Head of Business Development
MUBI · New York City
About MUBI
MUBI is a global streaming service, production company and film distributor dedicated to elevating great cinema. To make this possible, we create, curate, acquire and champion visionary films, bringing them to audiences all over the world. We have a team of brilliant, dedicated and passionate people to help bring our mission to life. From London to New York, Istanbul to Paris, and Berlin to Mexico - we work together to realize MUBI’s vision.
That’s where you come in! Join our global team and help us make great cinema accessible to everyone, everywhere.
About the Role
MUBI reaches its members directly through its owned and operated surfaces, as well as through a wide set of partners/vendors: streaming platforms, channels, OEMs, telcos, cinemas, publishers and brand partnerships. We are reshaping our Business Development function to focus on a number of larger, strategic bets, and we are looking for the leader who will own it.
You will inherit a portfolio of partnerships, a clear mandate to concentrate it, and the backing of the executive team to pursue the handful of deals that can further accelerate MUBI's subscriber and revenue trajectory. You will set the strategy for the function, originate and negotiate its most important agreements, and hire and mentor a Business Development Manager who takes on day-to-day operations and the smaller partnerships so you stay on the deals that carry the largest opportunity.
The role reports directly to the Chief Product Officer, because most of what we want to do next (subscription bundles, membership benefits, platform and device relationships, our cinema programme) is built in close partnership with Product.
We work hybrid-remote where we require 3 office days in London and New York. Our core days are Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, with the flexibility to use our offices on the remaining two days if you wish.
Where you’ll have impact:
In your first months, you will audit the existing partnership slate with Product, Engineering, Finance and Data, make the keep-or-retire calls on partnerships that consume integration and operations effort without a clear return, and set the bar for what qualifies as a Business Development opportunity at MUBI: does it reach an audience that already looks like a MUBI member, is there an identifiable revenue or retention mechanism rather than exposure alone, and is the effort proportionate to the upside once integration, operations and marketing lift are counted.
From there, your work falls into three areas:
Fewer, bigger strategic partnerships. You will originate and lead a small number of large deals, such as Channels, OEM partnerships, and subscription bundles with Tier 1 premium streaming services as the anchor: one subscription, two catalogues, shared subscriber economics and joint marketing. You will know who to call, build the case, run the negotiation and mobilise Product/Engineering, Marketing, Finance and Legal behind the agreement.
Membership value, in both directions. MUBI is launching a premium membership tier. You will source the partner benefits that make it worth paying for, with a simple bar: something a film lover would otherwise pay for separately, that fits our curatorial brand. In the other direction, you will place MUBI inside the memberships of quality media and lifestyle brands whose readers look like our members, with attribution that tells us what each partnership produced.
Commercial ownership of MUBI GO. MUBI GO gives members a cinema ticket every week, and it is central to our premium proposition. You will own its commercial side: the relationships and terms with cinema partners, volume pricing, new forms of value for members, expansion of the partner base in current markets, and the recommendation on which markets we take it to next. Product and Engineering own the operational execution; the commercial leadership sits with you.
Concretely, you will:
Define and own the Business Development strategy, portfolio and OKRs, and report on them to the executive team.
Originate, structure and negotiate strategic partnerships end to end, from first conversation to signed agreement to commercial performance after launch.
Own the commercial relationships and terms behind MUBI GO, and lead the expansion of its cinema partner base.
Build the benefits and partner portfolio for MUBI's premium membership tier, and the programme that places MUBI inside other organisations' memberships.
Work with Finance on business cases and the independent review of deal economics, and with Product and Engineering on what each partnership requires in capacity and sequencing.
Hire, mentor and develop a Business Development Manager, and build the function's operating rhythm.
Represent MUBI with senior counterparts at partners, and bring back a clear read on where each relationship stands and what needs a decision.
What you’ll bring:
You have spent significant time originating and closing large commercial partnerships in streaming, subscription media, consumer technology or entertainment, and you have the network that comes with it.
You are a natural networker rather than a traditional salesperson. You read a company's value proposition quickly and translate it creatively into deal structures that work for both sides.
You push a negotiation to its limit without putting the relationship at risk, and you are not afraid to walk away from a deal that is not good enough.
You are as credible with a studio executive as with a cinema operator or a brand partner, and equally comfortable with your own senior stakeholders, including the CEO.
You judge yourself on a small number of deals that moved the numbers, not on volume of activity.
You bring structure and rigour to a function that has not always had it: a clear portfolio view, honest business cases, crisp reporting and follow-through after signature.
You are hungry, you want a mandate you can shape, and you are ready to lead a function rather than a desk.
Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in a relevant field, or equivalent practical experience.
10+ years in business development, partnerships or commercial strategy, including several years leading strategic partnerships at a streaming, subscription, consumer technology or entertainment company.
A track record of originating and closing large, complex commercial agreements (bundles, distribution, licensing or membership partnerships), and of being accountable for their performance after launch.
Strong commercial and financial judgement: you can build and defend a business case, model deal economics and prioritise a portfolio.
Experience managing and developing people, or clear readiness to do so.
Exceptional written and verbal communication, including the ability to present recommendations to our C-Suite and board.
Comfort working across time zones and offices with a high degree of autonomy.
Direct experience negotiating subscription bundles or channel partnerships with major streaming services or telcos.
Experience with theatrical exhibition, cinema partnerships or ticketing.
Experience in US, UK, EMEA and Latin American markets.
Experience with AI tools in your own workflow.
A real connection to cinema and to MUBI's curatorial point of view.
We want to make cinema accessible to everyone. We believe people from different backgrounds bring different ideas that foster innovation and engagement, allowing us to attract great people to develop the best experience for our users.
MUBI is committed to being an Equal Opportunity Employer. That means it's our responsibility to ensure that all candidates are not discriminated against in our hiring processes and our employment decisions based on their race, color, religion, nationality or ethnic origin, age, gender identity or expression, sex, marital status, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic background, sexual orientation, family or parental status, or any other applicable characteristic.
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