The Affiliate & Creator Marketing Lead joins Runpod's Marketing team, a lean, high-output team responsible for how Runpod shows up across every channel developers and infrastructure buyers touch. This role reports to the Director of Growth & Demand Gen and works closely with Growth, Content, Product Marketing, PR/Comms, DevRel, and Sales. Affiliate is already one of Runpod's most productive acquisition channels. It has historically been supported by agency partners (Advertise Purple, FNF), both of which are winding down as this hire brings affiliate and creator management fully in-house; PartnerStack remains our platform of record. A separate influencer motion has run out of PR/Comms as one-off creator activations (sponsored newsletters, YouTube drops) measured on impressions and clicks; that motion is now being folded under Demand Gen, with the mandate to shift it from an awareness metric to a signups-and-revenue one.
We're looking for a hands-on Affiliate & Creator Marketing Lead to own and scale Runpod's affiliate program while completing the consolidation of our influencer and creator relationships into that same motion. This is a mid-senior role for someone who thrives on relationship-building, incentive design, and finding the next great creator to partner with before anyone else does. You'll grow the affiliate program's reach, deepen relationships with existing affiliates, scout and sign new creators across the internet, fold the right ones into the affiliate program with properly structured incentives, and turn one-off sponsored placements into an ongoing, performance-based partnership. You'll also partner with DevRel on community and creator discovery, and support Product Marketing in extending the reach of the executive team's personal accounts.
You're inheriting two programs with real traction, not a blank page: the affiliate program already drives meaningful signups and revenue every week, and the influencer program has already landed real creators and real impressions. What's missing is the connective tissue: a single motion where creators are incentivized on signups and revenue instead of one-off sponsorship fees, where the best affiliates and the best creators are treated as the same kind of partner, and where finding the next great partner is a repeatable process instead of an ad hoc one. Get this right and it becomes one of Runpod's most efficient and most visible growth channels.
Responsibilities:Affiliate Program Growth- Own and scale Runpod's affiliate program end to end, taking over agency-managed relationships (Advertise Purple, FNF) as those contracts wind down and bringing affiliate management fully in-house.
- Strengthen relationships with existing high-performing affiliates through proactive outreach, better communication, and improved support.
- Monitor affiliate performance and program health (signups, fraud signals, engagement) in PartnerStack, our platform of record, and partner with Marketing Ops to keep tracking and attribution accurate.
- Continuously test and refine commission structures, tiering, and incentives (challenges, competitions, utilization-based kickbacks) to maximize both signups and program integrity.
Creator & Influencer Discovery, and Program Consolidation- Complete the transition of the existing influencer program from one-off, impressions-measured sponsorships into a performance-based motion inside the affiliate program.
- Build a repeatable process for finding new creators across YouTube, X, TikTok, LinkedIn, Discord, and other platforms who reach developers, AI/ML practitioners, and technical builders.
- Partner with DevRel to surface creators and community members already engaging with Runpod through hackathons, meetups, and community programs as a sourcing pipeline for the affiliate program.
- Evaluate and prioritize creators on audience fit, reach, and content quality rather than follower count or impressions alone.
- Build relationships with promising creators and bring the right ones into the affiliate program with properly structured, signups-and-revenue-based incentives.
Partnerships & Virality- Design and pitch partnership concepts (challenges, giveaways, co-branded content, creator takeovers) built to maximize organic reach and shareability.
- Partner with Content, Product Marketing, PR/Comms, and DevRel to keep creator content technically accurate, on-brand, and consistent with existing sponsorship relationships.
- Track what's working across creator content and double down on the formats and partners driving the most signups and revenue, not just impressions.
Employee Content & Executive Amplification- Partner with employees who want to build a public presence, helping them find topics, formats, and cadences that fit their voice.
- Build lightweight systems (briefs, prompts, content calendars) that make it easy for non-marketers to consistently publish.
- Support Product Marketing in growing the reach and engagement of the executive team's personal accounts, bringing an affiliate and creator lens (amplification tactics, timing, distribution) to the content PMM already develops for them.
- Work with Content and Product Marketing to ensure employee content ladders up to Runpod's broader narrative and product priorities.
Reporting and Operations- Own a reporting cadence for affiliate and creator performance (signups, spend, ROI, program growth).
- Deliver regular updates and recommendations to marketing leadership.
- Manage contracts, payouts, and day-to-day coordination with affiliates, creators, and supporting platforms (e.g., PartnerStack).
Requirements:- 4+ years of experience in affiliate marketing, influencer or creator partnerships, community, or growth marketing, with direct ownership of a program end to end.
- Proven track record of finding, recruiting, and managing affiliates or creators.
- Comfort with incentive design and creator economics.
- Experience with affiliate platforms (PartnerStack, Awin, or similar).
- Strong relationship-building and communication skills.
- Analytical skills, comfortable pulling and interpreting performance data without hand-holding.
- Ability to work cross-functionally with content, growth, and sales in a fast-moving environment.
- Genuine fluency in internet and creator culture, you know what makes content spread and can spot a good creator before they blow up.
- Successful completion of a background check.
Preferred:- Experience marketing a developer tool, cloud infrastructure, or B2B SaaS product.
- Familiarity with the AI/ML ecosystem and ability to speak credibly to a technical audience.
- Experience coaching non-marketer employees on content and personal brand, or amplifying executive/founder content on behalf of a marketing team.
- Experience with HubSpot or similar CRM and analytics platforms.
- Comfort working in a lean team where ownership is broad and ambiguity is the norm.
What You'll Receive:- The competitive base pay for this position ranges from $115,000 - $180,000 USD. This salary range may be inclusive of several career levels at Runpod and will be narrowed during the interview process based on a number of factors, including the candidate's experience, qualifications, and location.
- Meaningful equity in a fast-growing company- everyone on the team receives stock options - your impact drives our growth, and you share in the upside.
- Generous medical, dental & vision plans.
- Flexible PTO- take the time you need to recharge.
- Most roles are remote work first with an inclusive, collaborative teams utilizing slack as the main form of internal communication.
- Join a passionate team on the cutting edge of AI infrastructure - where culture, learning, and ownership are at the heart of how we scale.
- $1,200 Home Office & Equipment Stipend-We set you up for success from day one with gear and support to create your ideal workspace.
