Partnerships Manager

About the Role

This is AppLovin’s first dedicated partnerships hire in China, sitting on the E-Commerce Partnerships team. You’ll build our partner ecosystem from the ground up — identifying, signing, and activating the agencies, platforms, payment gateways, and key individuals that drive advertiser growth in the China cross-border DTC market.

Your core mandate is commercial: generate a steady pipeline of marketing leads through partners, and convert that into advertiser revenue on AppLovin’s platform. You’ll work closely with regional leadership and global BD to shape how AppLovin goes to market through the partner channel in China.

What Success Looks Like

• Partners are actively generating qualified marketing leads for AppLovin’s e-commerce advertisers
• Partner-sourced advertisers are onboarded, retained, and growing spend on the platform
• You’ve built a healthy, diversified partner ecosystem in China that compounds over time

What You’ll Do

• Map and prioritize the China partner landscape — cross-border agencies, service providers, payment gateways, KOLs/industry influencers, and ecosystem platforms relevant to DTC advertisers
• Prospect, pitch, and close partnership agreements with high-value partners
• Structure partnerships so that partners actively generate marketing leads and onboard new advertisers to AppLovin’s platform
• Manage partner relationships post-signing: set expectations, run QBRs, and hold partners accountable to lead and revenue targets
• Serve as the connective tissue between partners and internal teams — coordinate with BD, Account Management, and Operations to ensure smooth advertiser onboarding, campaign setup, and ongoing support
• Advocate for partners and their clients internally, flagging issues and driving resolution across teams to deliver a best-in-class customer experience
• Work with Marketing to develop partner enablement materials and co-marketing programs
• Feed market intelligence back to global teams — what advertisers need, how the China DTC landscape is evolving, and where the whitespace is

What We’re Looking For

• 4+ years in partnerships, business development, or channel sales — with meaningful time focused on China cross-border DTC or e-commerce
• Strong existing relationships in the China cross-border ecosystem: agencies, platforms, or service providers serving DTC brands going global
• Proven track record of closing partner deals and driving commercial outcomes through those partnerships (not just relationship management)
• Fluent in Mandarin; professional proficiency in English
• Comfortable operating with ambiguity and building structure in a new market function
• Based in China, with willingness to travel domestically and occasionally internationally

Preferred

• Experience in performance marketing, mobile advertising, or ad tech
• Existing network with cross-border payment providers (e.g., PingPong, Airwallex, LianLian)
• Experience at a fast-growing US or global tech company expanding into China