Brand Partnerships Manager, Energy Central

About Smooth

Smooth Media is the talent management company for knowledge creators — the people teaching, explaining, and breaking down the world through smart, insightful content. We serve as a true strategic partner to our creators — an extension of their team that helps them run, grow, and professionalize their business.

About the Role

Reports To: Head of Brand Partnerships

Energy Central is a B2B media platform owned by Smooth that empowers, engages, and educates 120,000 utility and power professionals, through newsletters, events, and digital content. We're building something ambitious in a space that matters, and we're growing our team to match.

Today, we are building out our brand partnerships function and looking for a senior sales leader who can develop and close meaningful advertising and sponsorship relationships with brands targeting this audience, and who brings the strategic and creative thinking to make those partnerships genuinely stand out.

This is a full-cycle sales role. You'll own your book of business, build relationships with marketing leaders at companies active in the energy space, and develop proposals that connect brand goals to Energy Central's engaged professional audience. You'll work closely with the editorial and account teams to make sure campaigns deliver real results.

If you're excited about the future of energy and want to sell in a market that's only getting bigger, this is a strong opportunity to get in early and help shape how it's done.

What You'll Do

• Own and grow a portfolio of B2B brand relationships across the industries and buyer personas we serve, bringing creative thinking to every proposal and strategic perspective to every client conversation.
• Develop thoughtful, tailored media plans that go beyond off-the-shelf packages. Connecting brand goals to Energy Central's engaged professional audience in ways that are genuinely compelling.
• Lead the full sales cycle from outreach through close, with a focus on building long-term partnerships that deliver real results for both sides.
• Partner closely with editorial and account teams to make sure campaigns are executed well and clients come back.
• Stay close to existing brand partners to identify upsell and renewal opportunities as their goals evolve.

What We're Looking For

• 3+ years of experience in B2B media sales, advertising, or brand partnerships, with a track record of building pipeline and consistently hitting revenue targets.
• Someone who brings both the strategic and creative side to partnerships. You're not just selling inventory, you're helping brands think about how to show up in a new market.
• A natural leader who's already been the person others come to for advice, and is ready to make that official by managing a team.
• Someone who's as comfortable in a relationship as they are in a negotiation, you build trust and you know how to close.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills (you'll be pitching to senior marketing and brand leaders regularly, and your proposals should reflect that)
• Genuine curiosity about the energy industry: you don't need to be an expert, but you need to be interested enough to become one.
• Must be NYC-based (in office Mon-Thurs)

What Can We Offer

• Base salary: $75,000, plus commission on closed deals.
• On-target earnings: $150,000–$180,000 in Year 1, $200,000–$250,000 in Year 2, with uncapped upside as your book grows.
• Team performance bonus structure tied to overall Energy Central partnerships revenue.
• Health, dental, and vision insurance.
• Unlimited PTO (mandatory 10 days per year minimum).
• A front-row seat to a growing B2B media business in one of the most important industries of the next decade, with the autonomy to help build it the right way.

Smooth Media is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status.