Professional Affiliates Partnerships Team Lead (parental leave cover)

Who are we?

Lyka is an Australian founded pet wellness company that’s shaking up an outdated industry and paving the way for happier, healthier pets. Despite medical advancements, animal lifespans are on the decline. Today, the average pet only reaches 37% of their full potential lifespan and statistics have shown us that many suffer from dental disease, cancer, and obesity. Simply put, the status quo is not enough.

As humans, we’ve experienced firsthand the positive impact fresh wholefoods can have on our health and wellbeing, and we believe our furry friends deserve the same. We're on a mission to do just that, starting with nutritionally balanced, wholefood meals delivered direct to doors around Australia. As the world’s most sustainable pet wellness company, we’re putting pets and our planet first - one bowl at a time.

Today, we are proud to share we’ve served over 100 million meals to puppers and their parents across Australia, and this is just the beginning. Our vision is to create multiple nutritional products, adding disease prevention meals and supplements, and expand into new markets.

Currently, we have a team of 250+ pet-obsessed people, and we're continuing to grow (yes, looking at you!). These carefully selected people are dedicated to building the next generation of technology and products to help empower pet parents to take control over their pet’s wellbeing.

Our Mission

The time we share with our pets is being cut short. Despite medical advancements, they’re getting sicker earlier. They’re dying prematurely. The industry has it backwards - prioritising treating symptoms instead of addressing the root cause. That’s where we come in.

At Lyka, we take a preventative, holistic and personalised approach to pet care. We look at the full picture, factoring in the diet, lifestyle and environment of each individual animal.

We don’t stop at symptoms, instead we dig for the root cause. We create nutrition plans unique to each pet, because it’s not just about living longer, but living well too.

Our mission is to increase the lifespan of dogs and cats.

The Role

Lyka’s Partnerships (B2B2C) Channel is central to our mission to become Australia’s most recommended and most used fresh, whole-food nutrition brand.

We’re looking for an engaging people leader to manage our Professional Affiliates ("PA") team on a parental leave cover contract (12-14 mths, with potential for a permanent opportunity to open during this time). This team is responsible for building and growing referral partnerships across the pet ecosystem, including: dog breeders, pet behaviourists, pet homes and shelters, and other aligned affiliate channels.

In this role, you will lead the team to develop strong partnerships and drive customer referrals that support Lyka’s growth.

Role responsibilities

• Own and drive the long-term strategy to focus on execution and evolution of the existing PA channel while continuing to drive growth and scale.
• Lead, coach and develop a team of 6 Relationship Managers through regular 1:1s, team forums, performance reviews and structured professional development.
• Set quarterly plans and priorities for the channel, translating acquisition targets into clear initiatives, tactics and execution roadmaps.
• Oversee channel performance and operational execution via the CRM (Hubspot), ensuring adherence to targets and scalable operations.
• Own the performance narrative for the PA channel, including regular reporting, insights and reviews to track progress against targets and drive corrective action.
• Act as the primary escalation point for the team, sales ops requests, tooling issues, and any process gaps
• Partner cross-functionally and act as the face for the PA channel with Lifecycle, Sales Ops, Customer Care, Product, Engineering and Finance to deliver seamless partner experiences and resolve issues.
• Lead the design and launch of new partner programs, ensuring the right enablement is in place to support the go to market and early-stage scale.

Requirements

• 3+ years’ experience leading and scaling a team of 5+ direct reports in either sales, account management or partnerships.
• Experience in channel partnerships, B2B2C or partner led sales models, or leading an inside sales team.
• Hands-on experience with Hubspot or a similar CRM to manage performance and operations.
• Analytical and curious mindset with the ability to translate data into meaningful insights and actionable initiatives.
• Excellent relationship-building, communication, and collaboration skills - confident working cross-functionally with multiple stakeholders (internal and external).
• A genuine love for animals and a desire to help drive progression in pet wellness.

Benefits

• Work in a fast-growing start-up, experiencing what goes behind the scenes to sustain hyper-growth for a start-up with a physical product!
• Growth and Development – Lyka is growing extremely quickly, which means you will have the opportunity to experience different challenges every day and progressively acquire more responsibilities as our facility and team expands. We provide an annual L&D budget for you to continue your personal development.
• Work for a sustainability focused company - we care about the health of our dogs and our planet. We’re proud to be Australia’s only carbon-negative and plastic-negative pet company and we’re always looking at ways for us improve sustainability practices.
• Be part of a diverse top talent team, coming from widely different backgrounds and geographies.
• Up to 18 weeks of paid parental leave top-up.
• Wellbeing assistance and tools to take care of your mental and physical wellbeing so you can do your best work.
• Hybrid working - 3 days per week in office. We have pet-friendly offices and industrial kitchens in Sydney and Melbourne. Onsite days are required during your onboarding.
• Pupper parent support to care for your furry friends - flexible arrangements for new pets, pet-friendly offices, discounts, and financial allowance for dog training & care to help them live their best life!

We are committed to building inclusive and diverse teams

Lyka is an equal opportunity employer devoted to providing a working environment that embraces and values diversity and inclusion.

We celebrate diversity, are devoted to creating an inclusive environment for all staff and encourage people of all backgrounds to apply. If you have any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of application.