Sr. Manager Partnerships & Development

Reporting to the Head of Partnerships, this role is primarily focused on partnership development—from opportunity sourcing through business case development and deal execution—while working closely with cross-functional partners to ensure partnerships are positioned for successful implementation and long-term value. This position operates at the intersection of commercial development, strategic analysis, and cross-functional collaboration, serving as a key driver of Inspire’s digital partnership pipeline across advertising, loyalty, payments, and fulfillment.

Responsibilities

• Identify, source, and engage potential strategic partners aligned to digital, loyalty, media, payments, and guest experience priorities across Inspire brands.
• Own the front-end partnership development process, including opportunity discovery, partner outreach, and early-stage evaluation.
• Develop clear, data-driven business cases for partnership opportunities, assessing strategic fit, financial upside, guest impact, operational feasibility, and risk.
• Structure partnership proposals, including value exchange models, commercial terms, success metrics, and high-level operating assumptions.
• Prepare executive-ready materials and recommendations to support prioritization and decision-making.
• Partner closely with Product, Technology, Marketing, Loyalty, Finance, Legal, and Operations teams to validate feasibility and refine partnership models prior to launch.
• Support negotiations by aligning internal stakeholders, clarifying requirements, and ensuring partnerships are structured for scalability and long-term value.
• Collaborate with Finance to support financial modeling, forecasting, and investment trade-off discussions.
• Ensure smooth handoff from deal development to partnership implementation, working in close coordination with the Head of Partnerships and partnership management leads.
• Monitor early performance indicators for newly launched partnerships and support optimization recommendations.
• Track market trends, competitive activity, and emerging partnership models to inform pipeline development and innovation opportunities.
• Contribute to the evolution of standardized partnership development tools, templates, and processes to increase efficiency and decision quality.

Requirements

• Minimum: 4-year degree in business, marketing, economics, or a related field; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• 7+ years of experience in partnership development, business development, strategy, or commercial roles, preferably within B2C, digital, or consumer brands.

Skills

• Demonstrated experience building financially grounded business cases and advancing complex, cross-functional deals.
• Strong understanding of digital ecosystems, including loyalty, media/advertising, payments, or platform partnerships (experience in restaurant, retail, or hospitality is a plus).
• Highly analytical with the ability to translate data into compelling, executive-level narratives.
• Proven ability to influence across a matrixed organization without direct authority.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with comfort presenting to senior leaders and external partners.
• Self-starter who thrives in ambiguity and brings a proactive, ownership-oriented mindset.

Schedule

This position is required onsite 4 days per week, typically Monday–Thursday.

Travel: 0–25%