Associate Director, Partnerships

Job Description

The Associate Director, Partnerships will report into the Director, Partnerships
. You will be part of the team overseeing the Video, Audio, & Publishing vertical both internally and externally. You will support in all aspects of partnership operations and management across their adjacent media channels including - supporting the creation of partnership strategy for their specialism, ensuring excellence in execution of assigned partnerships, including negotiating and delivering partnership agreements, managing communications with assigned partners and ensuring partnerships delivery against primary goals.

The Associate Director will also create and distribute internal resources and communications with the support of the Director and VP, Partnerships. The Associate Director will work with the team to ensure their primary responsibilities contribute to a cohesive Partnership strategy for dentsu. As a role that touches several capabilities within dentsu, from technology to media investment and activation, trading and planning/strategy, an ability to work with multiple stakeholders to create 'win wins' for all.

You will be expected to provide ongoing feedback to senior management on status and priority as well as to future‑proof dentsu's business by building innovative partnerships with key vendors. Success will be measured upon value creation and extraction rates from the partnerships formed, as well as based on growth in the practice stemming from innovation brought on by our partners.

You will align across several departments within dentsu – including technology, media, investment, innovation, activation, trading and planning therefore an ability to work with multiple partners to create solutions.

• Own and grow a portfolio of specialized partners across Video, Audio, & Publishing, ensuring consistent partner engagement and proactive sharing of relevant updates with dentsu stakeholders and leadership.
• Support senior leadership (VP/Director) in executing the Video/Audio/Publishing market strategy, translating priorities into clear partner plans, timelines, and internal actions.
• Serve as a subject‑matter expert and representative for Video, Audio, & Publishing partnerships, participating in internal forums and external partner/industry conversations to advance dentsu’s POV and objectives.
• Stay ahead of industry trends, technologies, and disruptors to identify new partnership opportunities, flag operational readiness needs, and help future‑proof the Video/Audio/Publishing practice.
• Manage day‑to‑day commercial terms, partner communications, and deal delivery, supporting negotiation through execution and ensuring delivery of all negotiated deal points with excellence and consistency.
• Enable Investment & Activation / Craft teams by translating deal terms into clear guidance, educating teams on updates, and driving testing/innovation/value opportunities tied to partners.
• Orchestrate cross‑functional alignment across Investment, Activation, Planning/Strategy, Amplifi Principal & Proprietary (trading and solutions), and dentsu.
  
  Audiences, so partnership approaches meet client needs and align to dentsu standards.
• Support creation and execution of dentsu Enterprise Partnerships and related client/partner Joint Business Plan (JBP) agreements, ensuring negotiated value is actively tracked, activated, and fully capitalized.
• Operate as an integrator and problem‑solver, managing dependencies, removing blockers, escalating risks appropriately, and maintaining on‑time engagement across multiple variables and work streams.
• Drive clear internal communications and documentation (resources, updates, repositories) to capture nuanced deal details, keep deal progression on track, and enable easy distribution across the organization.
• Partner closely with other Marketplace & Partnerships verticals (e.g., Platforms/Programmatic/Ad‑Tech, Social, Fandom, Sports, Retail, Ecosystems, Performance, data) to ensure coordinated partner motions and avoid duplication.
• Support client business and new business efforts by building custom partnership plans/landscape POVs and contributing Video/Audio/Publishing…