Brand Partnerships & Sponsorship Manager

Brand Partnerships & Sponsorship Manager

Salary: Competitive basic salary, depending on experience, plus uncapped commission. On-target earnings of £75,000–£80,000, with scope to earn more by exceeding target.

Location: Northern Quarter, Manchester, with Wednesday working from home.

Reports to: Director and Co-founder.

Who we are

Manchester’s Finest is one of the UK’s leading lifestyle and culture platforms, connecting brands with Manchester’s audiences through original content, editorial, digital media, events and experiences.

From Live From The Grill and Open Fire Dining Club to mEats, Suggested By You, our city guides and social campaigns, we create platforms that brands want to be part of.

We’re also launching our new Manchester’s Finest app in the new year, helping people discover the city’s best places and access exclusive perks, while creating new opportunities for brand partnerships.

We’re now looking for an ambitious, commercially driven Brand Partnerships & Sponsorship Manager to secure national and international brand deals across our media, events and app.

This is a new business sales role with responsibility for the full sales cycle: identifying prospects, making the first approach, securing meetings, developing proposals, negotiating and closing deals. Once a partnership is signed, our account managers will take ownership of delivery.

The role

Reporting directly to the Director and Co-founder, you’ll own the brand partnerships and sponsorship sales pipeline, turning our audience, platforms and creative capabilities into compelling commercial opportunities.

Your focus will be securing partnerships with national and international brands, either directly or through their agencies. Local business advertising and individual venue marketing campaigns sit outside this role.

One brand might want headline sponsorship of Live From The Grill. Another might want to sponsor an established video series, support a collection of city guides or build an integrated campaign across our media channels, events and app.

You’ll understand what a brand wants to achieve, develop a creative and commercially viable proposal, and take the opportunity through to a signed agreement.

A key focus will be securing longer-term partnerships: annual and multi-campaign agreements that give brands a meaningful presence across Manchester’s Finest throughout the year.

Your primary responsibility is winning business and closing deals. You’ll lead the commercial relationship throughout the sales process, then provide a clear handover to our account managers, who will coordinate campaign delivery with the wider team.

You’ll work towards agreed quarterly and annual revenue targets, with success measured by new brand business won, revenue generated and the commercial value of the partnerships you secure.

What you’ll do

Generate and close new brand business

• Build and own a pipeline of national and international brands and their agencies.
• Identify sponsorship and partnership opportunities across sectors including drinks, automotive, finance, payments, travel, technology, fashion and retail.
• Use targeted outreach, phone calls, networking, market knowledge and your existing contacts to start conversations and secure meetings.
• Build relationships with senior marketing, partnerships and brand decision-makers, alongside media, creative, sponsorship and PR agencies.
• Manage the full sales cycle from initial research and outreach through to discovery, proposal, negotiation and signed agreement.
• Lead client meetings to understand objectives, target audiences, budgets, timescales and campaign KPIs.
• Follow up consistently, overcome objections and move opportunities towards a decision.
• Take ownership of agreed revenue targets and closing new business.

Develop valuable partnerships

• Sell brand sponsorship of our original content series, live events, editorial guides and digital platforms.
• Develop integrated proposals that connect brands with our audience across content, social media, website, newsletters, events and app.
• Secure annual and multi-campaign agreements alongside individual sponsorships.
• Help develop brand partnership opportunities around our new app.
• Work with the events, editorial, content, social and creative teams to shape proposals that are compelling and achievable.
• Create and present persuasive proposals and pitch decks, with clear deliverables, pricing and value for the client.
• Work with the Director and Co-founder to agree commercial terms, protect margins and ensure partnerships remain authentic to our audience and brand.
• Identify opportunities to renew and grow brand partnerships, working with account managers to understand client results and future needs.

Keep the sales process moving

• Maintain an accurate pipeline in HubSpot, recording activity, deal values, expected close dates and clear next steps.
• Provide regular revenue forecasts and updates against targets to the Director and Co-founder.
• Confirm the scope, deliverables, timings and commercial terms before each deal is signed.
• Give account managers a thorough handover so they can take ownership of delivery with a clear understanding of what has been agreed.
• Stay focused on developing and closing new opportunities while the account management team handles campaign delivery.

Who you are

You’re commercially ambitious, proactive and creatively minded. You enjoy opening doors, building relationships and turning conversations into signed business.

You might currently work in sponsorship, media sales, brand partnerships or a new business role within a publisher, events business or agency.

You’ll ideally have:

• At least three years’ experience in sponsorship, brand partnerships, media sales or a closely related commercial role.
• A proven track record of personally securing brand deals and achieving revenue targets.
• Experience owning the full sales cycle, including finding and approaching your own prospects.
• An existing network of contacts at national brands and the agencies that represent them.
• Confidence speaking to senior marketing, partnerships, media and brand decision-makers.
• Strong prospecting, pitching, negotiation and closing skills.
• The ability to create compelling commercial proposals and pitch decks.
• An understanding of how brands use content, social media, digital platforms, events and experiences to reach audiences.
• Experience navigating brand and agency buying processes, campaign planning and budget cycles.
• Good commercial judgement around pricing, budgets and profitability.
• A disciplined approach to follow-ups, pipeline management and forecasting.
• A genuine interest in Manchester’s food, culture, hospitality, nightlife and lifestyle scene.

What matters most

We’re looking for someone who takes ownership of winning brand business.

You’re comfortable picking up the phone, sending the first email, getting the meeting, developing the proposal and asking for the sale. You follow opportunities through, negotiate confidently and know how to get a deal over the line.

You’ll have the support of our senior, creative and delivery teams, with clear responsibility for driving your own pipeline and closing revenue.

Why Manchester’s Finest?

You’ll join an ambitious team with the opportunity to make a direct impact on the commercial growth of the business, working directly with the Director and Co-founder.

You’ll work across established content series, food and culture events, and a digital platform with an audience across Manchester and beyond. With our new app launching in the new year, you’ll also help shape how brands become part of the next stage of Manchester’s Finest.

You’ll build relationships with major national and international brands and their agencies, creating partnerships that connect them with Manchester through our media, original content, app and live events.

With account managers handling delivery, you’ll have the support to focus on building relationships, winning partnerships and closing business.

Salary & commission

Competitive basic salary, depending on experience, plus uncapped commission. On-target earnings of £75,000–£80,000, with scope to earn more by exceeding target.

Perks & benefits

• An extra day off on your birthday and additional days off over the Christmas break.
• Exclusive staff discounts at some of Manchester’s best bars and restaurants.
• Regular invitations to exclusive VIP events in Manchester.
• Based at our Northern Quarter office, with the option to work from home on Wednesdays.

How to apply

Send your CV and a short introduction outlining your relevant experience and examples of brand partnerships you’ve personally won to careers@manchestersfinest.com.

Application deadline: Sunday 22 November 2026.