MEA Senior Director, Partnerships & Biz Development

Circle; Dubai; On-site; AED 600,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Circle, based in Dubai, seeks a Senior Director of Business Development & Partnerships to lead MEA expansion. You will identify high-value opportunities, negotiate deals with financial institutions, fintechs, and PSPs, and own ongoing partner success across the region.

The role emphasizes strategic dealmaking, post-close partner management, and leveraging AI tools for market research, forecasting, and relationship growth. Travel across MEA is expected.

Qualifications

• 13+ years of experience in business development or partner management in financial services, fintech, or digital assets.
• Proven ability to close complex, high-value deals and grow partnerships post-close.
• Deep understanding of MEA's financial ecosystem including mobile money, cross-border payments, and fintech trends.
• Strong network of financial institutions, fintechs and enterprise partners across the region.
• Business-level English required; Arabic or French is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute business development strategy across Africa to drive adoption of Circle's payment solutions.
• Lead negotiations and deal structuring for strategic partnerships with PSPs, fintechs, mobile money providers and payments businesses.
• Develop and validate commercial models including financial modelling and forecasting; apply AI-augmented tools to improve planning and decision-making.
• Build and execute go-to-market strategies from initial conversations to signed agreements.
• Provide market intelligence to inform product and business strategy using traditional research and AI tools.
• Own post-close relationships with MEA partners; set KPIs and growth targets.
• Drive partner activation and time-to-revenue; ensure onboarding/integration.
• Conduct regular business reviews to assess performance and identify growth opportunities.
• Coordinate with product, compliance, legal, and marketing teams to support partners.
• Track partner performance using CRM and analytics; leverage AI-augmented CRM for forecasting.

Skills

Business development

Partner management

MEA market knowledge

Negotiation

Strategic dealmaking

AI tools & data analysis

Cross-cultural communication

English proficiency

Tools

CRM systems

AI tools

Data analytics platforms

Job description

Circle, based in Dubai, seeks a Senior Director of Business Development & Partnerships to lead MEA expansion. You will identify high-value opportunities, negotiate deals with financial institutions, fintechs, and PSPs, and own ongoing partner success across the region.

The role emphasizes strategic dealmaking, post-close partner management, and leveraging AI tools for market research, forecasting, and relationship growth. Travel across MEA is expected.