Effective Work Samples for Hiring Business Development & Partnerships Managers

The Business Development & Partnerships Manager role is pivotal to an organization's growth strategy. These professionals serve as the architects of strategic alliances that can dramatically accelerate revenue growth, expand market reach, and create competitive advantages. Finding the right person for this position requires more than just reviewing resumes and conducting standard interviews.

Traditional interview methods often fail to reveal a candidate's true capabilities in relationship building, strategic thinking, negotiation, and partnership management. While candidates may eloquently describe their past successes, these narratives don't necessarily translate to future performance in your specific business context.

Work samples and role plays provide a window into how candidates actually approach partnership development, negotiate agreements, analyze opportunities, and collaborate with stakeholders. These practical exercises reveal thinking patterns, communication styles, and problem-solving approaches that might otherwise remain hidden until months into the role.

By implementing the following exercises in your hiring process, you'll gain deeper insights into each candidate's abilities to identify valuable partnership opportunities, craft compelling value propositions, negotiate mutually beneficial terms, and drive measurable results through strategic alliances. This approach not only helps you identify the most qualified candidates but also gives applicants a realistic preview of the role, ensuring better alignment of expectations from the start.

Activity #1: Strategic Partnership Identification & Proposal

This exercise evaluates a candidate's ability to identify promising partnership opportunities, develop a strategic rationale, and articulate a compelling value proposition. These skills are fundamental to successful business development, as they demonstrate the candidate's market awareness, strategic thinking, and ability to align partnerships with business objectives.

Directions for the Company:

• Provide the candidate with information about your company, including products/services, target market, current growth objectives, and any existing partnership types.
• Include a list of 5-7 potential partner companies or industry segments that might be relevant (mix of obvious and non-obvious choices).
• Give the candidate 24-48 hours to prepare a partnership proposal for one company/segment of their choosing.
• Allocate 20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for questions during the interview.
• Ensure the evaluation panel includes stakeholders who would typically work with partnerships (product, marketing, sales).

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the company information provided and research potential partnership opportunities.
• Select one potential partner or partner segment that you believe offers the most strategic value.
• Prepare a concise partnership proposal (3-5 slides) that includes:
• Strategic rationale for the partnership
• Specific value proposition for both parties
• Partnership structure and key terms
• Implementation approach and timeline
• Success metrics and expected outcomes
• Be prepared to present your proposal in 15-20 minutes and answer questions about your strategic thinking.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the presentation, provide immediate feedback on one aspect the candidate did exceptionally well (e.g., strategic rationale, value proposition clarity).
• Offer one specific area for improvement (e.g., more detailed success metrics, clearer implementation plan).
• Give the candidate 5 minutes to verbally refine their approach based on the feedback, focusing specifically on the improvement area identified.

Activity #2: Partnership Negotiation Role Play

This role play assesses the candidate's negotiation skills, ability to build rapport, and capacity to navigate challenging conversations while maintaining relationship focus. Effective negotiation is critical for partnership managers who must regularly secure favorable terms while preserving long-term relationship potential.

Directions for the Company:

• Create a realistic partnership negotiation scenario with clear objectives for both parties.
• Prepare a brief (1-page) that outlines the partnership context, your company's priorities, and potential sticking points.
• Designate an experienced team member to play the role of the potential partner's business development lead.
• Provide the candidate with the scenario 24 hours in advance, but keep some elements of the partner's position confidential (to be revealed during negotiation).
• Allocate 30 minutes for the role play.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the partnership scenario and prepare your negotiation strategy.
• Consider both the business terms you want to achieve and how you'll build rapport with the partner.
• During the 30-minute role play, work to negotiate an agreement that:
• Achieves your primary business objectives
• Creates mutual value for both organizations
• Establishes a foundation for a positive long-term relationship
• Addresses potential challenges in implementation
• Be prepared to respond to unexpected objections or requirements from the partner.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the role play, the evaluator should highlight one strength in the candidate's negotiation approach (e.g., creative problem-solving, effective listening).
• Provide one specific area for improvement (e.g., addressing objections, exploring alternatives).
• Give the candidate 10 minutes to re-negotiate a specific aspect of the agreement incorporating the feedback.

Activity #3: Partner Performance Analysis & Optimization

This exercise evaluates the candidate's analytical abilities, results orientation, and strategic problem-solving skills. Successful partnership managers must be able to assess partnership performance, identify improvement opportunities, and develop action plans to optimize results.

