Partnership Associate

Stateside Brands is a rapidly growing spirits company dedicated to crafting premium-quality beverages– Surfside Iced Teas and Lemonades, Stateside Vodka, and Stateside Vodka Sodas. With a focus on innovation and quality, we take pride in our diverse portfolio of products that reflect our commitment to excellence.

Job Summary

The Partnership Associate will play a vital role in sourcing, negotiating, managing, and maximizing the execution and performance of sponsorships across sports and entertainment. This role will report directly to the Senior Partnership Manager and work alongside other cross-functional team members to support and scale our national and regional partnership portfolio. You’ll play a key role in executing partnership strategies, bringing fresh ideas, and ensuring our sponsorships drive measurable impact at both the brand and distributor levels.

You will support the oversight of our partnership initiatives within the annual marketing plan and budget framework. This includes managing relationships and driving opportunities both inside venues (through sales volume and signage) and outside venues (via social media, point of sale, and retail programming) to build awareness and increase velocity. You’ll collaborate internally with sales, marketing, operations, and finance and externally with distributors, venue partners, concessionaires, and managers to align our business goals and achieve maximum success.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify and evaluate new partnership opportunities in alignment with our strategic objectives.
• Analyze the competitive sets across venues to identify opportunities for our product to exist successfully.
• Analyze competitive landscapes to pinpoint growth opportunities and market gaps.
• Manage day-to-day sponsorship and partnership deliverables, ensuring alignment across all stakeholders.
• Support contract execution to ensure sponsorship deliverables.
• Foster relationships to maximize concessionaire loyalty to the brand.
• Work with our distribution partners to align efforts and manage co-op investment.
• Work cross-functionally with sales, marketing, operations, and finance and externally with distributors and sports entertainment partners.
• Increase consumer engagement through social media, point of sale, and retail programming.
• Address and resolve partnership issues to protect investments.
• Track KPIs and ROI across partnerships, delivering ongoing reports and insights.
• Cultivate strong relationships to ensure long-term partnership success.
• Monitor and report competitive brand activities.
  
  

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, or a related field.
• 2+ years of professional work experience in marketing, with proven success in sports and entertainment.
• 1+ years of experience working with concessionaires.
• Track record of developing and executing successful integrated marketing campaigns.
• Exceptional strategic and analytical skills, with a talent for translating data into actionable insights.
• Detailed understanding of Tied House Laws and the Three-Tier System.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills for effective collaboration with both internal and external partners.
• Creative mindset with a passion for sports and entertainment.
• Commitment to staying current with industry trends and the competitive landscape.
• Ability to travel up to 50%.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in marketing, business, or a related field.
• Experience in the spirits or beverage industry.
• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Established contacts and relationships within professional sports, collegiate sports, and the entertainment industry.
• Participation in collegiate sports is a plus.
  
  

Compensation

• Estimated Base Salary Range: $80,000-100,000 USD.
• Individual compensation packages are based on various factors unique to each candidate, including skill set, experience, and qualifications.
• The salary range refers to base salary only and is not inclusive of the total compensation package.
  
  

Stateside Brands is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, gender, genetic information, national origin, disability, uniform service, veteran status, age, or any other classification protected by Federal, state, or local law. Stateside Brands is also a military-friendly company and values military community talent, including veterans, National Guard and Reserve members, and military spouses.