Manager, Strategic Business Development & Partnerships - Sports Vertical

Location: New York, New York, United States. Based in NYC or willing to relocate; willingness to travel required.

Salary: $110,000–$130,000 USD base salary per year, plus potential bonus, commission, and equity.

Company

hirify.global builds infrastructure for human-led curation and creator-led commerce, connecting brands, creators, athletes, and shoppers.

What you will do

• Source, onboard, and activate collegiate and professional athletes, sports content creators, and industry partners.
• Acquire high-value brand and league partners to grow GMV, brand equity, and market positioning.
• Own flagship sports partnerships from concept development through execution and results delivery.
• Build individual signings into a credible, brand-facing sports vertical within hirify.global’s discovery experience.
• Represent hirify.global with brands, agencies, athletes, and other sports-industry stakeholders.
• Work with Creator, Brand, Marketing, and Strategy & Operations teams to drive activation, revenue, and long-term value.

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in business development, partnerships, or sales in high-growth environments.
• Deep, pre-existing network in sports commerce, apparel, leagues, teams, agencies, brands, athletes, and creators.
• Proven success closing high-value, relationship-driven deals.
• Strong executive presence and ability to build trust and open doors quickly.
• Strong strategic and analytical thinking, including data-driven market and opportunity prioritization.
• Experience with Salesforce or similar CRM and outbound tooling; familiarity with AI tools such as ChatGPT or Claude.

Nice to have

• Experience building or scaling a business development function, including referral or connector-based programs.
• Experience launching a new vertical, category, or market from zero.
• Startup experience.

Culture & Benefits

• Medical and dental coverage at 70%.
• Flexible PTO, birthday PTO, and 14 weeks of parental leave.
• Equity in hirify.global and a 401(k) program with a 3% automated company contribution.
• Wellness, social, technology, and learning and development stipends.
• Wellhub membership and company retreats.
• Brand-new NYC headquarters and the opportunity for employees to monetize their influence through a hirify.global page.