Strategic and AI Partnerships Manager - Entertainment (Fandango / Rotten Tomatoes)

VERSANT (Nasdaq: VSNT) is an industry-changing media and entertainment business and home to trusted brands that shape culture, inform audiences, and build lasting connections. It operates across four core markets: political news and opinion, business news and personal finance, golf, and sports and genre entertainment. These markets are served through a powerful portfolio of iconic and innovative brands, including CNBC, MS NOW, USA Network, Golf Channel, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and Versant's sports division USA Sports, along with complementary digital assets including Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and GolfPass.

Overview:

The Versant Digital Platform & Ventures Team is seeking a Manager, Strategic Partnerships to support and execute a portfolio of revenue-generating partnerships across Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes, helping drive product innovation, marketing impact, and long-term strategic value with leading technology, consumer, and entertainment brands.

This role will support executing deals, managing day-to-day partnership needs, and internal facing related work across existing relationships, supporting go to market planning and revenue expansion initiatives. It will also partner closely with the Product and Studio & Affiliate Partnerships teams.

The ideal candidate brings strong analytical skills, a collaborative, deeply proactive mindset, ability to juggle competing priorities and a large volume of partnership deals at once and a demonstrated ability to take ownership of partnership initiatives within an established strategic framework.

Key Responsibilities:

• Support revenue retention, renewal readiness, and expansion opportunities across assigned partnerships by building and managing partner launch plans, including timelines, milestones, dependencies, owners, risks, and post-launch recaps, while partnering with senior team members on commercial strategy and negotiation.
• Maintain up-to-date tracking of partnership terms, timelines, and metrics within internal reporting and CRM systems.
• Collaborate closely with Legal, Finance, Marketing, Product, and other stakeholders to support successful executions.
• Serve as an internal and external representative of the partnerships team in day-to-day interactions.
• Monitor partnership performance against contractual obligations, revenue, traffic, engagement prepare regular partner-facing and internal performance recaps with insights and recommended actions.
• Collaborate with internal Marketing teams and external partners to develop and execute co-marketing plans aligned on messaging, promotional strategy, and launch timing to drive awareness, engagement, and revenue performance.
• Co-lead onboarding for new partners alongside the Product team, guiding partners through API capabilities, integration requirements, and implementation best practices.
• Identify onboarding friction points and recommend improvements to documentation, workflows, and partner enablement processes over time.

Required Qualifications:

• 3+ years work experience in partnerships or revenue-generating roles, experience working with marketing and product teams. 3-5 years in Partnerships, Account Management, Program Management, Studio Marketing, Promotions, and/or Business development required. Studio or Affiliate partnerships experience a plus.
• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent, in Advertising, Business, Marketing, Sales, Partnerships, Communications, or a closely related field
• Experience supporting and contributing to revenue-generating partnerships.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite including PowerPoint, Excel, Word, and especially proficient in deck, report, and recap-building.
• Experience working with AI, CRM and other systems (e.g., Salesforce or similar) to manage deal tracking, revenue forecasting, and performance reporting; Experience working in Atlassian and Asana a strong plus.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to anticipate needs, take initiative, meet deadlines, and be resourceful/flexible.
• Candidates must be curious, forward-thinking, proactive, and collaborative, with a strong track record of identifying opportunities to improve revenue performance, processes, and partner experience.
• Candidates must have strong writing and communications skills, including impeccable attention to detail.
• This is a zero-ego team, so the success of the team supports their own success
• Must possess a strong interest in the business side of the entertainment industry.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Fluency with AI tools and emerging technologies, with demonstrated ability to integrate AI into daily workflows to improve efficiency, analysis, communication, and execution.
• Experience working cross-functionally with Product teams and supporting API-based integrations with an ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders.

Additional Requirements:

• This position is eligible for company sponsored benefits, including medical, dental and vision insurance, 401(k), paid leave, tuition reimbursement, and a variety of other discounts and perks
• Hybrid: This position has been designated as hybrid, generally contributing from the office a minimum of three days per week.

Salary Range: $75,000-$85,000 (bonus eligible)

As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with a VERSANT Media employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. VERSANT Media's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

For LA County and City Residents Only: VERSANT Media will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories, or arrest or conviction records, in a manner consistent with relevant legal requirements, including the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, where applicable.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to candidateaccessibility@versantmedia.com.

VERSANT Media is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. We include a good faith pay range for each position to comply with applicable state and local pay transparency laws and to promote equity across our organization. Actual compensation will be based on factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, experience, and location and may include additional forms of compensation and benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, etc.

VERSANT Media is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at VERSANT via-email, the Internet, or in any form and/or method without a valid written Statement of Work in place for this position from VERSANT's Talent Acquisition team will be deemed the sole property of VERSANT. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by VERSANT as a result of the referral or through other means.