What Is a Partnership Development Manager and How to Become One

By ZipRecruiter Marketplace Research Team

A partnership development manager initiates new business partnerships and maintains existing relationships to help reach strategic goals for a company or organization. As a partnership development manager, your duties include researching, finding, and recruiting new business relationships and working to identify potential ways your organization and its partners can build solutions together. The career qualifications vary but typically include at least a bachelor’s degree in business or another relevant field and extensive experience in a management position. You should also have excellent interpersonal, sales, and presentation skills.

The qualifications you need to start a career as a partnership development manager can vary somewhat according to employer. Most employers prefer applicants with a bachelor’s degree in business and strong interpersonal communication and relationship-building skills, since your career focuses on interacting with potential business partners. As it is a manager-level position with real impact on important business relationships, you must have previous experience and knowledge of the industry in which you work and the ability to direct and train employees. Additionally, you need decision-making abilities to create policies and processes to guide work.