing pitch decks, gathering information and getting back to clients quickly when the VP is in back-to-back meetings.
Share real market feedback to shape our program tiers: what lands, what's priced wrong, and what brands keep asking for.
Support the VP in running and scaling our Creator engine, including Creator casting, briefing, contracting, and payment, and applying our impression and eCPM (effective cost per thousand impressions) methodology to new deals.
Partner with our Creator Intelligence team to run occasional focus groups with Lighthouse members and present what you learn back to brands.
Build pitch decks and media plans quickly with AI tools, pulling rates from our rate card to produce clear plans by placement, format and channel.
Lead post-sale kickoff on the deals you and the VP close, making sure everything sold is properly scoped, briefed and handed over to the teams activating it.
Serve as the point of contact for clients on the deals you own, and support the VP on larger deals, from pre-production and on-site execution through the post-campaign wrap report.
Work with our programming, content, activation and campus teams, including our location GMs, to source themes, concepts and resources for client pitches so every client experiences one Lighthouse.