Brand Partnerships Manager

About Sandboxx

Sandboxx exists to help service members and their families stay connected during military life. We build tools and media for moments that can feel isolating, emotional, and life changing, and we do it with care for the people on both sides of that connection.

Each year, Sandboxx reaches millions of service members, veterans, and military families through letters, newsletters, community programs, and digital media products. Brands partner with Sandboxx to show up in moments that matter, with credibility, relevance, and respect.

About the Role

The Brand Partnerships Manager plays a critical role in how Sandboxx shows up in the world and how brands are invited into it.

This role exists to build thoughtful, long term partnerships that respect the trust our audience has placed in us while helping brands connect with millions of military families in moments that genuinely matter. It is not about selling ad space. It is about understanding a brand’s goals, understanding our audience, and bringing the two together in a way that feels aligned, credible, and valuable.

You will own relationships from first conversation through renewal, acting as a strategic advisor to partners and the internal steward of their success. You will shape how partnerships are packaged, sold, executed, and measured, with clear ownership of revenue and outcomes.

This role requires judgment, empathy, and accountability. You will be expected to navigate complex deals, collaborate across teams, and make decisions that balance growth with mission. When done well, this role directly influences how Sandboxx scales without losing what makes it trusted.

Our community trusts Sandboxx. That trust has been earned over years, and it is not something we are willing to trade for short term revenue. This role exists for someone who understands that responsibility and will not compromise it.

This role is NOT:

• High volume, transactional ad sales

• Partnerships that feel intrusive, irrelevant, or exploitative to our audience

• Selling inventory at the expense of trust

• One off deals with no accountability or follow through

• Prioritizing revenue over responsibility

This role is for someone who understands that when you serve a trusted community at scale, how you grow matters as much as how fast you grow.

While we offer the flexibility to hire remote talent for the right fit, we have a strong preference for in-person collaboration at our Middleburg, VA headquarters and offer an enhanced compensation package for candidates willing to be onsite.

Why We’re Hiring For This Role Now

Sandboxx’s reach, media footprint, and brand demand have grown significantly. As more brands seek to partner with us, we need a dedicated owner to scale partnerships intentionally and responsibly. This role exists to help build brand partnerships into a durable, repeatable revenue channel without compromising the integrity of our platforms or the experience of our audience.

What You’ll Do

• Own brand partnership revenue targets, pipeline health, and forecasting

• Source, pitch, close, and renew brand and sponsorship partnerships

• Lead discovery driven conversations to deeply understand partner goals and constraints

• Translate brand objectives into custom, integrated Sandboxx programs across news, letters, newsletters, digital, and community

• Build clear, compelling presentations and partnership proposals

• Structure deals, pricing, and scopes that reflect Sandboxx’s value and standards

• Negotiate contracts and manage approvals

• Serve as the internal owner coordinating execution across marketing, product, community, operations, and finance

• Ensure campaigns launch on time and meet partner and audience expectations

• Develop performance reporting and synthesize results into clear insights and recommendations

• Present outcomes, learnings, and next steps to partner stakeholders

• Identify renewal, expansion, and multi campaign opportunities

• Represent Sandboxx externally with credibility, care, and professionalism

What We’re Looking For

• Proven experience selling brand partnerships, sponsorships, or media solutions at an enterprise level

• Clear ownership of revenue goals and sales pipeline

• Strong consultative selling and discovery skills

• Comfort structuring and negotiating complex, custom deals

• Excellent presentation and storytelling ability

• Experience working with long sales cycles and senior decision makers

• Strong written and verbal communication

• Highly organized, accountable, and self directed

• Brings an existing network of brand or sponsorship relationships and is comfortable activating those relationships responsibly within Sandboxx’s mission and standards

• Demonstrated ability to source and close deals independently, not just manage inbound or inherited opportunities

What Success Looks Like

First 30 Days: Context, Trust, and Judgment

Success in the first month is not measured by deals closed. It is measured by understanding and discernment.

• Develop a deep understanding of Sandboxx’s mission, audience, and the trust we’ve earned with military families

• Learn the full Sandboxx partnership ecosystem, including products, inventory, guardrails, pricing philosophy, and historical performance

• Review past and current partnerships to understand what worked, what didn’t, and why

• Build strong working relationships across marketing, product, community, operations, and finance

• Demonstrate sound judgment around audience alignment and partnership fit

• Ask thoughtful questions and show you understand the responsibility that comes with our reach

By 60 Days: Ownership and Momentum

At this stage, success looks like taking real ownership and beginning to drive momentum responsibly.

• Independently lead discovery conversations with prospective partners

• Clearly articulate Sandboxx’s value in a way that resonates with different types of brands

• Own active opportunities in the pipeline and move them forward with discipline

• Deliver high quality proposals and presentations that reflect both partner goals and Sandboxx standards

• Contribute accurate, thoughtful revenue forecasts

• Show confidence saying no or pushing back when a partnership does not align with our audience or mission

• Be viewed internally as someone who can be trusted with partner conversations

By 90 Days: Execution and Credibility

By this point, success is demonstrated through follow through and results.

