Head of Business Development - USCC, Managing Director

Citigroup Inc.; New York (NY); On-site; USD 300,000 - 500,000; Full time

Job summary

Citigroup Inc. in New York is seeking a Head of Business Development for USCC to drive transformative growth by identifying, negotiating and securing new affinity and lifestyle partnership opportunities across travel, dining and entertainment.

This role leads a team delivering partner programs for proprietary and co-brand cards. The ideal candidate has 15+ years in financial services, strong leadership, negotiation and stakeholder management, and a proven track record of closing strategic deals

Qualifications

• 15+ years of management experience in financial services and cards.
• Strong negotiation, stakeholder management and leadership skills.
• Proven track record in managing partnerships and executing deals.

Responsibilities

• Identify, negotiate and secure new affinity/lifestyle partnership opportunities.
• Lead end-to-end deal lifecycle with internal and external partners.
• Coordinate with product and strategic partnership teams to ensure cohesive partnerships.
• Develop and manage new partner programs for proprietary and co-brand cards.
• Collaborate with Citi Ventures on potential acquisition opportunities.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Financial acumen

Negotiation

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Citi’s mission is to serve as a trusted partner to its clients and communities by responsibly providing financial services that enable growth and economic progress. Citi is a trusted brand with over 200 years of helping to lead the way in the continuously evolving financial services sector. Citi has made it a priority to foster a culture where the best people want to work and where opportunities to develop are widely available to all. We are guided by our leadership standards, a common set of skills and expected behaviours that illustrate how our employees should work every day to be successful and strengthens our ability to execute against our strategic priorities.

U.S. Consumer Cards offers branded cards, retail private label cards, payment, credit and unsecured lending solutions to consumers and small businesses, with over 100 million customer accounts in North America. With a wide range of proprietary cards, co‑branded cards and private label cards with leading brands and innovative lending solutions, we have a full spectrum of client‑centric payment and lending products and features. We are focused on evolving with today’s consumer and continue to launch new and innovative card products, evolve our value propositions and reward offerings, extend private label and co‑brand partnerships, and provide new digital capabilities to make purchases faster, convenient, and more rewarding. Citibank serves as a trusted advisor to our retail, mortgage, small business and wealth management clients at every stage of their financial journey. Our banking services offer an array of products, services and digital capabilities to clients across the full spectrum of consumer banking needs in the US.

USCC already has a range of partnerships across a broad spectrum delivering commercial and strategic customer‑focused outcomes – typically, either to improve product distribution or enhance product capabilities, often with a view towards future industry developments to seize relevant opportunities or protect against emergent risks. These partnerships include over 35 mainstream retailers and e‑tailers, hospitality and travel partners; beyond this, Citi has partnerships with large tech‑industry players, payment providers of various stripes, as well as with specific capability providers; sometimes, these are also in the context of industry coalitions, where Citi often plays a leading role.

To continue this mission, we are seeking to hire the Head of Business Development for USCC. This critical leadership role will drive transformative growth by identifying, negotiating and securing new affinity/lifestyle partnership opportunities across travel, dining and entertainment areas. This role will support the development of value proposition across proprietary and partnerships cards space and look for growth opportunities. This role will lead a team of professionals with direct responsibility to identify, develop, negotiate and secure new partner programs to deliver against USCC’s mission and goals, across all the above partner sets. The role will require an in‑depth understanding of consumer banking products and services – industry and competitive product and service offerings, juxtaposed against Citi’s strengths and capability gaps. A good understanding of the payments industry and digital commerce is vital, as is a grasp of mid‑large‑sized private‑label and co‑brand partnership programmes.

The successful candidate for this high‑impact role requires expertise in negotiation, relationship management, strategic thinking, people leadership, strong financial acumen and an entrepreneurial mindset. Approaching this space with a One‑Citi mindset is key – the successful candidate will demonstrate curiosity beyond USCC. The role will require regular engagement with senior C‑suite leaders within and without Citi, so communications skills and conviction on deal stance are important attributes.

