Business Development Associate

About the role

Pushkin Industries is an award-winning audio network and production company, dedicated to producing good, smart, fun audio in any format. Founded in 2018, Pushkin makes narrative and investigative series as well as conversational shows. They have launched many new podcasts into Apple's Top 10, including Against the Rules, The Happiness Lab, Cautionary Tales, Deep Cover, and Revisionist History, which is hosted by Pushkin co-founder Malcolm Gladwell. Pushkin also produces audiobooks such as Gladwell's The Bomber Mafia and Talking to Strangers, Wild and Precious: A Celebration of Mary Oliver, Miracle and Wonder: Conversations with Paul Simon, and So Many Steves by Steve Martin and Adam Gopnik. They make highly-produced client work as well, for companies like IBM, GSK, and TED. They are dedicated to fostering an environment where everyone can thrive and contribute their best work.

Primary responsibilities

• Support the VP in drafting and negotiating deal terms for basic partnerships, including content licensing, custom content, and talent work-for-hire agreements
• Manage deal correspondence and track active negotiations from initial terms through to countersigned execution
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to ensure alignment on commercial terms before deals go out
• Licensing & Syndication:
  • Support and execute the VP's licensing strategy across distribution, translation, and subscription licenses
  • Source potential narrative content from third parties and manage the full pipeline from initial outreach through deal execution
  • Manage Pushkin's third-party distribution and paywall licensing relationships, including maintaining and growing existing partnerships (e.g., BBC Sounds) and identifying new opportunities
• Partner Management & Operations:
  • Own the full lifecycle of Pushkin's QBR process with key partners — scheduling, data gathering, liaising with senior production, business, and commercial leadership, tracking follow-ups, and preparing initial decks for VP review
  • Maintain the Airtable deals pipeline, ensuring records are accurate and up to date and tracking deal stages, deadlines, and key terms across multiple concurrent workstreams
  • Support the VP in maintaining deal and contract checklists, templates, playbook and fallback language, and workflow guides

Qualifications

• 2–4 years of experience in business development, podcasting, publishing, media, or a related field
• Absolutely assured and comfortable managing relationships with partners and stakeholders
• Extremely organized, with the ability to manage multiple deals and workstreams simultaneously without dropping details
• Clear, professional written and verbal communication
• Comfort working in spreadsheets and databases; Airtable experience a plus
• An operations mindset — you notice when a process is broken and want to fix it
• Genuine curiosity about AI tools and how they can improve BD and operational workflows
• Passionate consumer of podcasts and/or audiobooks

Benefits

Competitive Compensation: $60,000–$75,000, plus a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, retirement plans, and more

Pushkin Industries is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, familial status, or other legally protected characteristics.