Talent Relationships and Sourcing Manager

Work set-up: 
Full Remote
Contract: 
Experience: 
Senior (5-10 years)
Work from: 

Offer summary

Qualifications:

7+ years of experience in influencer marketing, talent sourcing, or talent management., At least 3 years in a senior role demonstrating leadership., Proven negotiation skills securing competitive rates and favorable terms., Experience managing large-scale campaigns with six-figure budgets..

Key responsibilities:

  • Lead influencer sourcing and rate optimization strategies.
  • Build and maintain a comprehensive creator database and manage relationships.
  • Develop long-term talent strategies and explore new partnership opportunities.
  • Overhaul contracting processes to improve efficiency and reduce legal costs.

The Shelf logo
The Shelf Marketing & Advertising SME https://theshelf.com/
51 - 200 Employees
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Job description

About The Shelf

We are a fast-growing influencer marketing agency specializing in data-driven campaigns. Our strategies leverage industry insights, social listening, and analytics to guide creative decisions. Then, we let the results take it from there—each strategic move is influenced by top-performing influencers and content.

Everyone claims to be data-backed, but we prove it using our Optimization Flywheel, driving brands to exponentially higher ROI:

  • One of our clients used a paid agency for lower-funnel conversion campaigns—our top-funnel campaigns outperformed them by 5x in conversions.
  • TikTok (yes, the platform itself) confirmed that our campaigns perform 500x above their ad benchmarks in watch time. (Not a typo—we double-checked.)
  • One of our TikTok ads ranked #2 globally on TikTok’s leaderboard for an entire month.

But what truly sets us apart is our people-first culture. We believe exceptional work comes from teams who feel valued, supported, and balanced. We actively discourage burnout, and our founders are deeply committed to maintaining a 40-hour workweek as the norm—not the exception. We prioritize family, flexibility, and health, which is why we offer generous benefits, including flexible PTO, 100% covered healthcare, and company holidays that actually get honored. Though we're fully remote, we make it a point to come together in Atlanta (our HQ) for meaningful off-sites that foster collaboration and connection. We've also invested in hiring senior leaders from top agencies and platforms to help shape the next generation of our business and to ensure our team is learning and growing alongside the best in the industry.

About The Role

  • As the Talent Relationships and Sourcing Manager, you will lead the charge in optimizing how we identify, negotiate with, and manage relationships with influencers. Your mission: ensure we are securing the best possible talent at the most competitive rates without compromising content quality or influencer experience. This is a high-impact, strategic role that will directly contribute to our profitability by refining our sourcing, negotiation, and contracting processes.
  • You will also shape the long-term strategy for our influencer partnerships, ensure we remain ahead of industry trends, and leverage data and technology to make informed talent decisions.

What You'll Do

Influencer Sourcing & Rate Optimization

  • Ensure we are getting the best possible rates for each creator we partner with, balancing cost efficiency with maintaining strong influencer relationships.
  • Develop and implement a data-driven approach to influencer pricing, considering factors such as industry niche, audience size, engagement rates, past performance, and deliverables.
  • Build negotiation frameworks to standardize talent deal-making, ensuring fair yet cost-effective partnerships.
  • Leverage AI tools to enhance negotiation strategies, optimize communication efficiency, and streamline contract management.
  • Consolidate existing data sources (our proprietary platform, CODA, Google Sheets) into a structured system that informs rate benchmarking and talent evaluation.
  • Generate quick influencer lists for select clients using the database.
  • Own sourcing efforts across nano, micro, and mid-tier creators.
  • Evaluate long-term resourcing needs and recommend additional headcount or structure to scale team bandwidth accordingly.

