Senior Brand Partnership Manager – Italy, Fragrance & Lifestyle Extension

Senior Brand Partnership Manager – Italy, Fragrance & Lifestyle Extension

Location: Milan, Italy

About the Company

Yibi Hantang is the brand growth and lifestyle licensing platform of Yibi Group, created to support selected global fashion, beauty, fragrance, and lifestyle brands as they explore controlled growth opportunities in China. We help brands evaluate China market potential through consumer insight, lifestyle category validation, product and content coordination, selective channel testing, and brand governance. Our focus is controlled growth. We work with brands to explore carefully structured partnership models, limited-category pilots, selected channels, and disciplined approval processes before any larger market expansion. For Italian luxury and lifestyle brands, Yibi Hantang is especially focused on how brand heritage, design language, material culture, and lifestyle aesthetics can be thoughtfully translated into fragrance, home fragrance, gifting, and olfactory lifestyle experiences for the Chinese market, while protecting long-term brand equity.

About the Role

We are looking for a Senior Brand Partnership Manager based in Italy to build and manage strategic relationships with Italian luxury, fashion, beauty, fragrance, and lifestyle brands. This role will focus on identifying and developing partnership opportunities around fragrance, home fragrance, scented objects, gifting, and selected lifestyle extension categories for the China market. The ideal candidate understands the sensitivity of Italian luxury heritage, the importance of design integrity, and the governance complexity of family-owned, founder-led, or group-owned Maisons. This person should be able to build senior-level trust, open strategic conversations, and help translate China market opportunities into thoughtful, brand-respecting partnership proposals.

Responsibilities

• Identify, prioritize, and build relationships with senior decision-makers at Italian luxury, fashion, beauty, fragrance, and lifestyle brands, including licensing leaders, international business teams, brand development teams, category leaders, and selected fragrance or lifestyle stakeholders.
• Develop a qualified pipeline of potential brand partners aligned with Yibi Hantang’s focus on controlled China growth and lifestyle category extension.
• Lead senior-level outreach, meeting preparation, relationship development, pitch coordination, and follow-up discussions with prospective partners.
• Support the development of brand-specific China opportunity assessments, with a focus on fragrance, home fragrance, scented objects, gifting, daily rituals, and lifestyle relevance.
• Work with internal teams to shape partnership proposals, including category scope, consumer insight, product direction, pricing logic, content approach, channel testing, approval process, and pilot structure.
• Collaborate with brand, product, design, supply chain, legal, marketing, and commercial teams to ensure proposals are commercially viable and aligned with each brand’s standards.
• Monitor the Italian and European luxury, beauty, fragrance, home, and lifestyle markets to identify relevant white-space opportunities for China-focused lifestyle extension.
• Translate China consumer and channel insights into a language that is relevant, credible, and respectful to Italian brand headquarters.
• Navigate relationship structures across family-owned Maisons, founder-led brands, and global luxury groups with professionalism, discretion, and cultural sensitivity.
• Represent Yibi Hantang in selected industry events, brand meetings, and luxury networking opportunities in Milan, Florence, and across Italy.
• Support partnership development KPIs, including qualified pipeline growth, senior-level meetings, proposal progress, and strategic partnership conversion.

Qualifications

• 8–12+ years of experience in luxury brand partnerships, fragrance, beauty, licensing, business development, international expansion, or strategic partnerships.
• Existing network within Italian luxury, fashion, beauty, fragrance, home, or premium lifestyle brands.
• Strong understanding of Italian luxury heritage, design codes, brand equity, category extension, and international market development.
• Familiarity with the structure of licensing, fragrance, beauty, lifestyle, or brand diversification teams within Italian Maisons, family-owned brands, or global luxury groups.
• Ability to build trust with senior stakeholders and navigate complex decision-making structures within European luxury organizations.
• Strong ability to translate China market insight into clear, thoughtful, and brand-sensitive partnership opportunities.
• Excellent presentation, relationship-building, negotiation, and strategic communication skills.
• High level of professionalism, discretion, cultural sensitivity, and respect for brand control.
• Fluency in Italian and English.
• Based in Milan or able to work from Milan. Candidates with strong access to Florence-based luxury networks will also be considered.

Preferred Skills

• Experience working with or within Italian luxury Maisons, designer fashion brands, fragrance houses, beauty groups, home lifestyle brands, or international licensing teams.
• Familiarity with home fragrance, fine fragrance, candles, diffusers, scented objects, gifting, interior lifestyle, or olfactory lifestyle categories.
• Understanding of China’s luxury, fragrance, home lifestyle, gifting, and content-driven consumer landscape.
• Experience supporting licensing, co-development, category extension, or market-entry partnership discussions.
• Ability to work across Italian brand headquarters and China-based execution teams.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with strong discipline around brand protection, approval governance, and long-term partnership value.

Pay range and compensation package

A strategic role focused on building Yibi Hantang’s Italy and European luxury partnership network. Direct exposure to senior decision-makers across luxury, fashion, beauty, fragrance, home, and lifestyle brands. The opportunity to help shape China-focused lifestyle extension opportunities for selected Italian and European brands. Close collaboration with China-based brand, consumer insight, product, market, and commercial teams. Competitive compensation package, including base salary and performance-based incentives. An international, entrepreneurial, and high-performance working environment.

Equal Opportunity Statement

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds who bring professionalism, cultural understanding, and a strong respect for brand value.