SENIOR PERFORMANCE MARKETING MANAGER, AFFILIATES & REFERRALS
Posted on: January 10, 2026 | Work from Anywhere
Company Name: Circle | Application Deadline: Open Until Filled
Team: Growth Marketing | Reports To: Marketing Leadership
Division: Marketing / Growth | Employment Type: Full-Time
Location: Remote-Global (Work from Anywhere)
Schedule: Remote | Experience Level: 05 + Years
ABOUT CIRCLE
Circle is building the world's leading all-in-one platform for online communities, revolutionizing how creators, coaches, educators, and businesses connect with their audiences. Our comprehensive platform seamlessly integrates engaging discussions, live streaming capabilities, dynamic events, real-time chat, educational courses, and integrated payment processing—all unified in one place, all under their own brand identity.
As a proud fully remote company, Circle comprises approximately 200 talented team members (and growing!) spanning over 30 countries worldwide. Our mission centers on identifying exceptional individuals across the globe, empowering them to produce their career-best work, and simultaneously creating meaningful, life-changing impact for every team member.
We embrace a results-oriented culture where we don't monitor hours but maintain exceptionally high performance standards. Our workflow thrives on asynchronous collaboration across multiple time zones, supported by comprehensive documentation practices that keep everyone aligned and informed. We trust our team members to manage their time effectively while delivering outstanding outcomes.
Twice annually, we unite our entire global team in spectacular destinations worldwide for comprehensive company offsites. Our retreat history includes unforgettable experiences in Turkey, Portugal, Mexico, Thailand, Colombia, Italy, Ireland, and numerous other breathtaking locations, with exciting new destinations continuously being planned for future gatherings. These offsites provide invaluable opportunities to build deep connections, align on our vision, and celebrate our collective success.
Check out our Careers page for more about the exceptional experience of working at Circle.
ABOUT THE ROLE: A STRATEGIC GROWTH OPPORTUNITY
We're seeking an exceptional Senior Performance Marketing Manager to own and scale our customer referral, affiliate, and revenue-share programs—three critical growth levers that represent one of Circle's biggest strategic bets for 2026 and beyond.
This role oversees what is already one of our most important acquisition channels, with ambitious plans to transform it into something even more powerful. Your primary goal will be to seriously modernize and accelerate growth across these programs, turning them into predictable, scalable, and massive customer acquisition engines that drive meaningful ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) growth.
This is a unique role that combines high-level strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, and hands-on daily execution. You'll build a comprehensive vision and playbook for these programs, collaborate across the entire company to make that vision a reality, all while managing day-to-day partner relationships, analyzing performance data, and launching campaigns to support adjacent marketing initiatives.
If you're deeply analytical, genuinely growth-minded, and passionate about working with customers, creators, and partners to drive mutual success, this role is perfect for you. You'll have the autonomy to shape the future of a critical growth channel while making a measurable impact on Circle's trajectory.
WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING
Build a World-Class Holistic Affiliate and Referral Marketing Strategy
You'll determine, pitch, and implement core strategic changes to the program that will dramatically scale impact and improve efficiency. This includes:
Modernizing the Legacy Affiliate Program - Take our existing affiliate program to unprecedented new ARR heights through strategic optimization, partner enablement, and program innovation. ARR is the core metric you'll own, with the ambitious goal of scaling this program into one of Circle's biggest revenue drivers. You'll analyze what's working, identify gaps and opportunities, redesign program structures, optimize commission models, and implement best practices from leading SaaS affiliate programs.
Building a Brand-New Customer Referral Engine - Design, launch, and scale a customer referral program from the ground up, turning our satisfied customers into powerful advocates and acquisition channels. You'll develop referral incentive structures, create seamless user experiences, build tracking and attribution systems, and scale this into one of Circle's biggest acquisition channels. This is a greenfield opportunity to build something exceptional.
Collaborating on Revenue Share Agreements - Partner closely with the Brand Partnerships team to make revenue share agreements a core component of creator partnerships on a go-forward basis. This collaboration will help massively scale this P&L line and unlock exciting new opportunities for strategic creator partnerships that benefit both Circle and our partners.
