6 templates for small companies and nonprofits hiring without a recruiting team: general partnerships, strategic, technology and integration, affiliate and influencer, corporate sponsorship, and coordinator. Download as DOCX.
Partnership manager is one of the few job titles that tells you almost nothing about the job. I have watched the same two words describe a person negotiating a multi-year agreement with a platform company, a person managing two hundred affiliate links, a person shepherding an API integration through two engineering teams, and a person asking a regional bank to sponsor a nonprofit gala. Those are four hires, four candidate pools, and four pay bands.
The compensation data makes the spread obvious. There is no Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation called partnership manager, so nothing official exists to anchor the title. The nearest classifications in the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025) run from a $69,990 median for sales representatives of services up to $166,790 for marketing managers. A partnership role can honestly sit anywhere in that range depending on what you ask it to do.
At FirstHR we write hiring templates for companies that do this without a recruiting team. The six below cover general partnerships, strategic partnerships, technology and integration, affiliate and influencer, nonprofit corporate partnerships, and a coordinator role, each with the classification and compensation notes the generic versions skip.
TL;DR
A partnership manager job description has to name the partnership type in its first paragraph: strategic, technology, affiliate, or corporate sponsorship. Each carries a different candidate pool, pay band, and overtime answer. No BLS occupation matches the title, so benchmark against sales managers, marketing managers, and fundraisers. Six templates below, downloadable as DOCX.
One Title, Several Different Jobs
The first decision is not what to write, it is which job you are hiring for. Partnership roles split into four motions that share a vocabulary and almost nothing else: strategic alliances, technology integrations, performance and affiliate programs, and nonprofit corporate partnerships.
A candidate who has spent five years managing fifteen enterprise alliance relationships has almost no transferable muscle for a two-hundred-creator affiliate program, and the reverse is equally true. Both will apply to a posting that says build and manage strategic partnerships, because both believe that sentence describes their work.
Strategic and alliance partnerships
Few partners, long cycles
A handful of named relationships with platform or enterprise companies, negotiated at executive level and measured over years. The hire needs commercial judgment and patience more than volume, and the compensation sits closest to a sales management band.
Technology and integration partnerships
Product-adjacent
Owning which integrations get built, shepherding the technical work, and driving adoption afterward. Technical fluency matters more than closing skill, and the number this person carries is usually attach rate rather than bookings.
Affiliate, creator, and referral partnerships
Many partners, fast cycles
A performance program measured in cost per acquisition. High partner counts, small individual deals, and a real compliance obligation around endorsement disclosure. Frequently a marketing role wearing a partnerships title.
Corporate and community partnerships
Nonprofit side
Sponsorship, corporate giving, and cause partnerships at a nonprofit. Closest in practice to fundraising, with proposal writing, benefit fulfillment, and a tax question attached to every agreement. Benchmark it against fundraisers, not sellers.
Name the Motion in the First Paragraph
Put four facts in the opening lines of the posting: which partnership type this is, whether the program exists or starts at zero, how many partners you have today, and what the role is measured on in year one. Those four sentences do more filtering than the entire qualifications list, and they cost you nothing. Candidates who are wrong for the job stop reading, and candidates who are right recognize a company that has actually thought about the role.
A partnership manager job description does four jobs: it defines a role that the title alone does not, it filters the wrong candidate pools out, it protects you on classification and pay, and it closes the person you want. Most postings only attempt the first, and vaguely.
The parts that define the job
Which partnership type this is, named in the first line
Whether the program exists or starts at zero
Partner count today and target partner count
Who the role reports to and who it works through
The parts that filter applicants
Years of partnership experience, and in what motion
Whether the person negotiates terms or only manages them
Technical depth required, stated concretely
Travel expectation as a real percentage
The parts that protect you
FLSA classification stated on the posting
Variable pay terms in writing, not in conversation
Essential functions written plainly
Equal opportunity statement
The parts that close the candidate
Base and on-target earnings together, not base alone
The number this role carries in year one
What is already built versus what they build
A named person and a real decision timeline
The omission that costs small companies most is the state of the program. Building a partner program from zero and inheriting one with sixty active partners are opposite jobs, and the candidates who are excellent at each are rarely the same person. Say which one it is. Our general guide to writing a job description covers the underlying structure, and the wider hiring templates library has the adjacent roles.
