Payments & Embedded Fintech Partnerships Director

8:00 AM; United States; Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonuses

Remote & Hybrid work options

Job summary

8am is seeking a senior strategic partnerships leader to own a portfolio of multinational partners and drive measurable growth across payments and embedded finance initiatives. You’ll own relationship strategy, commercial outcomes, and the executive-level cadence with partners.

Working with Product, Engineering, Risk, and Legal, you will define roadmaps for outgoing payments, lending, and credit products, negotiate deals, and align cross-functional teams to deliver revenue and product impact.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience owning relationships with multinational payments players.
• Strong negotiation and deal-structure skills.
• Experience delivering growth and measurable revenue through partnerships.

Responsibilities

• Own a portfolio of large partners and drive revenue growth.
• Lead embedded finance product roadmap from strategy to launch.
• Coordinate with Product, Engineering, Risk and Compliance.
• Negotiate commercial agreements and optimize economics.
• Provide executive-level updates and maintain partner momentum.
• Build dashboards to monitor partner health and performance.
• Travel ~20% for partner meetings.

Skills

Strategic partnerships

Cross-functional leadership

Negotiation

Executive communication

Payments industry knowledge

AI tools experience

Financial modeling

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Economics, Finance

Tools

Salesforce

Slack

Tableau

Sigma

Job description

• You will own a named portfolio of large, multinational partners foundational to our payments business and be the accountable owner for each relationship, building the operating rhythm that drives measurable growth, revenue, and product impact
• You will also own 8am’s embedded finance and fintech product agenda — including outgoing payments, capital lending, and credit products — driving them from strategy through launch in partnership with Product and Engineering
• This is a senior strategic individual contributor role with high visibility across 8am’s executive team, spanning both external partner relationships and internal fintech product initiatives
• You’ll be the face of 8am to your partners, the owner of 8am’s embedded finance and fintech roadmap, and the internal quarterback who aligns Product, Engineering, Operations, Finance, Marketing, Legal, Risk, Compliance, and other cross‑functional teams behind a shared partner strategy
• Own and grow a portfolio of NAPI+ partners — serving as the single accountable owner for strategy, commercial outcomes, escalations, and internal/external alignment across partners such as Adyen, affirm, Visa, sponsor banks, and other critical third parties
• Own and scale 8am’s embedded finance and fintech product initiatives — including outgoing payments, capital lending, and credit products — as the accountable owner for strategy, roadmap, and cross‑functional delivery, partnering closely with Product, Engineering, Risk, and Compliance to bring new financial capabilities to market
• Establish a world‑class engagement model — architect the overarching strategy, commercial roadmaps, and QBR rhythms. Define collaborative objectives, executive reporting, and streamlined escalation protocols while fostering deep, multi‑level stakeholder connectivity to accelerate partnership momentum
• Negotiate and execute commercial agreements — including new deals, renewals, amendments, and incentive structures. Partner with Legal, Finance, and others to land economics that meaningfully improve 8am volume growth, unit economics, and unlock new capabilities
• Drive coordinated cross‑functional execution — design, advocate, and ensure partner‑driven initiatives are prioritized, resourced, and delivered on plan
• Identify and unlock new commercial and product opportunities within existing partnerships — new payment methods, fraud/risk capabilities, co‑marketing, and joint go‑to‑market motions — and drive them from idea to launch
• Build executive‑level visibility and trust with partner leadership through top‑to‑top engagement, joint planning, and a consistent communication cadence
• Measure and report on partnership performance — build the scorecards, dashboards, and operating reviews that give 8am leadership a clear view of partner health, risks, and opportunities
• Anticipate and manage through critical events — proactively mitigate risks to core revenue streams
• Elevate 8am’s market position through alignment with global payment leaders and joint marketing, PR, and industry visibility opportunities

Benefits

• Wide range of affordable, company‑supported medical, dental, vision, and disability plans
• Reimbursements for whatever helps you bring the WOW, whether that’s health and wellness or learning
• Mental health support and an Employee Assistance Program
• Access to cutting‑edge conferences, professional manager coaching and ongoing professional development
• Bonuses and unit options as part of our total rewards packages
• Team meetings, company‑wide all‑hands, and offsite events
• Office, remote & hybrid work options

Demonstrated experience owning relationships with large, multinational payments companies including one or more of: card networks, acquirers/processors, issuer-processors, BNPL or embedded finance providers, sponsor banks, etc10–12+ years of progressive experience in strategic partnerships, business development, or commercial partner management in payments, embedded finance, or a related high‑growth technology environment, including experience operating at a senior/Director levelWillingness to travel periodically (~20%) for partner meetings, on‑sites, summits, and industry eventsStrong cross‑functional leadership and the ability to influence partners and internal stakeholders at all levelsBachelor’s degree in Business, Economics, Finance, or a related field; advanced degree a plusExcellent written and verbal communication — able to move from a working session with engineers to a QBR with a partner’s SVP without missing a beatDemonstrated experience leveraging AI tools and technologies to improve workflows, enhance decision‑making, or drive innovationExperience with Salesforce, Slack, Tableau or Sigma, and modern AI/productivity toolsStrong commercial instincts and comfort with financial models — able to read a partner P&L impact, pressure‑test interchange and revenue‑share economics, and structure incentive deals in partnership with FinanceLegal and/or Accounting industry experience is a plusExperience with embedded finance, lending, or credit products — such as BNPL, working capital or capital lending, card issuing, or credit underwriting — including partnering with Risk, Compliance, and Legal to launch new regulated financial products, strongly preferredHighly autonomous, organized, and outcome‑driven — comfortable operating in ambiguous, fast‑changing environments with a strong sense of ownership and urgencyProven track record of leading complex commercial negotiations end‑to‑end and delivering measurable growth, revenue, and cost outcomes through partnerships — expanding scope, restructuring economics, and turning partner relationships into measurable product and growth wins