Brand Partnerships Manager

Knife & Fork Media

Location: London (hybrid, 3 days in the office)

Type: Full-time, permanent

Salary: £50,000–£55,000 depending on experience, plus performance-related bonus

Reports to: Business Director (interim reporting to CEO)

About us

Knife & Fork is a fast-growing membership and media business for people who love hospitality. Through our two brands – CODE Hospitality and Good Food Guide – we reach engaged communities of hospitality professionals and restaurant-loving consumers through membership, content, recommendations, events and experiences.

We partner with brands that want to reach these audiences, creating campaigns, content and events that people genuinely want to engage with.

We’re growing our partnerships team and looking for a Brand Partnerships Manager with a particular focus on consumer brands.

The opportunity

This is a commercial role focused on winning new business and building long-term brand partnerships.

We’re looking for someone who knows how to sell to consumer brands: finding the right prospects, opening doors, understanding what a brand is trying to achieve and turning our audiences, ideas and platforms into partnerships they want to buy.

Good Food Guide is a particular growth opportunity, giving partners access to an engaged consumer audience passionate about eating out, food, drink and travel. CODE also offers opportunities for consumer brands to connect with a valuable community of people working in and around hospitality.

You’ll sell everything from sponsorships and existing commercial packages to bespoke partnerships across content, campaigns, events and experiences. You’ll also own relationships beyond the sale – delivering great work, growing accounts and turning successful partnerships into repeat business.

We’re looking for someone who combines strong commercial instincts with the ability to build great relationships – and who genuinely understands what makes our brands and audiences special.

What you’ll do

• Build a pipeline of consumer brand partners
• Develop relationships with brands, agencies and relevant decision-makers
• Own the sales process from first conversation through proposal, negotiation and close
• Develop and sell creative partnerships across content, campaigns, events, experiences and sponsorship
• Manage partner relationships and ensure clients have a great experience working with us
• Grow existing accounts and turn successful partnerships into repeat business
• Work closely with the wider partnerships team, as well as marketing, editorial and events, to spot opportunities and deliver great work
• Own revenue targets, pipeline and forecasting
• Contribute to our wider partnerships strategy and commercial proposition

What we’re looking for

• A proven track record in new business sales, ideally within media, sponsorship or brand partnerships
• Experience selling to consumer brands, particularly in food & drink, lifestyle, travel, luxury, retail or other premium consumer sectors
• Experience selling creative partnerships across content, digital media, events, sponsorship or integrated campaigns
• An established network of contacts across consumer brands and/or media agencies, with the confidence to build new relationships and open doors
• A good understanding of how consumer brands make marketing decisions and allocate budgets
• A natural relationship builder who understands clients' needs and can develop long-term partnerships
• The ability to bring ideas to life and communicate the value of our brands and audiences, rather than simply selling from a rate card
• Commercially driven, with the confidence to own revenue targets and manage a sales pipeline
• A genuine passion for hospitality, restaurants, food and the culture around them
• Confident, persuasive and organised, with the energy to thrive in a small, entrepreneurial team

We care more about what you’ve sold, who you’ve sold it to, how you won the business and the relationships you built afterwards than whether you’ve followed a particular career path.

Why join us

• Join a growing partnerships team across two established brands
• The opportunity to develop new propositions and open up new partner categories
• Work collaboratively across CODE and Good Food Guide, with real influence on how our commercial offering develops
• A small, close team where your work is visible and ideas move quickly
• Hybrid working: 3 days in our London office, 2 days remote
• CODE and Good Food Guide membership
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays and Christmas office closure
• Your birthday off
• Two charity days and two industry days per year
• Employer pension contribution and workplace nursery scheme
• £100 annual learning budget, with additional support subject to business need
• Cycle to work scheme
• Invitations to industry dinners and events

How to apply

Send your CV and a short note to will@knifeandforkmedia.co.uk telling us why the role interests you.

We’d particularly like to hear about new business you’ve personally won: who you sold to, what you sold, how you won it and what happened next.

Knife & Fork Media is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and are committed to building a team that reflects the diversity of the hospitality industry and audiences we serve.