6 Partnership Manager Job Description Templates to Download
Download all six as one file or copy them individually. Each follows the same structure: company overview, position summary, key responsibilities, required qualifications, a classification and compensation note, an equal opportunity statement, and how to apply. The bracketed fields are the only parts you need to change.
Download All 6 Partnership Manager Job Description Templates
General, strategic, technology and integration, affiliate and influencer, nonprofit corporate partnerships, and coordinator. All in one download.
Partnership Manager
The general version
Full lifecycle ownership: sourcing, negotiating, launching, and running partners against a number. Use it when you are making the first partnerships hire.
Strategic Partnerships Manager
Named accounts, executive level
For a small portfolio of consequential relationships, with joint planning, co-sell motions, and multi-year agreements written into the responsibilities.
Technology and Integration
Product-adjacent
For an integration ecosystem: prioritization, launch coordination with partner engineering teams, marketplace listings, and post-launch adoption.
Affiliate and Influencer
Performance program
For creator and publisher programs, with commission terms, attribution, fraud watch, and the endorsement disclosure obligation stated in the posting.
Corporate Partnerships (Nonprofit)
Sponsorship and giving
For a development team: prospect research, proposals, benefit fulfillment, and the classification and tax notes that nonprofit sponsorship carries.
Partnerships Coordinator
Entry level, hourly
For the operational load underneath a partner program, written as non-exempt on purpose so the classification is right from the first paycheck.
Template 1: Partnership Manager
The general version, with full lifecycle ownership from sourcing through quarterly business reviews. Use it when you are making the first partnerships hire and the motion is still forming.
Partnership Manager Job Description
PARTNERSHIP MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Founder / Head of Revenue / VP Partnerships]
•Act as the internal advocate for partners with [sales, product, support]
•Track partner-sourced and partner-influenced revenue in [CRM name]
•Run quarterly business reviews with the top [number] partners
•Retire or restructure partnerships that are not producing
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years in partnerships, business development, or sales
•A record of taking a partnership from first conversation to first revenue
•Comfort negotiating commercial terms with [legal review / no legal team]
•Working knowledge of [our category / the systems our partners sell]
•Willingness to travel [percentage] for [events / partner visits]
WHAT THE FIRST YEAR LOOKS LIKE
•Days 1 to 30: learn the product, meet every current partner, audit the program
•Days 31 to 90: rewrite the partner profile and sign [number] new agreements
•Days 91 to 180: launch [number] partners to first revenue
•Month 12: [target] in partner-sourced revenue and [number] active partners
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPENSATION NOTE (read before posting)
There is no blanket exemption for revenue roles. A partnership manager who works
from your office or from home, negotiates agreements, and exercises discretion
and independent judgment on matters of significance generally fits the
administrative exemption, which requires a salary of at least $684 per week
($35,568 per year) on top of the duties test. Someone whose primary duty is
making sales away from your place of business may instead fit the outside sales
exemption, which has no salary requirement. A person who fits neither is
non-exempt: track hours, pay overtime past 40 in a week, and include earned
commissions in the regular rate. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ base, $_ variable at target, [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume and one paragraph on a
partnership you built from zero.
Template 2: Strategic Partnerships Manager
For a small portfolio of consequential relationships: joint planning, co-sell motions, executive reviews, and multi-year agreements. Pair it with an account manager posting if the same person is not meant to farm the accounts afterward.
