The Global Payments Partnerships team builds and manages relationships with companies that provide critical payment services across the commerce products, and partners that unlock new payment experiences on our platforms. We’re seeking a Strategic Partner Manager to own high-impact partner workstreams end-to-end—from strategy and business case development through negotiation, execution, and ongoing performance management. This role is ideal for a leader who brings broad payments experience (not narrow SME depth), a strong strategic mindset, and the ability to communicate clearly and influence effectively at every level from XFN ICs to executive stakeholders, and from partner operators to C-level counterparts. You will be expected to move quickly, operate with sound judgment amid ambiguity, and apply modern AI tools to accelerate analysis, synthesis, and day-to-day execution.
Responsibilities
- Lead major partner workstreams with key payments ecosystem partners (e.g., networks, processors, issuers, PSPs), including quarterly planning, executive reporting, and issue resolution.
- Develop and drive partnerships strategy: identify opportunities, prioritize bets, define success metrics, and align internal stakeholders on path forward.
- Structure and negotiate complex agreements, including commercials, technical scope, performance expectations, privacy/data protection terms, and operational readiness requirements.
- Partner closely with Product & Engineering to translate strategy into executable roadmaps; provide crisp tradeoffs and recommendations grounded in business and platform constraints.
- Run cross-functional execution across Product, Engineering, Legal, Finance, Tax, Ops, and Marketing to launch and scale initiatives.
- Create decision frameworks and operating mechanisms that improve how we select partners, sequence builds, and manage ongoing partner performance.
- Communicate up and down the org effectively: concise leadership updates, clear asks, strong stakeholder management, and thoughtful escalation when needed.
- Use AI thoughtfully in daily work (e.g., drafting, summarizing, analysis support, workflow automation) to increase speed and quality while maintaining strong judgment.
Minimum Qualifications
- Proven track record of leading cross-functional initiatives and influencing without authority.
- Experience structuring and negotiating commercial agreements, including comfort with financial models, pricing, and key contractual terms.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; ability to tailor messages to executives, XFN teams, and external partners.
- Experience with payments cost optimization.
Preferred Qualifications
- 12+ years of relevant payments and/or partnerships experience, including ownership of complex, multi-threaded negotiations.
- Demonstrated ability to operate strategically in ambiguous environments, create frameworks, and drive alignment across competing priorities.
- Experience working with large global partners and executive stakeholders.
- Strong operational rigor: setting goals/metrics, running QBRs, and driving accountability.
- Demonstrated ability to leverage AI tools to improve productivity (prompting, synthesis, analysis support, automation), with good data-handling judgment.
Benefits
- 401(k).
- Dental Insurance.
- Health insurance.
- Vision insurance.
- We are an equal-opportunity employer and value diversity, equality, inclusion, and respect for people.
- The salary will be determined based on several factors, including, but not limited to, location, relevant education, qualifications, experience, technical skills, and business needs.
Additional Responsibilities
- Participate in OP monthly team meetings and participate in team-building efforts.
- Contribute to OP technical discussions, peer reviews, etc.
- Contribute content and collaborate via the OP-Wiki/Knowledge Base.
- Provide status reports to OP Account Management as requested.
About Us
At OP, we help you harness the power of technology for maximum impact. A technology consulting and solutions company, we offer advisory and managed services, innovative platforms, and staffing solutions across a wide range of fields including AI, cyber security, enterprise architecture, and beyond. For nearly two decades, we’ve been challenging the status quo of the consulting industry, serving up fresh, ingenious thinking through a radically lean structure. Together, this strategy delivers unprecedented performance at an unparalleled pace for faster results that propel your business forward.