Responsibilities Include:

• Partner with the USCC businesses to identify and implement strategic initiatives that provide Citi with a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace- include identifying potential partners, defining partnership constructs and negotiating and executing agreements.
• Manage the deal lifecycle management. Lead end‑to‑end execution, including pitch development, RFP responses, and complex contract negotiations.
• Work closely with the product teams and strategic partnership teams to ensure a cohesive approach to new partnerships.
• Run the Business Development Forum for USCC and ensure a successful interaction model across the organization.
• Create new small‑business categories and negotiate new partnerships to support both proprietary and co‑brand small‑business cards.
• Align with the Citi Ventures team on potential acquisition opportunities for USCC.
• Assist or lead transactions from beginning to close (client sourcing, pitching, M&A process, valuation analyses, due diligence, negotiations, closing).
• Embed a culture of world‑class‑professional business development, iterate best practices and existing business development playbooks on methodologies for approaching transactions across USPB.
• Evaluate potential transactions and business cases from a strategic, operational and financial perspective. Lead or assist in client meetings and pitches, providing strategic advice and proposals.
• Assist in establishing the strategy and direct resources to develop, negotiate and secure new partner programmes as well as manage existing partner contract negotiations.
• Be a proactive partner to banking, markets & services businesses to maximise Citi’s holistic position and identify new business opportunities across the bank.
• Integrate Citigroup product offerings as part of a robust financial solutions package as part of the new business and merger/acquisitions activity.
• Assist in evaluating the internal and external business environment to develop a long‑term overall vision and strategy for the organisation.
• Oversee key analysis and support for negotiations and ensure cross‑functional collaboration internally and with external partners to structure and execute transactions.
• Manage internal and external processes for sourcing, evaluating, winning, and closing new partner programmes and retention of existing relationships.
• Manage prospective activities for assigned targets and pipeline management.
• Analyse prospects by gathering information about growth, competitors and market share possibilities.
• Appropriately assess risk when business decisions are made, keeping as priority the firm's reputation and safeguarding Citi’s clients and assets.
• Drives compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, adhering to Policy, applying sound ethical judgement regarding personal behaviour, conduct and business practices, and escalating, managing and reporting control issues with transparency, as well as effectively supervising the activity of others and creating accountability with those who fail to maintain these standards.

The key characteristics of the ideal candidate for the position are:

• Strategic thinking, financial acumen, and an entrepreneurial mindset.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills to ensure alignment and buy‑in across the organisation.
• Superior negotiating proficiency.
• Continuously challenging the status quo.
• Strong leadership who leads a high‑performing and diverse organisation, focuses on building talent and organisational depth.
• Conducts rigorous analysis and is able to synthesise complex and multiple source data into fact‑based and nuanced solutions.
• Ability to build highly credible, influential and trusting relationships across the firm and with key external partners.
• Influential and high track record of followership with demonstrated experience gaining consensus and alignment in a highly matrixed environment.
• Ability to set priorities and ‘triage’ in a fast‑paced, highly matrix, dynamic environment.
• Self‑motivated, highly adaptive, and able to work well in high stress.
• High ethical standards and mature risk tolerance who structures deals balancing risk and reward.

Requirements:

• 15+ years of management experience with expertise in financial services and cards industry experience preferred.
• Analytical and conceptual thinker with ability to operate in “white space.”
• Demonstrated success in managing internal and external partnerships and ability to negotiate complex structures.
• Successful track record of executing deals.
• Prior P&L management, strong financial acumen, and analytical skills
• Ability to lead cross‑functional teams through a clear and consistent line of sight regarding critical work activities.

Job Family Group:

Consumer Sales

Job Family:

Consumer Business Development

Time Type:

Full time

Primary Location:

New York New York United States

Primary Location Full Time Salary Range:

$250000,00 - $500000,00

In addition to salary, Citi’s offerings may also include, for eligible employees, discretionary and formulaic incentive and retention awards. Citi offers competitive employee benefits, including: medical, dental & vision coverage; 401(k); life, accident, and disability insurance; and wellness programmes. Citi also offers paid time off packages, including planned time off (vacation), unplanned time off (sick leave), and paid holidays. For additional information regarding Citi employee benefits, please visit citibenefits.com. Available offerings may vary by jurisdiction, job level, and date of hire.

Most Relevant Skills

Please see the requirements listed above.

Other Relevant Skills

Anticipated Posting Close Date:

ago 12, 2026

Automated Processing and AI

We use automated processing, including artificial intelligence, for our legitimate business interests (or our reasonable and appropriate business purposes) to identify and align the candidate’s skills and abilities with a specific job opening. Additionally, if you so choose, or consent, we can match your skills and abilities to other suitable roles at Citi.

Importantly, all our hiring processes and decisions, including determining your suitability for a role, are conducted, checked, and decided by individuals. Our automated processing and AI do not involve relying on automatic or autonomous decision‑making. Please refer to any Jurisdictional Considerations, with specific provisions for your country (where relevant) for further details.

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