Strategic Partnerships Manager Job Description
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [CEO / Chief Revenue Officer]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Exempt (administrative or executive; see note)
Compensation: $_ base plus $_ variable at target
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] is hiring a Strategic Partnerships Manager to build a small
number of deep relationships with [platform / enterprise / industry] partners
rather than a long list of shallow ones. Expect [number] named accounts, long
cycles, and executive exposure on both sides.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Strategic Partnerships Manager identifies, negotiates, and manages the
company's most consequential partner relationships, aligning them to the product
roadmap and to a revenue plan that both sides sign up for.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Own [number] named strategic relationships end to end
•Build the business case for each partnership and present it internally
•Negotiate commercial, referral, and co-sell terms with [legal counsel]
•Align partner commitments to our product roadmap with [product lead]
•Run joint planning sessions and executive reviews on a [quarterly] cadence
•Coordinate co-sell motions between our sellers and theirs
•Report partnership pipeline and influenced revenue to leadership monthly
•Represent the company at [industry events / partner conferences]
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years in strategic partnerships, alliances, or corporate development
•Experience carrying a partnership number, not only a relationship
•Comfort presenting to executives and to a board or investor audience
•Track record negotiating multi-year agreements with [legal support]
•[Industry] domain knowledge and an existing network in [segment]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPENSATION NOTE
Senior partnership roles are almost always exempt on duties, but confirm the
basis. The administrative exemption requires a salary of at least $684 per week
($35,568 per year) plus a primary duty of office work directly related to
management or general business operations, exercised with discretion and
independent judgment. If the role manages a team of two or more full-time
employees, the executive exemption may fit instead. Document the variable plan
in writing: what triggers payment, how it is calculated, what happens on
termination, and how disputes are resolved. This is general information, not
legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ base, $_ variable at target, [equity], [benefits]
To apply, email __ with your resume and a short note on the
largest partnership you have personally closed.
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Template 3: Technology and Integration Partnerships Manager
For an integration ecosystem: prioritizing what gets built, coordinating with partner engineering teams, managing marketplace listings, and driving adoption once the integration ships.
Technology and Integration Partnerships Manager Job Description
TECHNOLOGY AND INTEGRATION PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Head of Product / Head of Partnerships]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Exempt (administrative) if the duties test is met
Compensation: $_ base plus $_ variable at target
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] is building an integration ecosystem around [product]. We are
hiring a Technology Partnerships Manager to decide which integrations get built,
to work with the partner's technical team through launch, and to make sure the
finished integration actually gets used.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Technology and Integration Partnerships Manager owns the integration
portfolio: prioritizing what to build, shepherding the technical work on both
sides, and driving adoption once the integration is live.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Prioritize integration requests against customer demand and strategic value
•Own the relationship with each partner's [product / developer relations] team
•Coordinate scoping, API access, sandbox accounts, and launch timelines
•Manage listing quality on partner marketplaces and app directories
•Write and maintain integration documentation with [technical writer / support]
•Track attach rate, active installs, and retention impact per integration
•Sunset integrations that no longer earn their maintenance cost
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years in technology partnerships, product, or solutions consulting
•Enough technical fluency to discuss APIs, authentication, and webhooks
•Experience shipping at least one integration from scoping to launch
•Comfort working across product, engineering, and partner marketing
•[Certification or platform experience: choose what matters to you]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPENSATION NOTE
This role is usually exempt under the administrative exemption, which requires a
salary of at least $684 per week ($35,568 per year) and a primary duty of office
work directly related to management or general business operations with
discretion and independent judgment. The computer employee exemption is a poor
fit here, because it is written for systems analysts, programmers, and software
engineers rather than for people who manage relationships about software. Do not
reach for it just because the subject matter is technical. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ base, $_ variable at target, [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume and a link to an
integration you helped ship.
Template 4: Affiliate and Influencer Partnerships Manager
For a performance program run through creators and publishers, with commission terms, attribution, fraud monitoring, and disclosure compliance built into the responsibilities.