• Fully own a book of business and active pipeline

• Close initial partnership deals that meet both revenue goals and audience standards

• Successfully launch at least one integrated brand partnership

• Coordinate execution across internal teams without friction or dropped balls

• Deliver clear, credible performance reporting that partners can understand and act on

• Identify early renewal, expansion, or optimization opportunities

• Build trust internally as the accountable owner of partner success

By 6 Months: Consistency and Influence

At six months, success looks like consistency, maturity, and influence.

• Close at least one meaningful brand partnership that you sourced independently, from outreach through signed agreement

• Consistently drive partnership revenue against targets

• Manage multiple partner relationships from pitch through renewal with confidence

• Improve deal quality, pricing discipline, and sales efficiency

• Be seen by partners as a strategic advisor, not just a vendor

• Anticipate partner needs and proactively propose new ideas or programs

• Influence how Sandboxx packages, prices, and positions partnership offerings

• Surface clear insights about brand demand, objections, and market trends

By 12 Months: Scale and Leadership

At one year, success is defined by impact beyond individual deals.

• Manage and grow a meaningful portfolio of long term brand partners

• Drive renewals, expansions, and multi campaign agreements

• Help establish brand partnerships as a predictable, scalable revenue stream

• Contribute to partnership strategy, packaging, and go to market planning

• Raise the bar for how Sandboxx sells, executes, and reports partnerships

• Serve as a model for how to grow revenue without compromising trust

What You’re Like

You are someone who takes responsibility seriously and understands that trust is hard won and easily lost. You don’t chase every deal. You think carefully about fit, impact, and long term value before you sell.

You are comfortable owning outcomes, not just activity. When a deal moves forward, you stay close to it. When something goes wrong, you don’t deflect. You step in.

You know how to build relationships that last. You listen more than you talk, ask thoughtful questions, and earn credibility through follow through, not flash. You are confident speaking with senior stakeholders, but grounded enough to collaborate well internally.

You are commercially minded without being transactional. You care about revenue and growth, but you understand that how revenue is generated matters, especially when serving a trusted community.

You are self directed and disciplined. You manage your time well, communicate clearly, and don’t need constant oversight to do your best work. You take pride in doing things the right way, even when it would be easier not to.

Ideally, you

• Have built and maintained long term brand or sponsorship relationships, not just closed one off deals

• Have experience working with audiences where trust, credibility, and context matter

• Are comfortable saying no to misaligned opportunities, even when revenue is on the table

• Have sold integrated or custom programs rather than fixed inventory or rate cards

• Have experience bringing your own relationships into a role and growing them responsibly

• Understand how to balance partner goals with audience experience

• Are comfortable navigating ambiguity and building structure where none exists

• Enjoy collaborating cross functionally and taking ownership through execution

• Care deeply about doing work you can stand behind

You Might Not Be a Fit If

• You are looking for a role where execution and follow through are someone else’s responsibility

• You prefer high volume, transactional sales over fewer, deeper partnerships

• You are uncomfortable owning deals from first conversation through execution and reporting

• You rely primarily on inbound leads or inherited accounts

• You are unwilling to say no when a partnership feels misaligned

• You optimize for short term revenue at the expense of long term trust

• You prefer rigid playbooks over thoughtful, consultative selling

• You are not comfortable bringing your own relationships into a role

• You want to sell quickly without being accountable for outcomes

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience selling brand partnerships, sponsorships, or integrated media programs

• Background in media, publishing, or platforms with highly engaged audiences

• Experience working with audiences where trust and credibility are essential

• Proven success selling custom or non standard partnership programs

• Experience managing long sales cycles with senior decision makers

• Strong comfort building and delivering executive level presentations

• Experience with performance reporting and post campaign analysis

• Familiarity with CRM tools such as Salesforce or HubSpot

• Comfort working in ambiguous environments and helping build structure

• Experience scaling a partnerships function or launching new partnership offerings

Bonus Points For

• Experience working with military, veteran, or family focused audiences

• Prior work with mission driven or values based organizations

• Experience selling across multiple channels or formats

• Exposure to live events, sponsorship activations, or moment based campaigns

• Experience building partnerships in a growing or evolving media business

• Comfort helping shape partnership packaging, pricing, or go to market strategy

• Existing relationships with brands that align naturally with Sandboxx’s audience

Compensation, Benefits & Perks

• Equity incentive plan
• 401k with matching and sharing
• Top-tier health insurance and family benefits
• Flexible paid vacation
• Paid parental leave

We look for people with a good sense of humor and zest for life, especially during interviews.