Director of Partnerships

**Company Mission**

Payhawk is a leading global spend management solution for scaling businesses. Headquartered in London and combining company cards, reimbursable expenses and accounts payable into a single product; its future-facing technology enables finance teams to control and automate company spending at scale.

The Payhawk customer base includes fast-growing and mature multinational companies in 32 countries including LuxAir, Quantive, and Wagestream. With offices in New York, London, Berlin, Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam, Vilnius and Sofia; Payhawk is backed by renowned investors such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, Greenoaks, QED Investors, Earlybird Digital East, and Eleven Ventures.

Our values include supporting flat hierarchies, taking ownership and responsibility, seeking and providing feedback, managing constructive critique, and speaking our minds. We understand that the best ideas don't all come from the same place, so we encourage diversity and inclusion in all areas of our work.

The future of fintech is about more than money, and we believe in work-life balance, continual learning, and empowered teams. We're also on a journey to improve our environmental and social impact and become B Corp certified. From virtual cards to digital subscriptions, our software and automation help take paper out of the equation for our customers, too.

We're changing the world of payments, and we're looking for an exceptional team to help us.

The Director of Partnerships will lead and scale the global partnership function, having the overall responsibility across multiple EU countries. Reporting directly to the VP of Business Development, will oversee the entire partnerships team, manage key strategic alliances, and drive the company's growth through strategic collaborations with technology providers and other relevant industry players. The Director of Partnerships will be responsible for enforcing the global strategy, building and managing a high-performing team of Partnership and Partner Marketing Managers, prioritize key targets, identifying new opportunities, and leading all aspects of partner development.

**Responsibilities**:

- **Global Performance**: Manage country targets and metrics to drive business growth.
- **Team Leadership**: Hire, manage, mentor, and lead a team of Partnership and Partner Marketing Managers, fostering a high-performance culture while aligning team objectives with overall company goals.
- **Develop Partnership Strategy**: Lead the creation and execution of Payhawk's partnership strategy, focusing on market expansion and revenue growth.
- **New Business Development**: Identify and cultivate relationships with key partners, including financial institutions, software providers, technology companies, and other potential partners to create new business opportunities.
- **Negotiation & Deal Structuring**: Oversee the negotiation and structuring of partnership agreements, ensuring win-win outcomes that support Payhawk's growth and partner objectives.
- **Partner Relationship Management**: Manage and strengthen existing partnerships, ensuring ongoing success and mutual benefit while identifying additional opportunities for growth.
- **Cross-functional Collaboration**: Work closely with internal teams, including Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, Product and Legal, to ensure partnerships are integrated and deliver measurable value to Payhawk and its customers.
- **Market Insights & Trends**: Stay ahead of industry trends, fintech innovations, and competitive activities, using insights to shape the company's partnership approach.
- **Performance Metrics & Reporting**: Develop, track, and report on partnership KPIs, ensuring transparency on the performance of initiatives and delivering insights to senior leadership.

**Requirements**:

- At least 7 years of experience in partnerships, business development, or strategic alliances, with a minimum of 3 years in a leadership role.
- Experience in a SaaS company selling products to mid-market and large companies is strongly preferred.
- Experience with the ecosystems of Oracle NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage, or SAP is considered a plus.
- Proven track record of successfully managing and growing a partnerships team, with strong leadership, mentoring, and team-building skills.
- An energetic and highly-motivated individual with a strong desire to work in a dynamic tech start-up environment and handle ambiguity with a solutions-oriented mindset.
- Demonstrated ability to high-value partnerships and negotiate favourable terms with senior executives.
- Ability to think strategically and execute at both a high level and in day-to-day operations, ensuring alignment with Payhawk's long-term goals.
- Strong data-driven decision-making abilities to track partnership performance and inform future strategies.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to influence and build trust with internal and external stakeholde