Directions for the Company:

• Create a realistic but anonymized dataset showing performance metrics for 3-5 existing partnerships (e.g., revenue generated, lead referrals, customer acquisition costs, etc.).
• Include some partnerships that are performing well and others that are underperforming.
• Provide context about partnership goals, terms, and duration.
• Give candidates 45-60 minutes to analyze the data and prepare recommendations.
• Prepare questions that probe the candidate's analytical process and reasoning.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the partnership performance data provided.
• Analyze the effectiveness of each partnership based on the metrics and contextual information.
• Prepare a brief analysis that includes:
• Assessment of each partnership's performance relative to expectations
• Identification of key factors driving success or underperformance
• Specific recommendations for optimizing each partnership
• Prioritization of actions based on potential impact and effort required
• Be prepared to explain your analytical approach and defend your recommendations.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the candidate presents their analysis, highlight one particularly insightful observation or recommendation they made.
• Provide one area where their analysis could be strengthened or where they missed an important consideration.
• Give the candidate 10 minutes to refine one specific recommendation based on the feedback.

Activity #4: Cross-Functional Collaboration Scenario

This scenario tests the candidate's ability to navigate internal stakeholder management, which is crucial for partnership success. Partnership managers must effectively collaborate with product, marketing, sales, legal, and other teams to ensure partnership integration and execution.

Directions for the Company:

• Create a scenario where a new strategic partnership requires coordination across multiple internal teams.
• Outline the partnership opportunity, its strategic importance, and the specific challenges requiring cross-functional alignment.
• Identify 3-4 internal stakeholders with different priorities and concerns (e.g., legal has compliance concerns, product has timeline constraints).
• Assign team members to role-play these stakeholders during a simulated internal planning meeting.
• Allocate 30-40 minutes for the exercise.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the partnership opportunity and stakeholder information provided.
• Prepare an approach for facilitating the cross-functional planning meeting.
• During the meeting:
• Articulate the partnership's strategic value to all stakeholders
• Address concerns from different functional perspectives
• Facilitate discussion to find solutions to implementation challenges
• Build consensus on next steps and responsibilities
• Demonstrate how you would manage competing priorities
• Your goal is to gain alignment and commitment from all stakeholders while addressing legitimate concerns.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the meeting, provide feedback on one aspect of the candidate's facilitation that was particularly effective (e.g., stakeholder management, problem-solving approach).
• Identify one area where their approach could be improved (e.g., addressing a specific stakeholder's concerns more effectively).
• Give the candidate 5-10 minutes to explain how they would adjust their approach based on this feedback.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time should we allocate for these exercises in our interview process?

Each exercise requires approximately 30-45 minutes, plus time for feedback and discussion. We recommend selecting 1-2 exercises that best align with your specific needs rather than attempting all four. The partnership proposal and negotiation role play are particularly revealing for most business development roles.

Should we use real company data and scenarios or create fictional ones?

While using real scenarios provides the most accurate assessment, confidentiality concerns often necessitate creating fictional scenarios based on real situations. The key is ensuring the scenarios reflect the actual complexity and challenges the candidate would face in the role.

How do we evaluate candidates consistently across these exercises?

Create a structured scorecard for each exercise that maps to the key competencies you're assessing (strategic thinking, negotiation, relationship management, etc.). Have all interviewers use the same criteria and calibrate on expectations before beginning the interview process.

What if a candidate has limited experience with our specific industry?

These exercises can still be valuable even if candidates lack industry-specific experience. Consider providing additional context about industry dynamics or adjusting your evaluation to focus more on the candidate's approach and reasoning rather than specific industry knowledge.

How should we incorporate these exercises into our broader interview process?

These exercises work best in the middle to late stages of your interview process, after initial screening but before final decisions. They complement traditional behavioral interviews and should be followed by a debrief that allows candidates to reflect on their performance and demonstrate self-awareness.

Can these exercises be conducted remotely?

Yes, all of these exercises can be adapted for remote interviews using video conferencing and collaborative tools. For the partnership proposal, candidates can share their screen; for role plays, video calls work effectively; and for data analysis, you can provide materials in advance via secure sharing.

The Business Development & Partnerships Manager role requires a unique blend of strategic thinking, relationship building, and execution skills. By incorporating these practical work samples into your hiring process, you'll gain deeper insights into candidates' capabilities and significantly improve your hiring decisions.

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