Director, Strategic Partnerships

OpenKrill; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) with 4% match and immediate vR'

Early equity

Internet stipend

Learning stipend

Office set-up stipend

Insurance (medical, dental, vision)

Flexible PTO

Paid national holidays

Global parental leave

Job summary

VGS is seeking a Director, Strategic Partnerships - Payments & Product to expand its partner ecosystem and shape product strategy. You will build relationships with card networks, investors, cloud providers, and other players to drive partnership-led opportunities and influence the product roadmap.

This role blends external engagement with internal collaboration, leading a team, managing a portfolio of strategic partnerships, and steering deals from strategy to launch and ongoing management.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in strategic partnerships, fintech BD, product strategy, or payments consulting.
• Understanding of payments ecosystem-issuers, processors, card networks, wallets, and commerce platforms.
• Ability to connect technical product functionality with partner and market needs.
• Demonstrated success managing complex partnerships and cross-functional projects.
• Comfortable in ambiguous, fast-paced environments with shifting priorities and emerging technologies.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with a strategic mindset and a bias toward execution.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of Strategic Partnerships professionals.
• Own and grow a portfolio of VGS's most strategic partnerships across payments and commerce technology.
• Develop and execute partnership strategies that advance VGS's company and product priorities.
• Lead complex, product-oriented partnerships that require deep coordination across Product, Engineering, Legal, Sales, and Executive Leadership.
• Source, evaluate, prioritize, and develop new strategic partnerships, with a focus on opportunities that can influence the product roadmap.
• Lead negotiations for strategic commercial and product agreements, including structures and go-to-market models.
• Drive partnerships from strategy through launch and ongoing management.
• Build senior-level relationships with partner executives and act as a trusted strategic counterpart.
• Establish clear goals, rhythms, and success metrics for key partnerships.
• Act as the voice of strategic partners within VGS, informing product and company decisions.
• Influence product strategy by developing a point of view on tokenization, payments infrastructure, and next-gen commerce.
• Identify emerging ecosystem shifts and translate them into actionable recommendations.
• Represent VGS externally with senior leaders across payments and tech ecosystems.

Skills

Strategic partnerships

Fintech BD

Product strategy

Payments ecosystem

Cross-functional leadership

Communication

Education

BA/BS degree

Tools

APIs & integration

Job description

About VGS

VGS is building the trust infrastructure for a new era of commerce. As commerce becomes agentic, payments are increasing dramatically in volume, speed, and complexity, and the companies driving that shift need a foundation they can fully trust.

That's where VGS comes in. We're the world's leader in payment tokenization, trusted by the most innovative AI and Fortune 500 companies, merchants, banks, and fintechs to power modern payments and agentic commerce. We store more than 9 billion tokens and process more than 10 billion monthly interactions, touching a third of all e-commerce. That scale isn't incidental. It's why leading companies embed our universal token vault and credential management platform directly into their stack, taming the complexity of payment data so they can move faster.

Come build the platform that enables modern payments for the world's largest companies. We're helping businesses unlock new possibilities in an industry that never stops moving. And that takes exceptional people.

About the Role

The Director, Strategic Partnerships - Payments & Product will lead the expansion of VGS's strategic partner ecosystem - building relationships with card networks, investors, cloud providers, and emerging payments infrastructure players that directly shape our product strategy and platform capabilities.

This role blends external partner engagement with internal product collaboration. You'll help shape our product roadmap by bringing ecosystem insights and partnership-led opportunities to life - whether through expanding our card network services, accelerating agentic tokens, or other innovative initiatives.

