Business Development & Partnerships Manager

Location: Orlando, FL (Hybrid — In-Office + Events) — Must be based in Orlando. This is non-negotiable.

Compensation: Base + Commission | OTE $140,000+ in Year 1, growing in Year 2

Chatter Buzz Media is hiring a Business Development & Partnerships Manager to be the face of our agency in Orlando. This is not a desk job. This is a boots-on-the-ground, handshake-first, relationship-driven role where your network, energy, and hustle directly determine your income.

You will be our local presence — attending events, joining associations, building referral partnerships, and generating new business across multiple industries. If you’re not comfortable walking into a room full of strangers and leaving with five business cards and two follow-up meetings booked, this isn’t the right fit.

This is an individual contributor role with no direct reports. Your job is to fill the pipeline, build partnerships, and create opportunities. Our CEO and senior team handle complex sales conversations and closing — your job is to open doors and keep them open.

What You’ll Be Doing:

Local Networking & Event Presence

• Be the face of Chatter Buzz at Orlando-area business events, association meetings, industry mixers, and conferences
• Actively participate in the Downtown Orlando Partnership, local chambers of commerce, and industry-specific associations
• Attend 3–4+ networking events or association meetings per month — mornings, lunches, and evenings
• Make 5–10 meaningful contacts per event and log all of them in HubSpot within 24 hours
• Follow up with every event contact within 48 hours with a personalized LinkedIn message, email, or coffee invite
• Identify and attend conferences at the Orange County Convention Center and other Orlando venues relevant to target industries
• Set up and manage booth presence at conferences and trade shows when the opportunity fits

Strategic Partnerships

• Build referral and co-marketing partnerships with non-competing businesses that serve similar clients — web development agencies, PR firms, branding agencies, IT consultants, and SaaS platforms
• Develop relationships with professional services firms that advise growing companies — accounting firms, business attorneys, HR consultants, financial advisors, and M&A advisors
• Create exclusive or preferred referral arrangements that generate a steady flow of warm introductions
• Track all partnership activity and referral pipeline in HubSpot
• You should have experience building partnerships or referral programs at a previous company — this is not something you’ll be figuring out for the first time

Outbound Prospecting & Pipeline Generation

• Execute a minimum of 50 outbound touches per day, including calls, personalized emails, LinkedIn outreach, event follow-ups, and other direct engagement
• Use Apollo for prospecting and list building, and HubSpot for activity tracking, pipeline management, and meeting scheduling
• Use Hublead to sync all LinkedIn activity directly into HubSpot — this integration is mandatory
• Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to find and engage active prospects
• Check HubSpot daily for warm website leads and follow up within 24 hours
• Post 2–3 LinkedIn posts per week (3–4 is most effective) focused on business growth, marketing insights, and Orlando business community content
• Leverage AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT) to accelerate prospect research, personalize outreach at scale, and draft LinkedIn content

Marketing Team Collaboration

• Work side by side with the in-house marketing team to align outbound efforts with active marketing campaigns
• Provide feedback from the field — what prospects care about, what resonates, what objections come up — so marketing can create better content and campaigns
• Leverage marketing-generated content, case studies, and collateral in your outreach and event conversations
• Help inform campaign targeting for industries and verticals you’re actively pursuing

Conference, Speaking & Media Presence

• Represent Chatter Buzz at industry conferences, trade shows, and business expos — including managing booth setup and staffing
• Be comfortable as a public-facing representative: speaking on panels, guesting on podcasts, and presenting at association meetings
• You should have done this before — we need someone who is not nervous or unfamiliar with being on a stage, behind a microphone, or in front of a camera
• Identify speaking, sponsorship, and media opportunities that increase Chatter Buzz’s visibility in the Orlando market and beyond

Sales Process

• Generate qualified opportunities and hand them off to the CEO, Agency Director, or senior salesperson for proposal development and closing
• Over time, as you learn the agency’s three service packages, you will begin closing smaller deals independently
• Maintain clean pipeline records in HubSpot — every deal in the right stage, every note logged, every follow-up scheduled
• Submit a weekly activity recap every Friday covering outbound activity, events attended, partnerships progressed, pipeline status, and priorities for next week

Qualifications & Experience

• 3–5+ years of experience in business development, partnerships, or sales in a professional services or agency environment
• Proven experience building referral partnerships or channel partnerships at a previous company — not just networking, but structured partnership arrangements that produced measurable results
• Must be based in Orlando and deeply embedded in the local business community — you already know the associations, the events, and the key players. You’ve already been networking in Orlando and have existing relationships here. This is non-negotiable
• Genuinely social, outgoing, and energized by meeting new people — this is who you are, not a skill you’re developing. You are the person who walks into a room and starts conversations, not the person who waits to be approached
• Comfortable with daily activity tracking in HubSpot, weekly reporting, and being measured on pipeline and results
• Experience attending and working conferences, trade shows, or business expos — including booth management, speaking, or paneling
• Comfortable being on podcasts, on panels, or presenting to groups — you’ve done this and you enjoy it
• Has a basic understanding of performance marketing (enough to confidently explain what a performance marketing agency does and why it matters)
• Flexible schedule and full availability for evening events, early morning meetings, travel to conferences, and being where the opportunities are
• Proficient with HubSpot CRM, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Apollo, and Hublead (or similar prospecting tools)
• Strong LinkedIn presence with active content posting and engagement

Compensation & Benefits

• Base salary plus commission — OTE $140,000+ in Year 1, with higher earning potential in Year 2 as partnerships and pipeline compound
• Hybrid work schedule (in-office at Orlando headquarters + out in the field at events and meetings)
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Online therapist access via Talkspace
• 401K with company matching
• Generous paid time off, holidays, and sick days
• Monthly wellness contribution for gym, yoga, or hobbies
• Access to digital marketing training and certifications
• Quarterly team building activities and team get-togethers