Origin Story
Head of Brand Partnerships
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Head of Brand Partnerships
Origin Story
- Location: Glasgow / Remote
- Contract: Full-time, part-time or consultancy arrangement
- Compensation: Competitive base or retainer, with performance-based commission
- Reports to: David McIntosh Jr, Founder and Host
About Origin Story
Origin Story is an interview-led media platform exploring the experiences, decisions, and defining moments that shape remarkable people. Hosted by David McIntosh Jr, the podcast has generated more than six million views, downloads, and streams, with interviews spanning business, politics, entertainment, sport, and culture. Previous guests and contributors include Jimmy Carr, First Minister John Swinney, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, Sir Tom Hunter, the founder of Reebok, the creator of the UFC, Hollywood actors, and internationally recognised entrepreneurs, athletes, and public figures.
Origin Story is growing beyond a traditional podcast into a wider media and live-events brand, producing long-form interviews, short-form social content, live shows, international documentary-style series, and branded storytelling campaigns. We are now looking for a commercially ambitious Head of Brand Partnerships to build the next stage of that growth.
The Role
The Head of Brand Partnerships will lead the commercial development of Origin Story. You will identify, approach, and secure brands that want to connect with our audience through credible storytelling rather than conventional advertising.
This role goes beyond selling podcast sponsorships. You will help develop creative partnerships across video, social media, live events, international productions, branded content, executive storytelling, and special editorial series. You will work directly with the founder to turn upcoming guests, productions, and cultural moments into compelling commercial opportunities.
The right person will be confident opening doors, developing relationships with senior decision-makers, and taking partnerships from an initial idea through to a signed agreement and successful delivery.
Key Responsibilities
Commercial Strategy
- Develop and own the commercial partnership strategy for Origin Story.
- Create clear partnership propositions across the podcast, social channels, live shows, and international productions.
- Identify the sectors, brands, and agencies most aligned with Origin Story’s audience and editorial positioning.
- Build and maintain a structured sales pipeline with clear revenue targets, priorities, and reporting.
- Help establish pricing, packages, licensing arrangements, usage rights, and commercial terms.
Business Development
- Proactively identify and approach prospective brand partners.
- Build relationships with brand directors, marketing leaders, agencies, founders, and senior commercial decision-makers.
- Lead introductory meetings, pitches, proposal development, and commercial negotiations.
- Manage opportunities from initial contact through to contract signature.
- Develop longer-term relationships that can grow beyond one-off sponsorships.
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Creative Partnerships
- Work with the founder and production team to create partnership concepts that feel natural, distinctive, and editorially credible.
- Build campaigns around upcoming interviews, live shows, international trips, and major cultural moments.
- Develop opportunities including:
- Presenting partnerships
- Branded editorial series
- Host-read integrations
- Sponsored social content
- Live-event partnerships
- Executive interview series
- International travel and destination partnerships
- Content licensing and usage rights
- Hospitality and experiential activations
- Creator-led brand campaigns
- Ensure every partnership provides genuine value to the audience, the brand, and Origin Story.
Proposals and Visual Treatments
- Produce persuasive proposals, pitch decks, and visual campaign treatments.
- Turn an initial commercial idea into a clear creative proposition that a brand can understand and buy.
- Develop treatments that communicate:
- The central creative idea
- Why the partnership is culturally and commercially relevant
- Why the brand is a credible fit
- The audience insight
- The story and campaign narrative
- Proposed content formats
- Example visual direction
- Distribution strategy
- Deliverables and campaign timeline
- Usage rights and amplification opportunities
- Pricing and package options
- Measurement and reporting
- Translate audience data, editorial opportunities, and previous results into a compelling commercial story.
Campaign and Account Management
- Coordinate with production, editorial, and social teams to ensure campaigns are delivered effectively.
- Maintain clear communication with partners throughout each campaign.
- Manage expectations around timelines, deliverables, approvals, and usage.
- Support performance reporting, renewals, and post-campaign conversations.
- Identify opportunities to expand successful partnerships into longer-term relationships.
Revenue Growth
- Deliver agreed partnership and sponsorship revenue targets.
- Identify recurring revenue opportunities and multi-campaign agreements.
- Grow existing accounts through renewals, additional content, and wider partnership opportunities.
- Help Origin Story develop a commercially sustainable model without compromising its editorial identity.
What We Are Looking For
We are looking for someone who is entrepreneurial, commercially confident, and energised by building something at an ambitious stage of growth.
You may currently work in media sales, podcasting, branded content, talent partnerships, advertising, events, sponsorship, PR, or the creator economy.
You should have:
- Experience securing brand partnerships, sponsorships, or commercial collaborations.
- A strong network across brands, agencies, or media decision-makers.
- A proven ability to generate leads and convert opportunities into revenue.
- Confidence presenting creative and commercial ideas to senior stakeholders.
- Strong written communication, proposal-development, and presentation skills.
- An understanding of podcasts, social media, creator partnerships, and digital content.
- The ability to combine commercial thinking with creative storytelling.
- Strong negotiation, relationship-management, and organisational skills.
- The initiative to work independently and build processes from the ground up.
- Good judgement around editorial credibility, audience trust, and brand alignment.
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Desirable Experience
It would be particularly useful to have experience in one or more of the following:
- Podcast advertising or sponsorship
- Creator and influencer partnerships
- Branded entertainment
- Live-event sponsorship
- Media agency relationships
- Executive thought leadership
- International campaigns
- Sport, entertainment, business, or cultural partnerships
- Selling integrated campaigns across multiple platforms
- Working within a founder-led or rapidly growing media company
What Success Looks Like
During the first six months, the Head of Brand Partnerships will be expected to:
- Build and manage a qualified pipeline of prospective partners.
- Establish a clear commercial proposition and partnership structure.
- Secure new sponsorship and branded-content revenue.
- Convert upcoming Origin Story productions into commercially compelling opportunities.
- Develop relationships with priority brands and agencies.
- Introduce reliable sales processes, forecasting, and account management.
- Create a pathway towards recurring, long-term commercial partnerships.
Why Join Origin Story?
This is an opportunity to join a growing media platform at a defining stage of its development. Origin Story already has access to exceptional guests, distinctive productions, and culturally relevant stories. The opportunity now is to build the commercial engine around that work.
You will have considerable freedom to shape the partnership strategy, create original campaigns, and help build a globally ambitious media brand from Glasgow. The role would suit someone who wants more ownership, creativity, and commercial upside than is typically available within a traditional media-sales position.
How to Apply
Please email david@davidmcintoshjr.com with:
- Your CV or LinkedIn profile.
- A short introduction.
- Examples of relevant partnerships or campaigns.
- A short visual treatment for a hypothetical Origin Story brand partnership.
The treatment should outline the brand and creative idea, why the partnership is a strong fit, the proposed visual direction, deliverables, distribution, pricing, and how success would be measured. Please keep the treatment to a maximum of six slides or three pages. We are assessing your commercial thinking and creativity, not your graphic-design ability.
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