What You'll Do

• Lead and develop a team of Strategic Partnerships professionals, including direct reports, setting clear priorities, coaching performance, and building the team's capabilities as VGS's partnership portfolio and strategic mandate expand.
• Own and grow a portfolio of VGS's most strategic partnerships across payments and commerce technology, including card networks, investors, cloud and infrastructure providers, AI platforms, wallets, processors, and other ecosystem partners.
• Develop and execute partnership strategies that advance VGS's company and product priorities, identifying where external partners can accelerate growth, strengthen product differentiation, or open new markets and distribution channels.
• Lead complex, product-oriented partnerships that require deep coordination across Product, Engineering, Legal, Sales, and Executive Leadership, translating strategic opportunities into executable commercial and technical plans.
• Source, evaluate, prioritize, and develop new strategic partnerships, with a focus on opportunities that can materially influence VGS's product roadmap, competitive positioning, or long-term growth.
• Lead negotiations for strategic commercial and product agreements, including defining partnership structures, economics, go-to-market models, technical commitments, and mutual success criteria.
• Drive partnerships from initial strategy and business case through negotiation, launch, commercialization, and ongoing relationship management.
• Build senior-level relationships with partner executives and serve as a trusted strategic counterpart, identifying opportunities to expand the partnership and proactively addressing risks or areas of misalignment.
• Establish clear goals, operating rhythms, and success metrics for key partnerships, holding both VGS and partners accountable for execution and measurable outcomes.
• Act as the voice of strategic partners within VGS, bringing external market insights, partner priorities, and ecosystem developments into product and company decision-making.
• Influence VGS's broader corporate and product strategy by developing a point of view on the evolution of tokenization, payments infrastructure, agentic commerce, AI, and next-generation commerce technologies.
• Identify emerging ecosystem shifts and translate them into actionable recommendations for VGS, including potential new products, partnerships, distribution models, and strategic initiatives.
• Represent VGS externally with senior leaders across the payments and technology ecosystem, strengthening VGS's position as a strategic infrastructure partner for the next generation of commerce.

What You Bring

• 10+ years of experience in strategic partnerships, fintech BD, product strategy, or payments consulting
• Understanding of the payments ecosystem-issuers, processors, card networks, wallets, and commerce platforms
• Ability to connect technical product functionality with partner and market needs
• Demonstrated success managing complex partnerships and cross-functional projects
• Comfortable in ambiguous, fast-paced environments with shifting priorities and emerging technologies
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with a strategic mindset and a bias toward execution

Nice to Have:

• Experience with tokenization, payment processing, cryptology, or security products
• BA/BS degree
• A knack for out-of-the-box thinking that thrives in a fast-paced startup environment
• Experience working closely with product or engineering teams in a platform company or fintech infrastructure provider, especially in an innovative and fast paced startup environment
• Familiarity with tokenization, payment flows, reconciliation processes, or data compliance frameworks
• Technical literacy (e.g., comfortable discussing APIs, SDKs, and integration workflows)

How We Work

At VGS, we embrace a remote-first philosophy because we believe flexibility leads to great work and a healthy work-life balance. That said, if you live within 30 miles of one of our office locations, you'll be on a hybrid schedule with some in-person time, because we know there's real value in coming together.

We're not about being in the office every day. We are about connection, collaboration, and the energy that comes from a great brainstorm, a team lunch, or celebrating a big win in person.

Our Benefits

Financial and retirement

• Competitive salary
• 401(k) with a 4% match and immediate vesting (applies to US only)
• Early equity
• Internet stipend
• Learning stipend
• Office set-up stipend (applies to US only)

Health and Wellness

• Insurance (medical, dental, and vision)
• HSA/FSA options
• Life and disability insurance
• Pet insurance

Vacation and time off

• Flexible PTO
• Paid national holidays
• Global parental leave program

Professional Development

• Promote from within
• Lunch and learns
• Team events and summits

Office life and perks

• Remote and hybrid opportunities
• Flexible working hours
• Weekly office lunches
• Employee discount platform

Equal Opportunity

We consider all applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, marital status, physical or mental disability, or other protected classes under all applicable local, state, and federal laws and ordinances (AA/EOE/W/M/Vet/Disabled).

Qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for this position in accordance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

Where We're Hiring

We are currently hiring in the following locations: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Ontario (Canada), Alberta (Canada), and British Columbia (Canada).