Senior Manager, Strategic Partnerships

With the merchant and consumer growth ambitions at Zip, we are looking for a Senior Manager, Partnerships, who will help us grow and manage our strategic, merchant and network partnerships in the US. As a Senior Manager, Partnerships, you will have a deep understanding of the payment partnerships landscape and have strong sales and relationship management skills. The role sits at the core of the organization, you will work closely with the internal and external executives, product, sales, marketing and finance teams.

The key goals for this role are to a) Execute key and strategic partnerships b) manage GTM (go-to market) functions for our existing partners) c) manage our partnership pipeline.

Develop Deep Understanding of Market & Payment Landscape to Create New Opportunities

• Pull together a consolidated view of trends across markets. Develop product and sales recommendations on new trends/opportunities
• Complete deep dives on new opportunities across key verticals. Extremely proficient in Powerpoint, Excel and Salesforce
• Leverage AI tools to surface partnership insights, automate reporting, and identify revenue optimization opportunities across the payments ecosystem
• Educate executives, and sales team on the landscape, and partnership opportunities

Manage Relationships with Strategic Partners to Grow Market Share

• Develop growth strategy and approach for our key payment partners such as networks (Visa, Mastercard), Wallets (Apple, Google) and core payments (issuer, acquirer)
• Track incentives and payouts with our network and strategic partners
• Consistently work towards revenue growth and cost optimization across our payment partners
• Work with our product teams to lead RFP's and drive the right product and commercial outcome for Zip. Understand future developments and what Zip can leverage ahead of competitors
• Collaborate with sales and marketing to develop high-impact co-marketing initiatives that will help the partner and Zip succeed
• Lead regular education, relationship building and knowledge share between partner teams, and Zip teams. Become thought leader in partnerships and payments for Zip

Manage Internal Relationships and Expectations

• Regularly align with the regional counterparts to understand intra-region trends, best practices, to get the best results for Zip
• Regularly share updates on all partnerships, opportunities, and risks with key regional stakeholders
• Ensure strong processes are built for the success of all partnerships, and merchants we bring on
• Track and analyse partner performance (merchant growth and transaction volume) on Zip and make recommendations for strategic courses of action and improvements

Impact and Collaboration

The Senior Manager, Strategic Partnerships will be a key player within the Partnerships team, driving critical initiatives across:

• Payment Strategy:
  Develop strategy and approach to optimise (process and economics) payment processing, both issuing and acquiring. Work with our payment partners, i.e., schemes, payment processors, wallet providers, etc.
• Partnership enablement:
  Assess and negotiate global deals with different channels, i.e., PSP's, eCommerce platforms, Integration layers, etc., to drive revenue via new SMB and Enterprise merchant acquisition via our distribution partners
• Partnership Management:
  Drive and track merchant KPI's with our distribution/strategic partners

• Proven Industry or Consulting Experience 5+ years of experience, with at least 4+ years in a role within strategy, partnerships, or payments - managing key relationships (Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay, issuers/acquirers)
• Analytical & Financial Acumen Strong complex modeling skills in Excel, data-driven decision-making, and ability to optimize commercial outcomes
• Demonstrated use of AI in the performance of your role including tools like ChatGPT, Notion AI, or Salesforce Einstein to improve decision-making, efficiency, or partner engagement
• Salesforce & GTM Execution Proven ability to track deals, manage partner pipelines, and execute go-to-market strategies
• Negotiation & Influence Experience leading complex deals, collaborating cross-functionally, and influencing stakeholders at all levels
• Consulting experience helpful (Deloitte, McKinsey)
• Results-Driven & Innovative Demonstrated success in driving revenue growth, scaling partnerships, and solving problems creatively
• Ability to process, analyse and think "outside the box" to get results
• Ability to collaborate with, influence & persuade others with structured thinking
• Results-orientated with a record to prove it and strong customer-first ethic

Zip is a place where you'll get out what you put in. The newness of our sector means we need to move at pace and embrace change, and our promise to you when you join the team is that you'll feel empowered and trusted to make big things happen quickly.

We want you to feel welcome and as though you have the support to be yourself, and care for yourself ause it's important to us…