Business Development Leader, Germany & CEE - Digital Services

The Business Development Leader for Digital Payments is responsible for driving growth, market positioning, and ecosystem partnerships across digital payments for banks, domestic schemes, wallets, etc. The role defines and executes go-to-market strategies that increasingly connect payments, digital identity, and trusted credentials within wallets, supporting seamless, secure, and compliant digital transactions, via tokenization and digital credential issuance.

This role reflects the industry shift whereby digital wallets and account-to-account / RTP evolve from pure payment instruments into trusted interfaces for identity, authentication, and access, enabling frictionless customer journeys across commerce and digital services.

Location
:
Berlin / Frankfurt

The Business Development Leader for Digital Payments is responsible for driving growth, market positioning, and ecosystem partnerships across digital payments for banks, domestic schemes, wallets, etc. The role defines and executes go-to-market strategies that increasingly connect payments, digital identity, and trusted credentials within wallets, supporting seamless, secure, and compliant digital transactions, via tokenization and digital credential issuance.

This role reflects the industry shift whereby digital wallets and account-to-account / RTP evolve from pure payment instruments into trusted interfaces for identity, authentication, and access, enabling frictionless customer journeys across commerce and digital services.

Location
:
Berlin / Frankfurt

• - Define and execute the go-to-market strategy, aligned with business growth objectives and the digital identity roadmap with $10M+ sales target per year
• - Drive revenue growth across digital card issuing, tokenization, wallet provisioning, and identity-enabled payment experiences (authentication, Strong Customer Authentication, digital identity) at 35%+ per year
• - Articulating an end-to-end value proposition spanning payment security, tokenization, authentication, and digital identity services embedded in wallets that would resonate with specific client segments and needs - banks, digital wallets, payment schemes, etc.

• - Build and manage strategic partnerships with issuer processors, payment networks, fintechs, mobile wallet providers, and digital identity ecosystem players, es well as government and regulatory initiatives e.g. for domestic schemes or CBDCs
• - Ensure full value realization for the clients from the whole suite of solutions provided by IST and execute on value-based commercial agreement.
• - Position the organization as a trusted enabler of next-generation digital wallets, card management systems, and scheme evolution, acting as a bridge between payments, identity, and highest-grade security.

• - Drive market intelligence and competitive analysis across based on the payment trends and competitive dynamics in the region.
• - Increase market visibility and credibility through customer engagements, industry events, and ecosystem initiatives.
• - Collaborate with Product Management to shape roadmaps, integrating payments and reflecting trends such as agentic commerce, stable coins, scheme interoperability, reusable identity, FIDO authentication, and wallet-based access to services.

• - Strong understanding of payments ecosystems, including card issuing, tokenization, issuer processors, and payment networks.
• - Proven experience with digital wallets and/or payment schemes (card, A2A), including mobile wallets, credential storage, and user authentication.
• - Solid knowledge of digital identity technologies, including identity verification, biometrics, cryptography, and regulatory identity requirements is preferred.
• - Ability to deliver value via providing customers with platform and ecosystem solutions across complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
• - Strategic mindset combined with hands-on execution in global, matrixed organizations.

• - Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Engineering, or related field; MBA preferred.
• - Typically 10+ years of experience in business development, strategy, or partnerships within payments, fintech, digital identity, or security domains.
• - Experience working in regulated environments (e.g. SCA, Tokenization, Issuer Processing, KYC, AML, digital identity frameworks) is a strong advantage.