Manager, Payment Strategy & Partnership

Position Overview

As the Manager of Payments Strategy & Partnerships, you will be a critical leader in expanding our market presence and accelerating revenue growth through our strategic alliances. You are responsible for the entire partner lifecycle, from identifying and negotiating new agreements to maintaining deep relationships with our existing top-tier partners.

This role is pivotal as we operationalize our move to an Embedded Payments / ISV model. You will move us beyond simple lead generation, helping us package, price, and support payment processing as a core product offering.

Reporting directly to the VP of Partnerships, you will act as the key liaison between external organizations (primarily Worldpay) and our internal teams (Sales, Product, Engineering, and Marketing), driving successful joint go-to-market strategies and ensuring alignment to hit ambitious partnership targets.

Key Responsibilities

1. Payment Strategy & Commercial Ownership (ISV Model)

•    Pricing Strategy: Develop and maintain the pricing model for our credit card processing services. Analyze "buy rates" (what we pay) vs. "sell rates" (what we charge) to ensure competitive pricing for customers while maximizing net revenue.

•    Statement Analysis: Serve as the internal expert for the Sales team to analyze complex merchant statements from competitors and structure winning proposals.

•    Portfolio Management: Monitor the profitability of the existing merchant portfolio, identifying opportunities to optimize interchange qualification and reduce churn.

2. Partner Relationship Management

•    Strategic Alignment: Serve as the primary point of contact for our strategic payment partners. Negotiate contract renewals, incentive programs, and technical roadmaps.

•    Performance Monitoring: Conduct regular business reviews with partners to assess volume growth, approval rates, and operational efficiency.

•    Escalation Management: Handle high-level operational escalations regarding merchant underwriting, risk holds, or boarding issues.

3. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Sales Enablement

•    Sales Enablement: Work with the Sales team to enable them on product knowledge, sales pitches, and joint selling strategies. Train the team on how to sell a financial solution rather than just software.

•    Deal Desk: Act as the approval point for custom rates on large enterprise clients to ensure margin protection.

•    Product Liaison: Act as the liaison between partners and our Product/Engineering teams to ensure seamless execution of integrations (APIs) and smooth merchant onboarding.

Required Skills & Education

Skills:

•    Deep Payments Expertise: Strong understanding of the ISV/Embedded payments landscape, including Interchange-plus pricing, basis points, and merchant underwriting.

•    Financial Acumen: Ability to model revenue forecasts, calculate margins, and analyze transaction volume data.

•    Exceptional Communication: Strong negotiation and presentation skills, with the ability to explain complex financial concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

•    Strategic Execution: Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally and influence stakeholders at all levels (Sales, Marketing, Legal, Product).

Education:

Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Marketing, or a related field.

Preferred Experience:

5+ years of progressive experience in partner management or business development, specifically within the Fintech or Payments industry.

Proven track record of managing an ISV or Reseller program where the partner is responsible for pricing and sales (not just referrals).

Experience analyzing merchant statements and growing high-value strategic partnerships.

VitalEdge is an Equal Opportunity Employer