Director, Business Development & New Partnerships

Director, Business Development & New Partnerships

The Director, Business Development & New Partnerships is a collaborative partner that seeks opportunities to learn and engage across the organization. The Director directs and oversees UFCU's strategic growth and new partnership development function, including market expansion, new partnership strategy, pipeline development, prospect cultivation, executive relationship development, strategic initiative execution, and cross-functional coordination in support of UFCU's long-term growth priorities.

The Director works closely with senior leaders to outline and execute organizational goals, identify and cultivate new partnership opportunities, lead expansion into targeted growth markets, and create innovative partnership strategies aligned with UFCU's business priorities. This role is responsible for developing relationships within priority markets, including higher education and the Houston Medical District, while building a robust pipeline of future strategic partnerships that advance UFCU's mission, market presence, member growth, and community impact.

The Director develops and drives a proactive, collaborative partnership between Business Development and the business, understanding market opportunities, creating engaging conversations with prospective partners, monitoring market and competitive trends, and identifying opportunities to advance UFCU's overall business strategy and vision.

The Director position is an exempt role, reports to the Vice President & Chief Lending Officer and leads the new Business Development team.

Our Credit Union was founded in 1936 and has grown to serve members throughout Texas and beyond. At UFCU, we are more than just a financial institution, and our people are more than just employees. We are dedicated to our purpose of empowering our Members to achieve financial success and build brighter futures.

In pursuit of our aspiration that UFCU is loved by millions of Members and built to thrive for generations, we are guided by our values:

• Purposefully Member-Obsessed:
  We are driven by a profound sense of empathy to deeply understand our Members' needs and preferences, what brighter futures means to them, and the obstacles in their way. We act in our Members' best interests, forever seeking to empower their financial success.
• Possibilities Reimagined:
  We are inspired to courageously experiment, learn, and iterate in pursuit of positive impact for our Members, UFCU, and coworkers. We challenge assumptions, embrace diverse perspectives, and make use of data and insights.
• Performance Excellence Rooted in Unwavering Integrity:
  We do the right thing, always. We champion teamwork, accountability, continuous improvement, and celebrate successful outcomes of others, fostering an inclusive environment of excellence and collaboration.

Strategic Partnership Leadership, Growth, & Success

• Identify, cultivate, and advance new strategic partnership opportunities that support UFCU's long-term growth priorities, member expansion, and community impact
• Lead expansion into targeted growth markets, with emphasis on higher education, the Houston Medical District, healthcare ecosystems, employer groups, and other priority community or institutional segments
• Develop and execute market-specific growth strategies to increase UFCU's visibility, relevance, and partnership opportunities within assigned markets
• Build, manage, and maintain a robust pipeline of prospective strategic partnerships using defined qualification criteria, relationship stages, opportunity tracking, and forecasting practices
• Research, identify, and prioritize prospective partners based on strategic fit, growth potential, member opportunity, community impact, and alignment with UFCU's mission and values
• Develop relationships with executive leaders, decision-makers, centers of influence, and key stakeholders within prospective partner organizations
• Create innovative partnership strategies, value propositions, and engagement models that align prospective partner needs with UFCU's products, services, capabilities, and community impact priorities
• Lead discovery conversations, needs assessments, business case development, proposal strategy, presentations, and negotiation support for prospective strategic partnerships
• Represent UFCU at industry events, market engagements, higher education forums, healthcare ecosystem events, community convenings, networking opportunities, and prospective partner meetings
• Provide market intelligence, competitive insights, and partner feedback to inform UFCU's business development strategy, product positioning, community engagement, and growth priorities
• Partner with the Director, Partnership Success & Strategic Engagement to ensure a smooth transition from new partnership development to ongoing relationship stewardship and partner success
• Establish and monitor success measures related to new partnership development, market expansion, pipeline growth, strategic initiative execution,…