Partnerships Associate

We are hiring a Partnerships Associate to own the full partner lifecycle at MDS, from finding and closing new partners to keeping everything running cleanly behind them. This is a single role that covers both sides of partnerships: the sales motion that brings partners in, and the operational discipline that makes sure they stay in, get their deliverables, and keep seeing value.

On the sales side, you will proactively identify and pitch potential partners, brands, SaaS tools, service providers, and experts that align with MDS member needs, and move them from first contact to signed agreement across affiliates, event sponsorships, and community offerings. On the operations side, you will own partner onboarding, contract management, the partner database, the weekly newsletter, MDSONLY offers, deliverable tracking, affiliate commissions, and community intelligence reporting.

These two sides of the role are not separate workstreams, they are two phases of the same relationship. You close a partner, and then you make sure they work. The person we are hiring is equally comfortable sending a cold outreach email and cleaning up a database, and takes pride in a partner ecosystem where nothing slips and everything is current.

Partner Outreach & Sales

• Proactively identify and qualify potential partners (brands, SaaS tools, service providers, and experts) that align with MDS member needs, building your own outreach pipeline across affiliates, event sponsorships, and community offerings.
• Own partner outreach from first contact to signed agreement writing tailored pitches, following up consistently, and moving conversations forward without waiting for direction on who to contact next.
• Support and lead sales conversations around sponsorships, affiliate programs, promotional packages, and event partnerships, presenting the MDS opportunity confidently and handling questions on the spot.
• Assist with selling event-related partnership packages including brand tables, sponsorships, discounted tickets, and experiential activations, coordinating closely with the Events team on availability and logistics.

Partner Onboarding & Contract Management

• Own the full contract lifecycle via Sign Now sending agreements, following up on outstanding signatures, filing completed contracts, and auditing the database to ensure everything is current and accurate.
• Execute complete partner onboarding for every new partner you bring in, collecting assets, aligning on deliverables and timelines, updating the database, adding them to the app and newsletter, setting up offers, before anyone has to ask.
• Maintain a clean and current contracts database in Airtable so the team always has a reliable view of which agreements are signed, pending, or expiring.

Affiliate & Promotion Management

• Manage affiliate partnerships end to end, setting up tracking links and commission structures, coordinating promotions, communicating with affiliates regularly, and reporting on performance so the team knows what each relationship is producing.
• Coordinate community and external collaboration initiatives including outreach to external events and communities, partnership setup, promotion coordination, and member communication.
• Set up and track referral links and codes managing shareable content and reporting on partner promotion performance across newsletters, client lists, and social pages.

Deliverable Execution & Event Support

• Track and execute all partner deliverables across events, campaigns, and annual partnerships, coordinating with internal teams on graphics, app featuring, email mentions, social posts, and on-site execution until every commitment is confirmed complete.
• Foster relationships between partners and chapter leads ensuring sponsors are receiving the visibility and value they were promised, and proactively identifying ways to increase traction when they are not.
• Represent MDS in person at events a minimum of three times per year, supporting partner execution, building relationships on the ground, and identifying new opportunities.

Partner Database & App Management

• Maintain and update the MDS partner database where members leave reviews, track interactions, access partner content, and surface relevant community conversations. Accuracy is your responsibility.
• Manage the MDS Provider Page on the app ensuring search functions, offers, partner live status, and categories are always current and correct. Member-facing information should never be stale.
• Audit and maintain MDSONLY Offers and Partner Perks ensuring every deal and free offer represents genuine best-in-class value for members, flagging anything outdated or below standard and coordinating replacements proactively.

Partner Communications & Newsletter

• Send the weekly Partners Newsletter every Tuesday including updated event information, partner news, and relevant community highlights, on time, every week, without exception.
• Maintain the Partners Events Calendar ensuring all partners are represented and all upcoming events are reflected so partners can plan their own promotion accordingly.
• Handle all partner-facing communications with a professional, clear, and consistent tone that reflects the quality of the MDS brand.

Community Intelligence & KPI Tracking

• Produce AI-powered Community Pulse summaries synthesizing what’s being discussed about partners across WhatsApp channels, Facebook groups, and chapters, surfacing relevant insights to the team on a regular cadence.
• Update the partner allocations sheet and notify the finance team as dollars are allocated to events, maintaining accuracy so financial reporting is always current.
• Support monthly KPI tracking ensuring partner performance data is up to date and the team has a reliable view of partner contribution and pipeline health.

