Senior Partnerships Lead in Stafford

Location: Stafford Office with up to 2 days per week remote working. Candidates will be required to travel to the US (5-6 times/weeks per year).

Department: US Partnerships

Reports to: VP of Partnerships

Manages: Team of 7 account managers across US and UK

Salary: From £46,000+

The role involves owning the day-to-day delivery of our US Partnerships function and driving meaningful revenue growth across CPAi, tenancy, and revshare. This is a senior leadership role for someone who combines strong commercial judgment, operational rigor, and people leadership.

You’ll partner closely with the VP of Partnerships (NJ based) to execute the US partnerships strategy, taking accountability for forecasting, delivery, pipeline health, team performance, and partner execution.

What You’ll Do

• Lead and develop the US Partnerships team.
• Set the tone for execution, accountability, and Fair Play across the team.
• Own the growth, development, and performance of direct reports.
• Run the operating rhythm for the function, including 1:1s, performance reviews, pipeline hygiene, and forecast accuracy.
• Drive consistency across communication, planning, and partner experience.
• Execute against commercial priorities set in collaboration with the VP, with accountability for results and clear reporting on progress, risks, and outcomes.
• Identify and progress impact opportunities across tenancy, rate increases, revshare improvements, and new partner opportunities.
• Ensure consistent business development execution across the team, including new merchant sourcing, outreach, and application activity.
• Deliver against agreed revenue targets and clearly report on KPIs versus forecast.
• Support the VP in strengthening competitiveness through rate strategy and effective use of placements.
• Maintain clear visibility into new business activity and ensure it is tracked, prioritized, and progressed through the pipeline.

Partner with the VP of Partnerships

• Work in close partnership with the VP of Partnerships to ensure strategy is executed effectively and feedback flows both ways.
• Collaborate on forecasting, planning, and prioritization.
• Provide clear reporting on progress, risks, and outcomes.
• Bring recommendations on process, tooling, and ways of working for review and approval.
• Act as a trusted execution partner, allowing the VP to focus on strategy, external relationships, and long-term growth.

Lead partner relationships and external execution

• Lead the day-to-day execution of partner strategy, balancing partner needs with internal priorities to build durable, high-performing relationships.
• Lead or support high-stakes negotiations and renewals, in alignment with VP direction.
• Act as the first-line escalation point for complex partner issues (tracking, terms, policy disputes, rate changes).
• Represent the partnerships function in key partner conversations as needed, including senior partner calls and industry events.
• Ensure partner relationships across the team are managed with consistency, transparency, and commercial discipline.

Build and manage a healthy, accurate pipeline

• Own pipeline execution and visibility, ensuring leadership has a clear, reliable view of performance and risk.
• Manage the U.S. pipeline in collaboration with Senior Partnerships Managers/Team Leads.
• Create clear visibility for leadership: What’s committed, what’s likely, what’s at risk, and mitigation plans.

Partner cross-functionally to deliver at scale

• Work cross-functionally to execute strategy effectively and reduce friction across teams.
• Partner closely with Marketing, Ops, Finance, and Business Insights to execute campaigns cleanly.
• Identify process gaps and propose improvements, bringing recommendations to the VP for alignment and approval.
• Improve reporting and operational processes so the team can scale without chaos.

Who You Are

• You’re commercially sharp and can translate performance into investment conversations.
• You’re operational - you love clean pipelines, accurate forecasts, and disciplined execution.
• You can lead: Clear standards, direct feedback, calm under pressure.
• You build trust quickly with merchants, agencies, and internal stakeholders.
• You’re comfortable being accountable for revenue outcomes, not just relationships.

Skills & Experience Required

• 4+ years in affiliate marketing, partnerships, ecommerce, or performance marketing.
• Proven experience managing a team (directly or as a senior lead).
• Strong track record in negotiation (rates, tenancy, revshare, media).
• Highly analytical: Comfortable with forecasting, pacing, and performance reporting.
• Strong communicator who can represent the business with confidence and clarity.

Preferred

• Experience working with cashback/loyalty publishers.
• Experience with Affiliate Networks such as Impact, CJ, Partnerize, Rakuten or similar.
• Familiarity with retail and travel affiliate ecosystems and agency models.

What Success Looks Like (First 6–12 Months)

• Forecast accuracy improves; pipeline hygiene becomes consistent.
• Clear visibility into pacing and risk with little to no surprises at month-end.
• Stronger rate and placement wins across priority merchants.
• Faster issue resolution and improved partner satisfaction.
• Team execution quality improves through clear expectations and coaching.