Affiliate and Influencer Partnerships Manager Job Description
AFFILIATE AND INFLUENCER PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Head of Marketing / Founder]
Employment type: Full-time or part-time
FLSA status: Depends on duties; see note before you assume exempt
Compensation: $_ [salary / hourly] plus [performance bonus]
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] sells [product] to [customer type], and a growing share of our
revenue comes through creators, publishers, and affiliates. We are hiring a
partnerships manager to run that program: recruiting, terms, tracking, payouts,
and disclosure compliance.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Affiliate and Influencer Partnerships Manager recruits and manages
performance partners, negotiates commission terms, monitors program economics,
and keeps every published post inside advertising disclosure rules.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Recruit affiliates, creators, and publishers that match our audience
•Negotiate commission rates, flat fees, and exclusivity where relevant
•Manage the program in [affiliate platform / network] end to end
•Brief partners on messaging, claims we can support, and claims we cannot
•Review published content for required material-connection disclosure
•Reconcile tracking, approve payouts, and investigate attribution disputes
•Watch for fraud: cookie stuffing, trademark bidding, coupon leakage
•Report cost per acquisition and incrementality to [marketing lead] monthly
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years running an affiliate, creator, or influencer program
•Hands-on experience with [affiliate platform] or a comparable system
•Working knowledge of endorsement disclosure requirements
•Analytical comfort with attribution, cost per acquisition, and payout math
•Excellent written communication with partners who are not employees
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Two separate questions. First, employment: a program manager who exercises
discretion over budget, terms, and partner selection typically fits the
administrative exemption, which requires a salary of at least $684 per week
($35,568 per year). A coordinator who executes someone else's instructions is
non-exempt, meaning hourly with overtime past 40 hours in a week. Second,
advertising law: the Federal Trade Commission's endorsement guides require clear
and conspicuous disclosure of any material connection between your brand and a
person endorsing it, and the advertiser carries responsibility for the program it
runs. Put the disclosure requirement in the partner agreement, brief it, and
monitor it. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ [per year / per hour], [performance bonus], [benefits]
To apply, email __ with your resume and the program you are
For a development team hiring on the corporate side: prospect research, sponsorship proposals, benefit fulfillment, and stewardship. The classification note covers the two things nonprofits get wrong most often.
•Manage sponsor benefit fulfillment for [events / programs / publications]
•Maintain accurate records in [CRM / donor database]
•Work with [finance] on the accounting treatment of each agreement
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years in corporate fundraising, sponsorship sales, or development
•Demonstrated record closing gifts or sponsorships of [dollar size]
•Strong proposal and report writing
•Familiarity with donor database practice and gift documentation
•[CFRE credential preferred / not required: choose one]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Nonprofit status does not exempt you from the Fair Labor Standards Act. Classify
on duties and pay: the administrative exemption requires a salary of at least
$684 per week ($35,568 per year) plus a primary duty involving discretion and
independent judgment on matters of significance. Commission-style pay tied to
funds raised is also a governance question, and professional fundraising ethics
standards discourage percentage-based compensation, so most organizations use
salary plus a modest goal-based bonus. Separately, the tax treatment of a
corporate payment depends on what the sponsor receives in return: acknowledgment
of a name or logo is generally a qualified sponsorship payment under Internal
Revenue Service rules, while advertising can create unrelated business taxable
income. Review each agreement with your accountant. This is general information,
not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Organization Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [benefits summary], [professional development]
To apply, email __ with your resume and a writing sample.
Template 6: Partnerships Coordinator
For the operational load underneath a partner program: onboarding, records, reporting, and scheduling. Written as non-exempt on purpose, because that is what the duties actually support.
