Strategic Partnerships Manager - VC & Accelerator Ecosystem

Quiet Capital; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 181,000 - 226,000; Full time

Job summary

Mercury seeks an experienced Strategic Partnerships leader to elevate its VC program. You will own the emerging managers program, craft partner strategies, recruit strategic partners, and travel to major tech hubs. Collaboration with Marketing, Product, Growth, and Operations will be essential to maximize referrals and revenue.

You must be based in SF Bay Area or New York City and bring a strong network in the VC ecosystem, with a knack for navigating a fast-paced fintech environment.

Qualifications

• Experience with externally-facing stakeholder management or partnerships.
• Experience working with founders and/or investors at a VC firm, accelerator program, founder community, or other startup ecosystem experience.

Responsibilities

• Grow the VC partnerships program and drive new customers from VC funds and their portfolio companies.
• Maintain ecosystem partnerships with VC funds, accelerators, communities, and universities.
• Lead sponsorship opportunities with conferences, events, newsletters, podcasts, and more in collaboration with Marketing.
• Identify partners and their customers’ needs to ensure win-win scenarios by maximizing referrals and revenue.
• Collaborate with Business Development, Onboarding, and Customer Support to ensure smooth partner onboarding and support.
• Partner with Product, Growth, and Operations on product roadmap to drive referrals for VC fund and startup customers.
• Leverage data to provide analytics and insights into partnership reporting and optimize metrics.

Skills

Partnerships management

Stakeholder management

VC ecosystem networking

SaaS partnerships

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

We are looking for an experienced Strategic Partnerships leader to take our VC program to the next level. Reporting directly to the Director of VC Partnerships, you will be able to touch all elements of Mercury’s work with the VC and startup community.

This leader will have full autonomy of the VC emerging managers program, craft our partner strategy, identify opportunities in our existing partner channel, and leverage their industry experience to recruit strategic partners into our program. This role will have frequent travel to major tech hubs (35% of time).

You will:

• Grow the VC partnerships program, driving new customers to Mercury–including VC funds and their portfolio companies
• Maintain and nurture strong ecosystem partnerships that drive measurable usage, including VC funds, accelerators, venture studios, fund administrators, communities, and universities.
• Implement sponsorship opportunities including conferences, events, newsletters, podcasts, and more in collaboration with our Marketing team.
• Identify partners and their customers’ needs to ensure that we achieve win-win scenarios by maximizing customer referrals and revenue on both ends.
• Collaborate with Business Development, Onboarding, and Customer Support teams to ensure smooth partner onboarding, training, and support throughout the process.
• Partner closely with Product, Growth, and Business Operations teams on product roadmap development to drive product-driven referrals for VC fund and startup customers
• Leverage data to provide analytics and insights into partnership reporting and find ways to optimize metrics in regular check-ins and follow-up.

What you’ll own:

• Lead go to market strategy for VC fund banking* & emerging managers, including recruiting new partners, exploring international opportunities, or exploring GTM to angel investors
• Program management of our top VC ecosystem & community partners, driving value to our partners and Mercury
• Help run Mercury’s Investor Connect program (formerly Raise) to facilitate founder <> investor introductions

You must have:

• We’re seeking candidates based in the San Francisco Bay Area & New York City
• Experience with externally-facing stakeholder management or partnerships
• Experience working with founders and/or investors at a VC firm, accelerator program, founder community, or other startup ecosystem experience.
• A hunger to make things work and a curiosity to ask questions.
• Be able to thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth environment with minimal guidance, apply first principles thinking, and navigate uncertainty with poise.
• A strong product mindset to help identify new opportunities for Mercury to better serve customers.
• Have attention to detail and strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Be able to collaborate with various teams across the globe remotely.
• Bring big energy and have fun building in a fast-paced environment.

It’s a plus if you have:

• Have 5+ years of experience at a B2B SaaS or Fintech company in a partnerships, customer success, investor relations, relationship / account management role is a plus
  • sales engagements and negotiations;
  • defining, negotiating, and managing partnerships; and
  • data-driven strategization and implementation.
• Strong existing network in the VC ecosystem

Education:

• Bachelor's degree or something you feel is equivalent

* Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.

Mercury values diversity & belonging and is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All individuals seeking employment at Mercury are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected characteristic. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process for applicants with disabilities or special needs. If you need assistance, or an accommodation, please let your recruiter know once you are contacted about a role.

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Total Rewards

The total rewards package at Mercury includes base salary, equity (stock options/RSUs), and benefits.

Our salary and equity ranges are highly competitive within the SaaS and fintech industry and are updated regularly using the most reliable compensation survey data for our industry. New hire offers are made based on a candidate’s experience, expertise, geographic location, and internal pay equity relative to peers.

Our target new hire base salary ranges for this role are the following:

US employees in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, or the San Francisco Bay Area: $180,900 – $226,100 USD