Industry Partner Manager

About Max RetailMax Retail empowers independent retailers and brands to reach hundreds of millions of consumers through technology that makes multichannel selling as easy as “click, click, sold.” The platform connects sellers to leading online marketplaces, automating listings, pricing, and fulfillment. By helping businesses move inventory faster and more profitably, Max Retail fuels a more circular, sustainable retail economy. As we scale from 2,000 to 20,000+ active sellers, industry partnerships—particularly with independent sales reps—represent a critical growth channel for high-quality lead generation.

We’re looking for a highly experienced, hands-on Industry Partner Manager to activate and scale our partner channel. This role focused on building, testing, and documenting a repeatable playbook for partner-driven lead generation. This is not an administrative partnership role. You’ll be responsible for figuring out what works—through direct outreach, experimentation, and relationship-building—and turning those insights into scalable systems the business can run with long-term.

What You’ll Do:

Partner Activation & Growth

• Reactivate dormant industry partners through thoughtful outreach and relationship-building

• Recruit and onboard new independent sales reps aligned with boutique retail

• Identify and disqualify low-fit partners, documenting clear patterns and rationale

• Attend tradeshows to acquire leads

Lead Generation

• Generate consistent, qualified leads from partner channels

• Build a repeatable system for partner-sourced pipeline growth

• Collaborate with sales to ensure clean handoff and conversion visibility

Testing & Optimization

• Experiment across messaging, positioning, and outreach channels (email, phone, text)

• Identify what drives engagement, response, and referrals

• Continuously refine approach based on performance and feedback

Playbook Development

• Document partner activation strategies, scripts, and communication cadences

• Define partner personas, motivations, and engagement patterns

• Build a structured partner playbook that can be operationalized post-contract

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Operations to capture and structure learnings

• Work with Sales and Customer Success to track lead quality and outcomes

• Collaborate with Marketing to develop and share partner success stories

What You’ll Deliver

• A fully documented Partner Activation Playbook (messaging, outreach, cadence, scripts)

• Clear Partner Personas & Engagement Insights

• Defined Lead Qualification Criteria and handoff process

• Documented Friction Points & Conversion Insights across the partner funnel

• A structured performance framework (good/better/best partner tiers)

• A scalable system for ongoing partner-driven lead generation

Who You Are

• Experienced Operator: 10+ years in partnerships, channel sales, or business development

• Retail-Savvy: Deep understanding of boutique retail or existing relationships with independent sales reps in apparel/footwear

• Builder Mentality: Proven ability to create systems and playbooks from scratch

• Strong Communicator: Exceptional at crafting messaging that resonates—and documenting it clearly

• Hands-On: Comfortable doing the work yourself (outreach, testing, iterating) to find what works

• Collaborative: Works seamlessly across teams and brings others along in the learning process