Partnerships Manager

Partnerships Manager

AC Studio, Sydney

Sports Creative Agency & Production Studio

We're a creative agency and production studio working at the intersection of sport, culture and storytelling, making campaigns, brand films and documentary content with elite athletes for brands like Hoka, Salomon and Shokz. Within AC Studio sits UNSCENE, our athlete-led documentary arm, telling some of the most interesting sports stories coming out of Australia right now.

We're looking for someone to open doors, keep them open and evolve the relationship with each client. Warm intros through people we already know, cold outreach to brands and athletes we don't, social and content-led outreach to get in front of the right people. But once the door opens, this isn't a call-and-close job, you build the relationship, shape the pitch, and stay close to the work long after the deal is signed.

The role

We're a small team, and everyone here does more than their title suggests. You'll run outreach, own client relationships from first message to delivered project, contribute to the thinking behind our pitches, and handle the operational work that keeps a growing studio from dropping balls.

Some weeks you're deep in a pitch deck. Some weeks it's cold outreach and warm follow-ups. Some weeks you're in a shoot briefing, working through a scope change, or chasing down an invoice. All of it is yours.

What you'll actually do

• Own partner and client relationships end-to-end, from first outreach through to signed deal, delivered project and repeat business

• Develop and pitch AC Studio's own concepts instead of only responding to inbound briefs, including UNSCENE's athlete-led projects, where you might identify an athlete or story worth telling and then find the brand to back it

• Contribute to the creative thinking behind pitches: sit in on concept development, give real feedback, and help shape what actually gets pitched

• Run outbound across warm and cold channels, including intros through people we already know, cold outreach to a defined target list, and social outreach to build visibility with brand marketers and athlete managers

• Build and manage the outreach pipeline, qualifying prospects and tracking every conversation from first touch to close

• Handle the operational follow-through on every deal: contracts, organising, scheduling and the details that keep projects moving

• Keep the team up to date on pipeline health and where every relationship stands

What we're looking for

• You build relationships for real, and you're patient with the slow work of earning trust rather than rushing to close

• You have a genuine feel for sport and culture, and you actually live in this world

• You're comfortable with ambiguity, because plans here change as the studio grows

• You can hold a room with senior marketers and decision-makers, and you're just as comfortable writing the follow-up email as leading the meeting

• You're comfortable being the one to send the first message to someone who doesn't know us yet — cold outreach doesn't put you off

• You can run your own pipeline without someone checking in on you every other day

• A few years in sales, business development or partnerships helps, but we care more about how you think and operate than your job history

Bonus points if

• You've got a network in brand marketing, sport or athlete management

• You've got an eye for what makes creative work good, even if you've never made it yourself

Why this role

You'll work directly with the founders, pitch ideas you actually believe in, and build relationships with some of the most interesting brands and athletes in Australian sport. Because we're still early, how you build those relationships and how we pitch will shape the way the studio grows. You're not slotting into an existing machine, you're helping build it.

The details

• Location: Sydney, St Leonards (in-office / hybrid)

• Compensation Range: $80,000 - $100,000 + Superannuation

Get in touch

If this sounds like you, get in touch.

• Work Location: Hybrid remote in St Leonards NSW