Own All Affiliate, Referral and Revenue-Share Operations and Reporting
As the complete owner of these programs, you'll "be in the weeds" executing the tactical plan every single day to drive measurable growth. This includes:
- Managing day-to-day operations across all three programs with meticulous attention to detail
- Building comprehensive reporting dashboards that track key metrics, performance trends, and attribution
- Analyzing program performance data to identify optimization opportunities and make data-driven decisions
- Managing budgets and ensuring efficient CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) across all programs
- Setting up tracking, attribution, and measurement systems to accurately measure ROI
- Developing and implementing testing frameworks to continuously improve program performance
- Creating scalable processes and documentation as the programs grow
Improve Relationships with Current Affiliates and Recruit New Ones
With a particular emphasis on larger creators and strategic partners, you'll serve as one of their key points of contact at Circle (alongside our partnerships team) and act as a trusted guide helping them improve their own referral strategies. This involves:
- Building genuine, long-term relationships with top-performing affiliates and partners
- Understanding their audiences, content strategies, and business models to provide tailored support
- Creating enablement materials, promotional assets, and content that make it easy for partners to promote Circle
- Recruiting high-potential new affiliates through outbound outreach and strategic relationship building
- Developing tiered partner programs that reward top performers with enhanced benefits
- Hosting regular partner calls, webinars, and training sessions to drive engagement
Mobilize Partners to Advocate on Behalf of Circle
You'll activate partners across multiple marketing channels to support relevant marketing initiatives such as product launches, seasonal campaigns, and strategic announcements. This includes:
- Coordinating promotional campaigns with partners around key company milestones
- Creating compelling campaign briefs and promotional materials that drive partner participation
- Developing co-marketing opportunities that create win-win value for Circle and partners
- Building a calendar of partner activations that support broader marketing objectives
- Measuring and reporting on campaign performance to demonstrate ROI
WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL
Cultural and Communication Requirements
- Strong alignment with Circle's core values—find our values on our career page if you haven't read up on them yet
- English language proficiency at CEFR Level C2 / ILR Level 5 (native or near-native fluency in spoken, written, and reading comprehension)
Professional Experience
- 5+ years of proven experience in performance marketing, with a demonstrable track record of successfully growing an affiliate program, customer referral program, and/or revenue share program—ideally for a SaaS business or consumer subscription service
- Direct experience managing partner relationships at scale, from recruitment through optimization
- Proven ability to design, implement, and scale referral or affiliate programs that drive meaningful revenue impact
- Experience working cross-functionally with sales, partnerships, product, and analytics teams
Core Competencies
Exceptionally Organized, Proactive, and Always on Top of Things - Affiliate marketing and revenue share programs involve numerous moving pieces, complex partner relationships, detailed tracking requirements, and time-sensitive opportunities. The details genuinely add up and can make or break program success. You must be someone who thrives on organization, never drops balls, and proactively addresses issues before they become problems.
Genuinely Passionate About Affiliate Marketing - You actively keep up with the evolving affiliate marketing landscape, follow industry thought leaders, understand emerging trends and technologies, and continuously educate yourself on best practices. This isn't just a job for you—it's a discipline you're excited about mastering.
Driven to Win - You get genuinely energized seeing metrics move in the right direction and you're always looking for an edge to improve performance. You're competitive with yourself, constantly pushing to beat previous benchmarks and find new growth opportunities. Hitting targets feels good; exceeding them feels even better.
Strong Data Analysis and Storytelling Capabilities - You have a strong handle on data analysis and are a compelling data storyteller, able to derive meaningful insights from complex datasets and share powerful recommendations that drive action. You can translate numbers into narratives that inspire stakeholders and inform strategic decisions.
Strategic Yet Execution-Focused - You can zoom out to think strategically about program vision and structure, then zoom in to execute tactical initiatives with precision. You don't just make plans—you make things happen.
Creative Problem-Solver - You approach challenges with creativity, thinking outside the box to find innovative solutions that drive growth. You're not satisfied with "the way it's always been done."
Relationship Builder - You excel at building authentic relationships with diverse partners, understanding their motivations, and creating mutually beneficial outcomes. Partners genuinely enjoy working with you.
BONUS QUALIFICATIONS
While not required, the following qualifications will strengthen your application:
- Background in SaaS or other digital consumer subscription-based business models, understanding the unique challenges and opportunities of recurring revenue businesses
- Background in the creator economy space and/or a genuine passion for supporting creators, understanding creator business models, audience building strategies, and the creator landscape
- Hands-on experience using PartnerStack or similar affiliate marketing platforms (Impact, Refersion, Everflow, Tapfiliate, etc.)
- Experience with marketing automation tools and CRM systems
- Understanding of attribution modeling and multi-touch attribution challenges
- Prior experience launching programs from scratch and scaling them to meaningful revenue contributions
COMPENSATION & EARNINGS POTENTIAL
$120,000 - $140,000 USD OTE (On-Target Earnings)
This role includes variable compensation structured at approximately 85% base salary and 15% variable bonus, aligning your compensation with program performance and growth objectives.
The cash compensation range shown is a starting point. In addition to equity participation, comprehensive benefits, and perks, your cash compensation is subject to annual review and increase on a once-per-year basis based on performance, contribution, and program impact.
Your variable compensation will be tied to clear, measurable objectives around program growth, ARR contribution, and efficiency metrics, ensuring your success is directly rewarded.