[Company Name] runs a partner program with [number] active partners, and the
administrative load has outgrown the manager who owns it. We are hiring a
Partnerships Coordinator to run the operational side so the commercial side can
move faster.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Partnerships Coordinator keeps the partner program running: onboarding new
partners, maintaining records, preparing reports, scheduling reviews, and
answering routine partner questions.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Onboard new partners: paperwork, portal access, welcome sequence
•Maintain the partner record in [CRM] and keep agreement dates current
•Prepare monthly partner performance reports from [systems]
•Schedule and prepare materials for quarterly business reviews
•Answer routine partner questions and route the rest to the right owner
•Track deal registrations and referral submissions to completion
•Maintain the partner resource library and keep collateral current
•Support co-marketing logistics: [webinars, events, list coordination]
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[0 to 2] years in a coordinator, operations, or customer-facing role
•Strong organization and follow-through on work nobody is chasing
•Comfort with [spreadsheets / CRM / reporting tools]
•Clear, prompt written communication with external companies
•[Degree required / preferred / not required: set your own bar]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPENSATION NOTE
Write this one as non-exempt and mean it. A coordinator whose primary duty is
carrying out established procedures rather than exercising discretion and
independent judgment on matters of significance does not meet the administrative
exemption, regardless of the title on the offer letter or whether you pay a
salary. Non-exempt means tracking actual hours worked, paying overtime past 40
hours in a workweek, and folding any nondiscretionary bonus into the regular rate
before calculating that overtime. Reclassifying later costs back pay and
liquidated damages, so start correctly. This is general information, not legal
advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour, [overtime eligible], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume and availability.
Classification, Commission, and Overtime
Decide the classification before you post, because there is no blanket exemption for revenue roles. Most partnership managers are exempt through the administrative exemption; coordinators generally are not, and the outside sales exemption is a worse fit than it looks.
The administrative exemption requires a salary of at least $684 per week ($35,568 per year), a primary duty of office work directly related to management or general business operations, and the exercise of discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance. The outside sales exemption drops the salary requirement entirely, but it demands that making sales is the primary duty and that the employee is customarily and regularly away from the employer's places of business, and a home office counts as one of those places.
The administrative exemption is the usual home
Most partnership roles at a small company sit under the administrative exemption. It has three parts and you need all three: a salary of at least $684 per week, which is $35,568 a year, paid on a salary basis; a primary duty of office or non-manual work directly related to management or general business operations; and the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance. A partnership manager who decides which partners to pursue, negotiates the terms, and commits company resources clears the duties test comfortably. The thing to watch is the salary floor, because a first partnerships hire at a startup is sometimes offered a low base with a large variable component, and variable pay does not count toward the salary basis requirement. This is general information, not legal advice.
The outside sales exemption is narrower than it sounds
The outside sales exemption has no salary requirement at all, which makes it attractive when the base is thin. It is also the harder one to earn. The employee’s primary duty must be making sales or obtaining orders and contracts, and the employee must be customarily and regularly engaged away from the employer’s place of business. Working from a home office does not count as away, because a home office is treated as one of the employer’s places of business. A partnership manager who runs relationships over video calls from a desk is not an outside salesperson, whatever the travel budget says. If most of the job happens on a screen, use the administrative exemption and meet the salary floor. This is general information, not legal advice.
Commission changes the overtime math for non-exempt roles
If a partnerships or coordinator role is non-exempt, commission does not simplify the payroll. Nondiscretionary bonuses and commissions have to be included in the regular rate of pay before overtime is calculated, which means a commission earned across several weeks gets allocated back over the period it was earned and the overtime premium recalculated on the higher rate. A promised bonus is nondiscretionary; a genuine surprise gift is not. That recalculation is one of the most common wage findings against small employers, because the payroll run was done on base pay alone and the commission was added later as a flat line. Decide classification before the first commission check, not after. This is general information, not legal advice.
Partner-facing does not mean contractor
Because partners are themselves independent companies, small employers sometimes reason their way into hiring the partner manager on contractor paper. The test does not work that way. Worker classification turns on control and economic reality: who sets the schedule, who directs the method, who supplies the tools, whether the work is integral to the business, and whether the person has genuine opportunity for profit or loss through their own initiative. Someone who sits in your standups, uses your systems, carries your quota, and represents your company to partners is an employee. The exposure is not only back overtime. It is unpaid employment taxes, benefits, and state penalties, and it usually surfaces when the relationship ends badly. This is general information, not legal advice.
Anyone outside both exemptions needs hours tracked and overtime paid past forty in a week. If you are unsure which side a role falls on, our breakdown of exempt versus non-exempt classification works through each test in order, and the Fair Labor Standards Act guide covers the recordkeeping that follows a non-exempt call.
