Partnership Manager in Winnipeg

We are looking for an experienced Strategic Partnerships & Affiliate Consultant to help us build two meaningful revenue channels:

• Strategic brand partnerships
• A curated affiliate/partner program

This is not an influencer-management role. We want someone who understands how to turn intellectual property, education, physical products, courses, content, authority, and a highly targeted audience into thoughtful, long-term commercial relationships while protecting the trust built.

You will lead negotiations alongside Maria Killam Inc. leadership and help create a strong partnership deck positioning Maria as an expert and strategic brand partner, not simply an influencer.

Strategic brand partnerships:

• Develop proposals and commercial structures.
• Help package and price opportunities.
• Build and prioritize a pipeline of approximately 50–100 aligned companies and identify the appropriate decision makers.
• Develop compelling partnership concepts rather than generic sponsorship pitches.
• Identify the brand categories and companies with the strongest strategic fit.
• Determine what Maria can uniquely offer prospective partners.
• Conduct thoughtful outreach and secure qualified conversations.

You will help develop and execute a partnership strategy for Maria Killam Inc. Potential opportunities may include long-term partnerships, sponsorships, educational collaborations, product collaborations, licensing, brand ambassadorships, video/media partnerships, events, and other creative commercial relationships.

The Maria Killam Affiliate Program:

• Document the program so routine administration can eventually be transferred to our internal team.
• Develop program terms and promotional guidelines.
• Identify and recruit an initial group of strong founding affiliates.
• Create the application, onboarding, tracking, reporting, and payment processes.
• Recommend the affiliate structure, commissions, attribution, policies, and approval criteria.
• Recommend the appropriate technology without overbuilding the system.
• Build an ongoing affiliate-recruitment pipeline.

We want to build a curated affiliate program around our current courses, products, and educational ecosystem. The objective is not thousands of low-quality affiliates; we want credible partners whose audiences genuinely align with Maria’s work.

Potential affiliates could include:

• Designers
• Decorators
• Design educators
• Renovation professionals
• Home and design creators
• Professional organizations
• Complementary brands
• Selected Maria Killam students or graduates with established audiences

A clear operating plan our team can eventually manage.

What we want to see in the first 90 days:

• Specific concepts for high-priority prospects.
• Qualified outreach and conversations underway.
• A prioritized brand-partner pipeline.
• Clear partnership positioning and target categories.
• Strong commercial instincts.
• Strong relationships with marketing, brand, partnerships, and/or licensing decision makers.
• Experience developing creative partnership concepts rather than simply selling advertising inventory.
• An understanding of brand equity, intellectual property, affiliate economics, and attribution.

Who we're looking for:

We need someone who can identify opportunities, develop relationships, and create revenue, then build the systems that make those channels repeatable. Excellent presentation and negotiation skills are required, along with experience working with established consumer brands and building or growing affiliate/partner programs.

7+ years of relevant experience is necessary, with demonstrated experience originating and closing meaningful commercial partnerships. You may have worked in strategic partnerships, business development, brand partnerships, licensing, affiliate marketing, or partnership marketing. More important than the title is your track record.

You should have:

• Experience in interior design, home improvement, furnishings, lifestyle, publishing, or consumer products would be particularly valuable.
• Experience representing an established expert, author, educator, media personality, or founder-led brand is also highly relevant.

This role is probably not a fit if your experience is primarily social-media management, PR without revenue responsibility, gifted collaborations, or affiliate-software administration without partner recruitment or business development.

This is initially a fractional consulting engagement. Compensation will include a monthly retainer plus success-based compensation on new strategic partnership revenue originated through the engagement. Final structure will depend on experience, network, and expected time commitment.

About Maria:

Maria Killam pioneered virtual colour consulting in 2010, long before the industry caught on. She's trained thousands of design professionals since, guided more than 10,000 virtual colour and design projects, and is the creator of The Killam Colour System® and the Understanding Undertones® Neutral Colour Wheel.