Partnerships & Influencer Marketer (First Hire)

About the Role This is a founding role for a Partnerships & Influencer Marketer at a bootstrapped consumer fintech company focused on credit building. You'll build the creator and affiliate acquisition channel entirely from scratch, owning the full deal lifecycle — from sourcing and negotiation through measurement and optimization — at a small, fast-moving company where this channel is already showing strong signal. What You'll Do Source, vet, and negotiate deals with creators, influencers, and affiliate partners, driving toward performance-based and hybrid CPA structures. Own end-to-end partnership outcomes, including channel CPA and acquisition volume — not just deal count. Secure usage rights and whitelisting permissions in every deal, then feed creator content into paid social as Spark Ads and whitelisted placements alongside performance marketing teammates. Build and maintain a high-velocity pipeline from first contact through live placement, managing relationships and keeping deals on schedule. Read attribution and incrementality data (promo codes, vanity URLs, holdouts) to reprice deals, cut underperformers, and double down on what's working. Create scalable systems — deal templates, standard terms, partner scorecards, and processes — that allow this function to grow beyond one person. Extend brand reach through secondary channels including organic social, co-marketing, podcasts, and earned media with finance publishers, always with acquisition outcomes as the north star. What We're Looking For 4+ years in influencer, affiliate, partnerships, or performance-partnership marketing at a consumer startup, with a demonstrated track record of deals that drove measurable acquisition. Proven ability to negotiate and close performance-based deals, including moving partners from flat-fee to CPA or hybrid structures. Fluency in performance data — CPA reports, incrementality readouts, attribution — with the ability to act on insights and defend channel numbers. Hands-on experience with creator content as paid media: whitelisting, Spark Ads, usage rights negotiation, and what makes in-feed creator assets convert. Experience structuring and scaling affiliate and performance partnership programs with publishers, comparison sites, and communities. Comfortable using AI tools to stay efficient and operate independently in a lean environment. Self-starter who thrives in ambiguity and takes full ownership of outcomes. Bonus: Experience in consumer fintech, credit, lending, or other regulated/consideration-heavy categories. Bonus: Hands-on experience with Meta Ads Manager or TikTok Ads Manager. Bonus: Experience building a partnerships or influencer function from the ground up. Compensation & Benefits Salary range: $120,000 – $200,000 USD annually. Visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Location Fully remote within the United States.