Our company is building a US agency partnership motion from the ground up, and this role is one of the first hires on that team. This is not a traditional demand-gen SDR seat. You will be sourcing and developing partners, not prospects — building relationships with agencies that we can bring into client conversations, not closing a single transaction with a single buyer.
That distinction shapes almost everything about the job. You're not chasing a single "yes" from one decision-maker. You're identifying organizations with the right profile, understanding how they're structured to sell or recommend vendors to their own clients, and building the early relationship that a Director of Partnerships will later turn into a live co-sell motion. Success looks like qualified, warm partner conversations that convert into structured partnerships, not just meetings booked.
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You're qualifying organizations, not individuals. A good partner fit depends on how an agency is structured (do they own the media budget conversation with clients, do they have an analytics or strategy practice, do they influence channel allocation) as much as who you're talking to.
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The sales cycle is a relationship, not a transaction. Partner conversations often start with curiosity and education before there's ever a "deal" to discuss. You need patience and consistency, not just volume.
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You need commercial fluency, not just a pitch. Partners want to know how they get paid, how deal registration protects their sourced business, and what the economics look like for their agency — you'll need to speak intelligently about revenue share and co-sell structures, not just product features.
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Multi-threading matters more than usual. You may be talking to a founder, an analytics lead, a client services director, or a business development lead at the same agency — each with different motivations for partnering.
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You're planting seeds for a long-term motion. Some outreach won't convert into an active partner for months. Tracking, nurturing, and re-engaging cold or "not yet ready" partners is part of the job, not a failure state.
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Build and manage outbound pipeline of prospective agency and channel partners against a defined ideal partner profile
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Research and qualify organizations based on service model, client base, and strategic fit
- Run structured outreach sequences (email, LinkedIn, event follow-up, warm introduction activation) tailored to a partner audience rather than an end-buyer audience
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Conduct discovery conversations to understand how a prospective partner works with clients, where they sit in the media/strategy decision chain, and whether a partnership creates mutual value
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Qualify and hand off partner conversations to the Agency Partnerships team with clear context: partner structure, client base, potential shared opportunities, and next steps
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Maintain accurate, up-to-date records of partner outreach, conversations, and qualification status in the CRM and partner tracking tools
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Support account mapping efforts to identify shared or overlapping client relationships with prospective partners
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Track and report on partner pipeline metrics: outreach volume, response rates, qualified conversations, and handoff-to-partnership conversion
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1+ years of SDR, BDR, or partnerships-adjacent experience (agency, channel, or alliances background is a strong plus)
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Comfortable holding conversations with senior stakeholders (founders, VPs, directors) at partner organizations, not just individual contributors
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Strong written communication. Ability to craft outreach that needs to land as consultative and credible, not templated or salesy
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Genuine curiosity about how agencies and service partners operate, get paid, and make recommendations to their own clients
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Organized and self-directed; comfortable building process in an environment where the playbook is still being written
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Familiarity with CRM and account-mapping tools (Salesforce, Crossbeam, or similar) a plus, but not required. Willingness to learn is essential
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Experience in adtech, martech, or marketing measurement is a plus but not required
You'll primarily be building relationships with organizations that:
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Manage or influence paid media budgets on behalf of their own clients
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Advise clients on channel allocation, marketing strategy, or measurement approach
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Work with clients spending meaningfully on media (typically mid-market to enterprise)
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Have clients asking questions about incrementality, attribution, or marketing mix modeling
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Fall into categories like performance/growth marketing firms, ecommerce and DTC-focused agencies, media planning organizations, and analytics or measurement-focused consultancies
You're one of the earliest hires shaping agencies as a distribution channel. The partners you help identify and develop in your first six months will directly shape the agency ecosystem this program is built on. This is a high-visibility seat with a direct line to the Director of Agency Partnerships and real ownership over how the pipeline gets built.