COMPREHENSIVE BENEFITS & PERKS
Work Flexibility & Autonomy
- Fully remote position—work from anywhere in the world with reliable internet connectivity
- Complete autonomy and trust to manage your programs—we care about outcomes and results over activity metrics or hours logged
- Asynchronous collaboration tools and processes that respect your time zone and optimal working hours
- Freedom to structure your day in ways that maximize your productivity and creativity
Generous Time Off & Work-Life Integration
- 35 days of paid time off annually for all employees to recharge, travel, pursue hobbies, and maintain sustainable work-life balance
- Paid sabbatical opportunity after 5 years of service to pursue personal growth, extended travel, learning opportunities, or complete rejuvenation
- Parental leave programs for parents expanding their families or just starting one, supporting you through major life transitions
- No expectation to work or respond during your time off—we genuinely value rest, disconnection, and personal time
Financial & Professional Development
- Generous U.S.-benchmarked compensation and meaningful startup equity no matter where you are in the world, ensuring global pay equity
- Annual compensation reviews with increase potential based on performance and contribution
- Annual bonus potential for roles that don't already receive variable income or commission
- Learning & development stipend to help you level up your professional marketing skills through courses, conferences, certifications, books, or coaching
- Access to cutting-edge marketing tools, technologies, and resources to excel in your role
Health & Wellness Support
- Awesome medical coverage with 100% premium coverage for you and your family, or medical reimbursement options where applicable based on your location
- Comprehensive health benefits designed to support your physical and mental wellbeing
- Home office stipend to help you create an optimal remote work environment with proper technology, ergonomic furniture, and professional setup
Company Culture & Connection
- Company retreats twice annually—the Circle team gets together for fully paid company retreats in incredible places around the world! We've hosted past retreats in Colombia, Portugal, Mexico, Turkey, Thailand, Italy, and Ireland, with more planned on the horizon
- Virtual team events, marketing offsites, and social opportunities to build deep connections across the global team
- Collaborative, supportive culture where your ideas are valued and your contributions celebrated
- Transparent communication with regular all-hands meetings and accessible leadership
Your specific role, geographic location, and unique circumstances may affect certain benefits offerings.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION
As a fully remote international company, diversity is fundamentally baked into Circle's DNA and shapes everything we do. Our CEO, Sid Yadav, articulates our hiring mission with clarity and purpose: "Let's find talent in underserved and under-represented corners of the world, set them up to do the best work of their lives, and in turn, change their life."
To achieve this transformative hiring mission, we offer competitive U.S.-benchmarked compensation no matter where someone's located in the world, and we proactively seek candidates who expand representation of backgrounds, cultures, perspectives, and lived experiences in our teams.
We believe diverse perspectives strengthen our marketing strategies, enhance our understanding of global creator communities, improve our decision-making processes, and amplify our positive impact on the diverse communities we serve worldwide.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
Circle is an equal opportunity employer committed to building an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws in any jurisdiction where we operate.
If you require any accommodations during the recruitment process to perform at your best, please let us know at any stage of the process, and we will work with you confidentially and collaboratively to meet your needs and ensure an equitable candidate experience.
PRIVACY & CANDIDATE DATA USAGE
At Circle, we are committed to protecting your personal information throughout the application process and beyond. As a job applicant, the personal data you provide is collected and processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
Information We Collect:
We collect the following categories of personal information from job applicants:
- Contact information (such as name, email address, phone number)
- Employment history and qualifications
- Education history
- References and any other information you choose to share with us during the application process
Purpose of Collection:
We collect this information for the following purposes:
- To assess your qualifications and suitability for the Senior Performance Marketing Manager position
- To communicate with you during the recruitment process
- To comply with legal and regulatory obligations
Your Rights Under GDPR and CCPA:
You have the following rights regarding your personal information:
- The right to request access to the personal information we hold about you
- The right to request the deletion of your personal information, subject to certain legal exceptions
- The right to opt out of the sale of your personal information (Note: We do not sell personal information)
For more information about how we handle your personal data or to exercise your rights, please refer to our full Privacy Policy.
By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this privacy notice.
WHY JOIN CIRCLE AS SENIOR PERFORMANCE MARKETING MANAGER?
This is a rare opportunity to own and shape a critical growth channel at a high-growth SaaS company during a pivotal moment. You'll have the autonomy to build programs from scratch, the resources to scale them meaningfully, and the support of a talented team committed to your success.
You'll work with fascinating creators and partners, solve complex attribution and optimization challenges, and see the direct impact of your work on Circle's growth trajectory. If you're passionate about performance marketing, energized by growth challenges, and excited about the creator economy, this role offers the perfect combination of strategic impact and hands-on execution.
Ready to join Circle? Apply now for the Senior Performance Marketing Manager, Affiliates & Referrals position and drive transformative growth.
Check out our Careers page at https://circle.so/careers for more about working at Circle.
Circle is committed to creating an inclusive, equitable workplace where everyone can thrive. We encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds and experiences.
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