What to Pay a Partnership Manager
No Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation is titled partnership manager, so there is no official median for the title and any single number presented as one is an estimate. Benchmark against the nearest classifications instead, and choose the classification that matches the motion rather than the seniority.
Nearest BLS Classifications, National Medians
No BLS occupation code matches the title partnership manager. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), the nearest classifications had median annual wages of $148,270 for sales managers, $166,790 for marketing managers, $133,660 for advertising and promotions managers, $78,760 for market research analysts and marketing specialists, $72,550 for fundraisers, and $69,990 for sales representatives of services (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS national estimates).
Market research analysts and marketing specialists
$43,390
$78,760
$155,480
Affiliate program manager, partner marketing
Fundraisers
$46,630
$72,550
$115,820
Nonprofit corporate partnerships manager
Sales representatives of services
$37,980
$69,990
$148,840
Referral partnerships, individual contributor
Read those as reference bands, not targets. Every one of them mixes senior and junior workers across large and small employers, and none isolates partnership work. Where pay transparency laws apply, publish a good-faith range that includes on-target earnings, and give every hire a written plan built on the same terms as your commission agreement template.
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Nonprofit Corporate Partnerships Are a Separate Hire
At a nonprofit, partnership manager usually means corporate fundraising, and the closest labor market comparison is a fundraiser rather than a seller. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a national median of $72,550 for fundraisers (OEWS, May 2025), with a tenth percentile of $46,630 and a ninetieth of $115,820.
Two compliance points belong in the posting rather than in a later conversation. First, tax-exempt status does not exempt an organization from the Fair Labor Standards Act, so classification follows the same duties and salary tests as anywhere else. Second, percentage-based compensation on funds raised sits badly with professional fundraising ethics standards, which is why most organizations use a salary plus a modest goal-based bonus.
Question
Commercial partnerships
Nonprofit corporate partnerships
Nearest BLS benchmark
Sales managers, marketing managers
Fundraisers ($72,550 median)
What closes the deal
Commercial terms and joint revenue
Mission fit, employee engagement, recognition
Typical variable pay
Commission or bonus on partner revenue
Goal-based bonus; percentage pay discouraged
Delivery after signature
Enablement, co-marketing, co-sell
Benefit fulfillment, reporting, stewardship
The tax question
None on the partnership itself
Sponsorship acknowledgment versus advertising
Where the record lives
CRM
Donor database with gift documentation
The tax question in that last column is worth naming for the hiring manager as well as the hire. Under Internal Revenue Service rules on qualified sponsorship payments, an acknowledgment of a sponsor's name or logo is generally not taxable, while messaging that amounts to advertising can create unrelated business taxable income. The partnerships hire negotiates those benefit packages, so they need to know where the line sits.
Screening for Experience That Transfers
Screen for one thing above all others: a partnership the candidate personally took from first conversation to first revenue. Managing an inherited relationship is a real skill, but it is not the skill a small company is buying, and the two look identical on a resume.
The follow-up question separates the field. Ask what the partnership produced twelve months after signature, not what it looked like on signing day. Strong candidates answer with numbers and with the parts that failed. Weak ones describe the announcement.
Screen for
The question that reveals it
What a strong answer sounds like
Zero-to-one ability
Which partnership did you start from nothing?
Names the first three targets and why those three
Commercial judgment
Which partnership did you walk away from?
A specific deal, with the economics that killed it
Negotiation depth
What terms did you personally negotiate?
Revenue share, exclusivity, term, termination rights
Post-launch ownership
What did it produce after twelve months?
Actual numbers, including a program that underperformed
Internal influence
How did you get product or sales to prioritize it?
A concrete escalation, not a description of good rapport
Motion fit
How many partners did you manage at once?
A number consistent with the motion you are hiring for
Replace the Panel with a Working Session
The most useful ninety minutes in a partnerships process is not an interview. Hand the candidate your product, your customer profile, and your current partner list, then have them build a target partner list live and defend the top five. You learn how they think about fit, economics, and sequencing, all of which a rehearsed answer hides. It also shows the candidate what the job actually is, which cuts the early attrition that hurts a small team most.
