Affiliate Manager

Affiliate Manager About the role We're hiring an Affiliate Manager to own a portfolio of client affiliate programs and grow them into reliable, profitable revenue channels. You'll be the day-to-day lead for your clients, the strategist behind their affiliate programmes, and a hands-on manager supporting a small, distributed team. You'll combine strong relationship management with commercial thinking, data analysis and hands-on programme execution. Key responsibilities Act as the main day-to-day point of contact for a portfolio of affiliate clients, leading regular client calls, performance reviews and business reviews. Build trusted relationships with clients and understand their commercial objectives, challenges and growth priorities. Translate client goals into clear affiliate strategies, plans and measurable KPIs. Own program performance and proactively identify opportunities, risks and areas for improvement. Confidently present performance, insights, recommendations and strategy to clients and senior stakeholders. Manage multiple client programmes effectively, balancing competing priorities and deadlines while maintaining a high standard of delivery. Strategy & growth Own and execute affiliate growth strategies across publisher recruitment, partner mix, commission structures, placements and seasonal trading periods. Recruit, activate and develop new partners across the full affiliate funnel. Build strong publisher relationships and negotiate placements, tenancies, commissions and other commercial opportunities to deliver revenue, ROI and profitability targets. Identify and develop opportunities to increase programme revenue, efficiency and incremental value. Support new business activity, including affiliate audits, pitches, proposals and growth strategies. Identify opportunities for upselling and expanding client relationships based on programme performance and client needs. Performance, data & reporting Own weekly and monthly programme reporting, ensuring clients have clear visibility of performance and progress against targets. Build forecasts and trading plans, track performance against them and provide clear, data-backed explanations for variances. Turn programme data into actionable insights and recommendations rather than simply reporting numbers. Monitor key commercial metrics including revenue, orders, commission, CPA, ROI, EPC, conversion rate, publisher contribution and programme profitability. Use data to identify opportunities for optimisation, partner development, incremental growth and improved programme efficiency. Evaluate publisher and campaign performance to ensure investment is aligned with client objectives and commercial return. Own day-to-day programme governance, including programme validation, tracking, compliance and fraud monitoring. Ensure commission structures, publisher terms and programme policies are implemented accurately and consistently. Work with networks, SaaS platforms, clients and internal teams to resolve tracking, attribution and payment issues. Maintain high standards of programme hygiene, documentation and operational delivery. Monitor publisher activity and ensure partners operate within agreed programme terms and brand guidelines. What you'll bring 3+ years' experience in affiliate, partnership or performance marketing, ideally within an agency environment. Hands-on experience managing affiliate programmes through at least one major network or SaaS platform, such as Awin, impact.com, CJ, Rakuten Advertising. A proven track record of growing affiliate programmes through publisher recruitment, partner development and commercial negotiation. Strong client management skills, with confidence presenting performance, strategy and recommendations to senior stakeholders. Strong commercial and analytical skills, with the ability to build forecasts, interpret performance data and turn insights into action. Excellent Excel or Google Sheets skills, including the ability to work comfortably with large datasets, reporting and forecasting. Experience managing, mentoring or supporting junior team members, ideally within a distributed or multi-location team. Excellent organisation and communication skills, with the ability to manage multiple clients, priorities and deadlines simultaneously. Experience managing affiliate programmes across both UK and US markets. Experience or exposure to creator/influencer affiliate partnerships, performance PR or other emerging publisher models. Understanding of incrementality, attribution models and multi-touch or performance-based commission structures. Experience across relevant verticals such as retail, ecommerce, marketplaces, health & wellness or quick commerce. WHY REALTIME WHY REALTIME Realtime is a global challenger agency that uses tech, innovation, and agility to out-punch the incumbents and bring real, effective change to the brands with which we work. Our motto is simple; “build cool s*** that wows”. To accomplish that, we lead the way with full-funnel strategic thinking, AI-backed advertising technology, and award-winning measurement strategies that take our brand partners to the next level.Realtime is built for the AI era, and is backed by Pixis – the industry leader in AI advertising and creative tech that is trusted by thousands of brands and agencies globally. As part of the Pixis team, Realtime is the first-mover on the latest and greatest in AI adtech products and testing – and we take those advancements directly to our clients.As part of the Realtime and Pixis team, candidates exploring opportunities with Realtime should expect to find a dynamic, uniquely positioned, and future-oriented organization that loves our people just as much as our clients.