Talent Database & Relationship Management

  • Build and maintain a comprehensive creator database that consolidates key data on influencers we've worked with and potential new talent.
  • Establish a rating scale for influencers based on performance history, pricing trends, and growth trajectory.
  • Proactively track creator evolution over time, ensuring we consistently offer fair yet optimized rates.
  • Cultivate and maintain relationships with talent managers and creators to gain inside knowledge, negotiate favorable terms, and develop a roster of go-to creators.
  • Ensure we are continuously sourcing fresh talent and presenting brands with a diverse, high-quality talent pool.
  • Act as the liaison between creators and internal teams to foster genuine partnerships and proactively support communication and resolution needs.
  • Monitor industry dynamics including pricing trends, platform changes, legal standards, and creator economy developments.

Strategic Growth & Future Expansion

  • Develop and lead the long-term talent strategy, including:
    • Evaluating whether we should establish our own talent management division.
    • Exploring the creation of an exclusive VIP creator roster with pre-negotiated terms.
    • Identifying opportunities for deeper partnerships with talent managers and influencer agencies.
  • Identify trends and emerging talent early to ensure our agency is always ahead of the curve.
Contracting & Process Efficiency

  • Overhaul our contracting process to reduce time spent negotiating and redlining agreements.
  • Develop pre-negotiated MSAs with talent managers to streamline deal execution and lower legal expenses.
  • Work with internal stakeholders to reduce inefficiencies in influencer agreements while maintaining compliance and risk mitigation.
  • Leverage AI tools to expedite contract processing and negotiation workflows, reducing manual overhead and legal costs.
  • Oversee negotiations and contracting for all contracts above $15,000.
  • Negotiate complex contracts including six-figure budgets, expedited redlines, usage rights, and exclusivity terms.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Best Practices

  • Work closely with Account Management, Strategy & Insights, and Creative Strategy teams to ensure alignment in creator sourcing and negotiation best practices.
  • Ensure all teams actively utilize the centralized talent database, maintaining consistency in talent selection and rate benchmarking.
  • Aid teams working on campaigns not directly assigned to you by offering sourcing and negotiation guidance.
  • Develop and enforce best practices across departments to create a seamless, efficient talent procurement process.
  • Partner with Creative teams to identify optimal brand-creator fit and execute strategic talent casting.

Client-Facing Responsibilities

  • Present curated influencer lists when engaging with indecisive or argumentative clients.
  • Use data-driven insights to persuade clients who drift from strategic recommendations.
  • Handle challenging pricing transparency questions from clients with clarity and confidence.

Biggest Challenges in This Role / Skills You’ll Bring to the Team

  • Balancing cost optimization with relationship management
  • Finding lookalike creators when preferred options are over budget
  • Leveraging historical data to guide negotiations
  • Building a scalable, accurate database
  • Streamlining contracts and reducing legal costs
  • Innovating long-term influencer partnership models
  • Integrating AI tools into sourcing and negotiations
  • Navigating sensitive creator challenges and crisis moments with empathy and professionalism

Requirements

  • 7+ years in influencer marketing, talent sourcing, or talent management, with at least 3 years in a senior role
  • Proven negotiation ability securing competitive rates and terms
  • Experience managing six-figure campaign budgets and talent negotiations
  • Familiarity with talent networks, both direct and agency-represented
  • Strong organizational and multitasking abilities
  • Experience using data and AI tools in talent sourcing
  • Excellent communication and crisis management skills

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Cost Efficiency & Rate Optimization

  • % reduction in influencer costs without compromising quality
  • % increase in campaign margin through optimized negotiations

Process Efficiency & Legal Optimization

  • Reduced time spent on influencer negotiations and contracting
  • Reduced time spent on shortlists
  • % reduction in legal costs
  • Increased use of AI tools to increase efficiency

Talent Management & Relationship Strength

  • Growth and accuracy of the proprietary talent database
  • % of campaigns leveraging pre-negotiated partnerships
  • Creator re-engagement rates
  • Increase in access to top-tier creators via strengthened relationships

Required profile

Experience

Level of experience: Senior (5-10 years)
Industry :
Marketing & Advertising
Spoken language(s):
English
Check out the description to know which languages are mandatory.

Other Skills

  • Negotiation
  • Organizational Skills
  • Relationship Management
  • Multitasking
  • Communication
  • Problem Solving

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