Hiring a Partnership Manager Without an HR Department
Partnership hiring at a small company fails in three predictable places: the posting is too vague to filter, the compensation plan stays verbal, and nobody owns the week after the offer is signed. Each has a fix that costs an hour.
The posting says partnership manager and the applicants are five different people
This is the single biggest failure in partnership hiring, and it happens before the first interview. A posting that says build and manage strategic partnerships attracts an alliance manager from a large platform company, a creator-program marketer, a channel seller, a fundraiser, and three people who did a bit of everything at a startup. All five read the same sentence and saw their own job in it. The fix is a first paragraph that names the motion, the partner count, the deal size, and whether the program already exists. A candidate who has run a fifteen-partner strategic portfolio should be able to tell in ten seconds that a two-hundred-affiliate program is not their job, and self-select out before you spend an hour on them.
The variable plan is described in the interview and never written down
Partnership compensation is genuinely hard to design because the revenue arrives late, through someone else, and is often shared with a seller who also touched the deal. That difficulty is exactly why so many small companies leave the plan verbal until the offer, and then leave the details verbal after it. Six months later there is an argument about whether an influenced deal counts, whether the commission survives a partner churning, and what happens to pipeline on termination. Write the plan into the offer: what triggers payment, how it is calculated, when it is paid, what happens if the person leaves, and who decides a disputed deal. Then have both sides sign it. The conversation is uncomfortable once and quiet forever.
There is no HR department, and the first partnerships hire arrives on a Monday
At most small companies the person hiring a partnership manager is the founder or the head of revenue, writing the posting between two partner calls. Nobody owns the part after the offer, so the new hire’s first week is a scramble of forms, tool access, and a compensation document that has not been signed. FirstHR was built for that gap. The onboarding wizard runs the same sequence for every hire, built-in e-signature covers the offer letter, the variable pay plan, and the confidentiality agreement, document management stores signed plans against the employee profile, and training modules deliver the product and partner-program orientation before the first partner call. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR. Note that FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a payroll provider.
Once the offer is signed, the work shifts to a repeatable onboarding checklist: signed compensation plan, systems and CRM access, product training, partner program orientation, and introductions to the partners they inherit on day one.
Key Takeaways
Partnership manager is four different jobs sharing one title, so name the motion (strategic, technology, affiliate, or corporate sponsorship) in the first paragraph of the posting.
State whether the program starts at zero or already has partners, and give the current partner count, because those are opposite jobs with different candidate pools.
No BLS occupation matches the title, so benchmark against the nearest classifications: $148,270 for sales managers, $78,760 for marketing specialists, and $72,550 for fundraisers (OEWS, May 2025).
Most partnership managers are exempt under the administrative exemption, which needs a $684 weekly salary plus the duties test; coordinators are non-exempt and commission must enter the regular rate before overtime.
Write the variable pay plan into the offer: what counts as sourced versus influenced, how credit splits with sellers, when it vests, and what happens on termination.
Screen for one partnership the candidate took from first conversation to first revenue, then ask what it produced twelve months later rather than what it looked like at signature.
A partnerships hire arrives with more paperwork than most: an offer letter, a variable compensation plan, a confidentiality agreement, and partner-facing training before the first call. FirstHR runs that sequence the same way every time, with e-signature for the plan and the agreements, document storage against each employee profile, and training modules delivered before day one. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a partnership manager do?
A partnership manager grows revenue through other companies rather than directly with end customers. The work has four phases: finding partners that fit a defined profile, negotiating the commercial agreement, launching the relationship so it produces something, and running it against a number afterward. Beyond that shared spine the job splits sharply by partnership type. A strategic partnerships manager owns a handful of named relationships with long cycles and executive exposure. A technology partnerships manager decides which integrations get built and drives adoption after launch. An affiliate or influencer manager runs a high-volume performance program measured in cost per acquisition. A corporate partnerships manager at a nonprofit writes sponsorship proposals and fulfills sponsor benefits. Name the type in your first paragraph, because the four attract completely different candidates.
