The Sr. Manager, Creator Partnerships - YouTube is a strategic leader responsible for defining and driving Disney’s content strategy across high-impact creator partnership initiatives. This role owns a portfolio of complex, high-value creator relationships and translates enterprise marketing priorities into scalable creator-led storytelling, platform activations, and audience growth strategies. 

Reporting to the VP, Digital Marketing, this position operates within a specialized enterprise creator and YouTube marketing team and directly stewards a significant portion of Disney’s large-scale creator investment portfolio. The Sr. Manager leads the full partnership lifecycle—from strategy development, creator evaluation and deal architecture through execution, optimization, performance management and value realization. 

The ideal candidate is a commercially astute, highly influential leader with deep fluency in the creator economy, sound judgment in managing premium talent and platform relationships, and a proven ability to lead sophisticated digital content programs across a highly matrixed organization. 

*Please note this is a project hire role that is estimated to go for 12 months.

Please apply if interested and learn more from the recruiter!

Responsibilities: 

• Lead creator strategy for a portfolio of high-priority partnerships, translating business, brand and audience objectives into integrated creator programs that drive engagement, relevance and measurable marketing impact. 

• Steward a significant portion of Disney’s large-scale creator investments and complex partnership agreements, aligning leadership, legal, business affairs, finance and cross-functional stakeholders around deal strategy, deliverables, value expectations and investment outcomes. 

• Lead the full lifecycle of critical creator partnerships from strategic brief development, talent evaluation and deal strategy through execution, content review, performance tracking, optimization and post-campaign value assessment. 

• Own senior-level relationships with third-party creator partners, agencies and production partners, building long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships that advance Disney brand priorities and the broader enterprise creator strategy. 

• Architect channel, content and activation strategies that generate incremental value across creator appearances, integrations, disruptive activations, social extensions and Disney-owned distribution opportunities. 

• Drive cross-functional workstreams across marketing, communications, legal, business affairs, finance, operations, production and platform teams to ensure creator programs are strategically aligned, operationally sound, financially disciplined and executed with excellence. 

• Identify, evaluate and advance new creator talent opportunities, conducting rigorous brand-fit, audience, commercial and risk assessments to inform partnership recommendations and investment decisions in partnership with the Creator Content & Partnership team. 

• Set performance expectations, reporting cadences and optimization plans for creator partnerships, leveraging insights to sharpen content strategy, strengthen future deal structures and maximize return on investment. 

• Monitor creator, platform, audience and marketplace trends to identify emerging opportunities, inform long-range planning and keep Disney positioned at the forefront of creator-led digital storytelling. 

Required Qualifications: 

• 7+ years of progressive experience in influencer/creator marketing, talent partnerships, digital marketing, content strategy, platform partnerships or related fields. 

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Public Relations, Business or related field. 

• Proven ability to develop creator strategies, manage high-profile creator or talent relationships and execute integrated, social-first digital content programs at scale. 

• Demonstrated experience managing complex, high-value creator, talent or content partnership agreements, including scope, deliverables, usage, performance expectations and stakeholder alignment. 

• Strong commercial acumen with experience stewarding budgets, managing partnership value, evaluating performance and driving optimizations that improve return on investment. 

• Deep understanding of social and digital platforms, creator ecosystems, YouTube, evolving content formats, audience behaviors and platform-specific engagement strategies. 

• Exceptional organizational skills with a demonstrated ability to lead multiple complex, fast-paced workstreams simultaneously under tight deadlines and with significant stakeholder visibility. 

• Outstanding written, verbal and presentation skills, with the ability to craft compelling narratives, influence cross-functional partners and communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders. 

• Excellent judgment when assessing brand alignment, creator suitability, business opportunity, reputational considerations and partnership risks. 

• A proactive, solutions-oriented leader who brings creative thinking, strong accountability and the confidence to champion strategic recommendations in a highly matrixed environment. 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• An appreciation for the Disney brand and an understanding of its diverse global businesses, franchises, operating segments and consumer ecosystem. 

• Experience working within highly matrixed organizations and managing complex, multi-stakeholder approval processes across brand, legal, finance, operations and executive teams. 

• Deep understanding of the YouTube creator landscape, including long-form storytelling, creator monetization, platform-specific features, audience development and viewer engagement trends. 

• Familiarity with talent contracting, rights and usage negotiations, FTC guidelines, brand safety, content compliance and risk review workflows. 

• Experience using analytics, performance reporting and marketplace insights to shape creator strategy, optimize investments and inform future partnership recommendations. 

• Willingness and ability to work a flexible schedule as needed.