Senior Director, Performance Marketing (Affiliate)

Ovative Group•Minneapolis, MN

3d•$230,000 - $300,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior. Director, Partnership Marketing will lead Ovative’s growing Affiliate team — including its performance creator practice — and serve as a senior strategic advisor to clients. This role combines team leadership, client relationship management, affiliate and performance creator strategy, operational excellence, and thought leadership. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in affiliate marketing, performance creator and the broader digital landscape. They have a strong track record of driving business results, developing high-performing teams and building trusted senior-client relationships. This role will help advance Ovative’s affiliate and performance creator capabilities, measurement approach, technology partnerships, and integrated marketing solutions, working in close partnership with the Influencer and Paid Media teams to deliver a unified approach for clients.

Requirements

12+ years of relevant experience in affiliate marketing, digital marketing, or a related field, with meaningful depth in the performance creator ecosystem.
5+ years of experience directly leading and coaching teams, preferably teams of 8 or more.
Deep expertise across affiliate networks, platforms, publisher partnerships, and affiliate operations, including tools such as CJ, AWIN, and Impact.
Demonstrated expertise in the performance creator ecosystem — how creator content connects to commerce, conversion, and measurable outcomes — including creator identification, partnership structures, and creator/affiliate technology platforms (Impact, TikTok Shop, ShopMy, etc).
Experience working with retail, ecommerce, or enterprise marketing programs.
Demonstrated success developing and executing strategies that drive measurable business results across affiliate and performance creator channels.
Strong understanding of data, analytics, measurement, incrementality, and customer value.
Proven ability to influence senior client stakeholders and communicate complex strategies clearly.
Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer on a full-time basis, without current or future need for visa sponsorship. Ovative is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa for this position. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification documentation upon hire.

Responsibilities

Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team, including deep subject matter expertise across affiliate and performance creator strategy.
Nurture a culture of accountability, collaboration, transparency, and continuous improvement.
Define team staffing strategy and support recruiting, onboarding, training, and retention
Build team expertise, career paths, and leadership capabilities across affiliate and performance creator disciplines.
Own team-level oversight of financials, operations, technology, and capacity planning.
Partner across Ovative to integrate affiliate and performance creator capabilities into broader influencer, media, measurement, and consulting solutions.
Serve as a senior subject matter expert on affiliate marketing and performance creator strategy — including creator commerce, affiliate-linked creator programs, creator storefronts, and emerging formats — best practices, and industry developments.
Define and advance Ovative’s point of view, playbooks, and strategic frameworks.
Lead forward-looking strategies, testing roadmaps, and capability development that improve client program sophistication and enterprise impact across both channels.
Develop and maintain strategic relationships with affiliate networks, publishers, creator platforms, technology providers, and other industry partners.
Represent Ovative’s affiliate and performance creator expertise in new business pitches, client presentations, industry conversations, and thought leadership.
Partner with Measurement and Analytics teams to advance performance, incrementality, customer value, and enterprise impact are evaluated.
Partner closely with the Influencer team to develop holistic influencer strategies that drive outcomes in a unified approach for clients.
Own, manage, and grow relationships with some of Ovative’s largest clients.
Serve as a trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders, helping them evolve strategies and measurement approaches.
Lead strategic discussions that connect affiliate and creator investment to client business objectives and enterprise growth.
Build trust and credibility through clear communication, strong judgment, and consistent delivery of results.
Ensure best-in-class practices and operating processes are adopted across the team.
Oversee high-quality day-to-day program management, planning, execution, optimization, and results analysis across programs.
Advise teams on partner and creator identification, recruitment, activation, publisher and creator management, testing, compliance, contracting, billing, and performance improvement.
Partner with internal technical and measurement teams to develop tools, products, and processes that strengthen affiliate and performance creator execution.
Lead the team toward scalable operations that anticipate the needs of a growing business.

Benefits

Access to all office spaces in MSP, NYC, and CHI
Frequent, paid travel to our Minneapolis headquarters for company events, team events, and in-person collaboration with teams
Generous paid vacation policy
401k match program
Top-notch health insurance options, inclusive of same sex partners
Family formation benefits including reimbursement options for fertility, pregnancy, and parenting needs
Monthly stipend for your mobile phone and data plan
Sabbatical program
Charitable giving via our time and a financial match program
Shenanigan’s Day