Process & Documentation

• Contribute to and improve partnership SOPs including outreach templates, onboarding checklists, affiliate setup workflows, and event collaboration procedures, making the process more scalable and consistent over time.
• Flag process gaps and inefficiencies proactively with a proposed solution, not just a flag.

Qualifications

Required

• 2+ years of experience in partnerships, sales, business development, affiliate marketing, or a coordination-heavy operations role where you were managing multiple concurrent workstreams and partner relationships independently.
• Demonstrated ability to own both sides of a relationship, bringing partners in through outreach and sales, and keeping them running through organized follow-through and deliverable execution.
• Strong written communication skills with the ability to write partner outreach, onboarding communications, newsletters, and follow-ups that are clear, professional, and on-brand.
• Experience with CRM and project management tools (Airtable, ClickUp, HubSpot, Salesforce, Sign Now, or similar) for tracking outreach, contracts, deliverables, and partner status. You keep systems clean and use them as decision-making tools.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented with the ability to manage contracts, deliverables, databases, affiliate programs, and partner communications simultaneously without things slipping.
• Proactive and self-directed in a remote-first environment. You identify what needs to happen next and make it happen without waiting to be asked.
• Comfort using AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, or equivalent) to synthesize community content, draft communications, and surface insights.
• Willing and able to travel at least three times per year for events, partner meetings, or industry conferences.

Preferred

• Experience in the e-commerce, Amazon seller, SaaS, or DTC ecosystem so you understand the MDS audience and can speak credibly to potential partners about what MDS members care about.
• Background in affiliate marketing including tracking link setup, commission configuration, and performance reporting.
• Experience with event sponsorship coordination where deliverables were tied to live events with hard deadlines.
• Experience in a community, membership, or subscription-based organization where partner or sponsor relationships required consistent coordination and delivery.
• Experience building or improving SOPs and operational workflows not just following them.

What We Are Not Looking For

We are not looking for someone who is strong on one side of this role but weak on the other. If you can sell but your follow-through on execution is poor, partners will feel it. If you are operationally excellent but uncomfortable with outreach and sales conversations, the pipeline will stall. This role requires both.

We are not looking for someone who needs daily task lists to function. You will be managing multiple partners, deals, deliverables, and communications simultaneously. The expectation is that you know what needs attention, you prioritize it, and you execute without being prompted.

We are not looking for someone who treats database maintenance as overhead. The accuracy of the partner database, contracts log, and deliverable tracker directly affects how the entire Partnerships function operates. If keeping systems current feels like a distraction from the ‘real work,’ this role will be frustrating.

Salary: $2,000–$3,000 USD/month depending on experience and the balance of sales and operational depth you bring. In addition to base compensation, the Partnerships team participates in a tiered bonus plan tied to annual revenue goals.

Bonus Opportunities

• Annual bonus pool participation, contingent on year-over-year growth in Membership Income (MI) and maintaining a 75% average in defined KPIs. Bonus accrues yearly: 50% paid at year-end, remainder paid mid-year following.
• Team member referral bonus: $750 to $2,500 for successful hires referred, contingent on both parties remaining employed at least six months.
• Spot bonuses awarded at the executive team’s discretion for exceptional performance, a strong partnership close, or a high-impact operational contribution.

Benefits

• Global Work Flexibility: Our ‘office’ is wherever you are—work from home, a café, or while traveling, as long as you’re aligned with Eastern Time for core hours.
• Outcome-Driven Work Culture: We prioritize results over rigid schedules. Manage your day your way, focusing on outcomes, not hours.
• Autonomous Time Management: We trust you to balance work and personal life. We do not track time off; we take company-wide breaks at major holidays and have a monthly Friday off.
• Elite Networking Opportunities: Engage with over 700 leading e-commerce entrepreneurs and a broad network of partners. These interactions are genuine relationship-building experiences that go well beyond networking.
• Exclusive Event Access: Represent MDS at exclusive, high-profile events as a named partnerships presence—gateways to new relationships and a global professional network.
• Dynamic Community of Innovators: Work inside a world-class e-commerce community and build relationships with a driven, talented team.
• Continuous Professional Development: Grow your skills in partnerships sales, affiliate management, operational systems, and community intelligence within a fast-evolving organization.
• Impactful Work: Your work shapes how MDS’s partner ecosystem grows and how partners experience the community—from the first outreach email to the post-event wrap-up.

Apps and Tech: You love working with tools to support your abilities and aren’t afraid to dig into a new CRM, automation platform, or spreadsheet—you harness and grow with them.