What should a partnership manager job description include?
Seven things, in this order. First, the partnership type, named explicitly, because that single word determines who applies. Second, whether the program already exists or starts at zero, and how many partners there are today. Third, the responsibilities split between sourcing, negotiating, launching, and managing. Fourth, the number this role carries in year one and how it is measured. Fifth, the qualifications that genuinely matter, including how much technical depth and how much travel. Sixth, the compensation as base and on-target earnings together, plus the FLSA classification. Seventh, the equal opportunity statement, a named person to apply to, and a real decision timeline. The six templates on this page follow that structure so the only parts you rewrite are the company-specific ones.
How much does a partnership manager make?
There is no Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation titled partnership manager, so no official median exists for the title itself and any figure quoted as one is an estimate. The honest approach is to benchmark against the nearest classifications. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), national median annual wages were $148,270 for sales managers, $166,790 for marketing managers, $133,660 for advertising and promotions managers, $78,760 for market research analysts and marketing specialists, $72,550 for fundraisers, and $69,990 for sales representatives of services. A strategic or alliance role at a software company benchmarks near the sales manager band, an affiliate program manager near the marketing specialist band, and a nonprofit corporate partnerships role near fundraisers. Publish base and on-target earnings together rather than base alone.
Is a partnership manager exempt from overtime?
Usually yes, through the administrative exemption, but it is not automatic. The administrative exemption requires all three of: a salary of at least $684 per week, which is $35,568 per year, paid on a salary basis; a primary duty of office work directly related to management or general business operations; and the exercise of discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance. A partnership manager who selects partners, negotiates terms, and commits company resources meets the duties test easily. The trap is the salary floor, because a startup first hire is sometimes offered a low base plus heavy variable pay, and variable pay does not count toward the salary basis. The outside sales exemption rarely helps here, since it requires working customarily and regularly away from the employer’s places of business, and a home office counts as one of those places. Coordinator roles should be classified non-exempt.
What is the difference between a partnership manager and a business development manager?
The difference is who signs the contract at the end. A business development manager generally pursues new revenue directly, whether that is new customers, new segments, or new markets, and the deal closes with the buyer. A partnership manager pursues revenue that arrives through another company: a referral, a co-sell, an integration that drives adoption, or a reseller agreement. The skills overlap in sourcing and negotiation, and the two titles are used interchangeably at plenty of small companies, which is exactly why the posting has to be specific. If you want someone to close customers, write a business development or sales posting. If you want someone to build relationships with companies that then bring you customers, write a partnerships posting and say which partnership type you mean.
How do I pay a partnership manager on commission?
Carefully, and in writing before the first day. Partnership revenue arrives late, through a third party, and is often touched by a seller who also expects credit, so the plan has to answer questions a direct sales plan never faces. Define what counts as partner-sourced versus partner-influenced, whether both pay and at what rate, how credit is split when a seller closes a partner-sourced deal, when commission vests and when it is paid, what happens if a partner churns, and how a disputed deal is decided. For a program starting from zero, weighting the first two quarters toward partners signed and partners activated is more honest than a revenue target nobody can reach. Put all of it in a signed document rather than an email thread, and remember that if the role is non-exempt, nondiscretionary commission must be folded into the regular rate before overtime is calculated.
How do I hire a partnership manager without an HR department?
Run a short fixed sequence and be specific at every step. Write a posting that names the partnership type, the partner count today, the number for year one, and the pay range including on-target earnings. Screen for a partnership the candidate personally took from first conversation to first revenue, and ask what it produced twelve months later rather than what it looked like at signature. Run one working session instead of a panel: hand over your product and your partner profile, and have them build a target list live. Check references with someone who saw the partnership perform after launch. Then move fast, because strong partnership candidates are usually in two processes at once. Once the offer is signed, run onboarding as a checklist covering the signed comp plan, systems access, product training, and partner introductions. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
