Director, Business Development, ESCO in Los Angeles, California at Complex

The Director of Business Development will play a critical role in driving ESCO's growth by identifying and developing strategic partnerships, licensing opportunities, distribution relationships, brand collaborations, and new business initiatives.

This person will work at the intersection of music, entertainment, collectibles, consumer products, licensing, retail, and culture, building relationships that create meaningful commercial opportunities for ESCO.

The ideal candidate is a natural relationship builder with strong commercial instincts who can take an opportunity from initial introduction through negotiation and execution. This person should be equally comfortable developing a partnership strategy, making a pitch, building a financial business case, negotiating deal terms, and working cross-functionally to bring a partnership to market.

This is a highly entrepreneurial role for someone who is excited about helping build a rapidly growing business and identifying opportunities that may not yet exist.

• Develop and execute ESCO's business development strategy with a focus on driving revenue, expanding distribution, developing strategic partnerships, and creating new growth opportunities.

• Identify, evaluate, and pursue new business opportunities across music, entertainment, sports, fashion, retail, consumer products, collectibles, media, and culture.

• Build and maintain relationships with record labels, music publishers, artist management companies, agencies, entertainment companies, brands, retailers, distributors, licensors, and other strategic partners.

• Identify opportunities for artist, talent, brand, and intellectual-property partnerships that can translate into compelling trading card and collectible products.

• Source and develop new licensing opportunities that expand ESCO's portfolio of artists, cultural properties, and collectible categories.

• Develop strategic partnerships and collaborations that extend ESCO beyond traditional trading card products and introduce the brand to new audiences.

• Identify and pursue opportunities across retail, hobby, direct-to-consumer, e-commerce, live events, and other distribution channels.

• Lead partnership discussions from initial outreach and pitch development through negotiation, contracting, launch, and ongoing relationship management.

• Develop compelling presentations, proposals, partnership concepts, and business cases for prospective partners.

• Evaluate the commercial potential of new opportunities, including revenue potential, economics, strategic value, audience, market demand, and operational requirements.

• Negotiate key business terms in partnership with leadership, Finance, and Legal.

• Build financial models and deal structures that support profitable, sustainable partnerships.

• Maintain a robust pipeline of prospective partners and opportunities and provide regular reporting on pipeline activity, deal status, revenue potential, and next steps.

• Track industry trends, emerging categories, competitors, artists, cultural moments, and consumer behavior to identify opportunities for ESCO.

• Represent ESCO at relevant industry events, conferences, meetings, and partner presentations.

• Partner closely with Product, Creative, Marketing, Licensing, Sales, Operations, Finance, and Legal to ensure partnerships can be successfully executed.

• Work with internal teams to transition signed partnerships from business development into product development and launch.

• Develop long-term relationships with partners and identify opportunities to expand successful partnerships into additional products, properties, or revenue streams.

• Help define and build scalable business development processes as ESCO continues to grow.

• Take on additional strategic projects and growth initiatives as opportunities arise.

• consumer products, or retail industries.

• Existing relationships across record labels, artist management, agencies, entertainment companies, brands, licensors, retailers, or distributors.

• Experience developing artist, talent, IP, or brand licensing partnerships.

• Understanding of the trading card and collectibles ecosystem, including hobby, retail, e-commerce, and direct-to-consumer distribution.

• Experience launching new products, partnerships, categories, or business verticals.

• Experience working within an entrepreneurial, high-growth, or early-stage business environment.

• Genuine passion for music, entertainment, pop culture, and collectibles.