Strategic Partnerships Lead

• Act as a Business Execution advisor to leadership to drive direct and indirect channel performance and initiatives, and develop and implement executive-ready updates to key stakeholders and senior management.
• Lead strategy and resolution of highly complex business execution challenges that require solid analytical skills and extensive knowledge of indirect channels, to deliver long term and large-scale solutions.
• Provide vision, direction, and expertise to senior leadership on scaling indirect channel growth within Merchant Services, delivering large-scale solutions across matrixed organization.
• Lead team meetings governance forums, and steering committee to facilitate decision making, remove blockers and support implementation of recommendations and plans.
• Strategically engage with all levels of professionals and managers across multiple lines of businesses and serve as an experienced advisor to the leadership.
• Provide direction to cross-functional teams to progress partner initiatives from intake through certification/enablement, aligning to Merchant Services operating requirements.
• Drive business development execution for the indirect sales channel by assessing current partner usage, identifying growth opportunities, and prioritizing partners aligned to Merchant Services strategy.
• Evaluate and recommend opportunities for certification to existing Merchant Services platforms, defining selection criteria, business case rationale, and expected sales impact.

• 7+ years of Business Execution, Implementation, or Strategic Planning experience, or equivalent demonstrated through one or a combination of the following: work experience, training, military experience, education
• Experience with Independent Software Vendor (ISV), referral, reseller, technology partner, or third-party partnership models, preferably in merchant services, payments, fintech, or financial services.
• Knowledge of the payments ecosystem, including merchant acquiring, gateways, integrated payments, underwriting, onboarding, risk, compliance, settlement, and servicing.
• Ability to recruit/build relationships and negotiate with 3rd parties while aligning internal partners across product, technology, risk, legal, compliance, operations, and sales.
• Experience supporting partner onboarding, certification, implementation readiness, or integration governance.
• Understanding of partner operating models, including revenue sharing, referral arrangements, governance, support, reporting, and issue escalation.
• Ability to translate business, technical, risk, and compliance requirements into clear partner-facing materials and executive-ready updates.
• Familiarity with APIs, payment gateways, developer documentation, integration testing, or technical certification processes.
• Proven ability to lead complex, cross-functional initiatives in a matrixed environment with track record of working effectively in a team environment, across all organizational levels.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, including experience preparing materials for senior leaders and external partners.
• Experience using partner performance, readiness, operational metrics, or feedback to improve partner experience.
• Experience in developing 3rd party sales and referral channels, preferably in the merchant services space.
• Demonstrated ability for self-management, problem-solving, and critical decision making in an efficient manner using strong analytical thinking.

Demonstrates extensive experience in Business Execution and Strategic Planning, with a strong focus on driving indirect channel performance and developing executive-ready updates. Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and engage with stakeholders at all levels to implement large-scale solutions in the Merchant Services and payments ecosystem.

• Business Execution
• Strategic Planning
• Payments Ecosystem Knowledge
• Partner Onboarding and Certification
• Cross-Functional Leadership

• Analytical Skills
• Partner Performance Metrics
• Revenue Sharing Models
• Risk and Compliance Management
• Integration Testing
• Technical Certification Processes
• Negotiation Skills
• Problem-Solving
• Decision Making
• Relationship Building

• Strong Communication Skills
• Presentation Skills
• Team Collaboration
• Self-Management

• Merchant Services
• Fintech
• Financial Services
• Third-Party Partnership Models
• Independent Software Vendor (ISV)

• APIs
• Payment Gateways
• Developer Documentation