Sr. Strategic Partnerships Director - Networks - Paze

At Early Warning, we’ve powered and protected the U.S. financial system for over thirty years with cutting-edge solutions like Zelle®, Paze℠, and so much more. As a trusted name in payments, we partner with thousands of institutions to increase access to financial services and protect transactions for hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses.

Positions located in Scottsdale, San Francisco, Chicago, or New York follow a hybrid work model to allow for a more collaborative working environment.

Candidates responding to this posting must independently possess the eligibility to work in the United States, for any employer, at the date of hire. This position is ineligible for employment Visa sponsorship.

About the Team

Paze’s Issuer, Network and Digital Partnerships team develops and manages relationships with issuers, payment networks, and big tech/agentic partners, with a remit spanning partner strategy, business development, and sales. Positioned at the intersection of Paze and the broader payments ecosystem, the team activates these relationships to bring Paze’s value proposition to life, translating partner capabilities, priorities, and market developments into opportunities for the business. The team works across the organization and alongside senior leadership to optimize Paze performance and drive adoption, transaction growth, and loyalty – while helping shape what Paze builds, how it scales, and where it invests next.

Overall Purpose

The Senior Strategic Partnerships Director - Networks will sit at the center of Paze’s partner ecosystem, owning the strategy and executive relationships with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover to ensure these partnerships grow and thrive over time. Through deep partner engagement and close cross-functional collaboration with Paze Product, Operations, and Marketing teams, this leader will shape how Paze builds, scales and goes to market – identifying emerging opportunities, translating network capabilities into differentiated customer experiences, and securing the commercial and operational commitments required to bring them to life. This leader will also build and lead the payment network strategic accounts team and establish a durable internal and external operating model required for Paze to scale. As a domain expert with a strong pulse on ecosystem developments, the Senior Strategic Partnerships Director will bring market intelligence and partner insights that inform the broader business. Ultimately, this role is accountable for translating these partnerships into measurable outcomes for Paze including new capabilities, product performance, and transaction growth. 

Essential Functions

• Develops trusted, influential relationships with executives and key decision-makers across Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover. 

• Builds and leads a highly engaged, high-performing strategic accounts team, including recruiting and developing talent, assigning account ownership, setting priorities, and establishing scalable and external operating model. 

• Owns the overall strategy, health and growth of payment network accounts. Maintains deep knowledge of each partner’s organizational structure, decision-making processes, performance, strategic initiatives, products and services, and broader EWS relationship, along with a consistent pulse on Paze performance, opportunities, challenges, and threats. 

• Defines and manages strategic account plans with clear annual, quarterly, and monthly priorities in close coordination with Paze cross-functional teams and senior leadership. Gains alignment and commitment from payment networks and holds partners and internal stakeholders accountable for execution and results. 

• Drives applicable Paze KPIs; defines and manages partner scorecards and best practices; and evaluates program trends to provide actionable analysis and recommendations to management. 

• Brings payment network and market perspectives into Paze, helping shape product-market fit and influence product strategy across Paze. 

• Supports financial analysis, long-range forecasting, and related analytics for payment network partnerships. 

• Identifies and advances the company’s business development and innovation agenda by fostering both Paze-initiated and partner-generated opportunities that expand capabilities, increase adoption and drive transaction growth. 

• Monitors competitive activity within accounts and develops strategies to prioritize Paze over competing investments. 

• Supports the company’s commitment to effective risk management and protects the integrity and confidentiality of systems and data.  

Minimum Qualifications

• Education and experience typically obtained through completion of a bachelor’s degree in business, finance, or related field. 

• Typically, 15+ years in progressive partner-management roles, such business development, relationship management, and/or consulting and 8+ years of experience working on financial services products, including payments. 

• Experience managing complex strategic accounts with a myriad of decision makers. 

• Proven ability to develop and foster impactful relationships with senior leadership.  Outstanding interpersonal skills with the ability to build strong internal and external relationships. 

• Track record of driving change and accomplishing strategic objectives within partner organizations. 

• Consultative, conceptual, and strategic selling skills.  Strong influencing skills, able to sell concepts internally and drive streamlined decision making across partners.

• Demonstrated leadership skills with the ability to recruit top talent, mentor and develop team members, and motivate a highly engaged team.

• Executive communication skills – experience coordinating and running impactful meetings, strong written communication, excellent presentation skills, and an active listener. 

• Strong analytical skills, capable of evaluating opportunities from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives and driving performance tracking. 

• Self-starter who is capable of delivering results within the dynamic environment of a new venture. 

• Ability to travel up to 30%. 

• Background check and drug screen.

​

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working at a payment network, card issuing bank, or an established payments fintech. 

• Deep payments expertise, namely in digital wallets, tokenization, and eCommerce and NFC payments – plus a pulse on new industry trends like agentic commerce. 

• Product development experience and passion for great consumer financial products.  

• MBA

Physical Requirements 

Working conditions consist of a normal office environment. Work is primarily sedentary and requires extensive use of a computer and involves sitting for periods of approximately four hours. Work may require occasional standing, walking, kneeling and reaching. Must be able to lift 10 pounds occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently. Requires visual acuity and dexterity to view, prepare, and manipulate documents and office equipment including personal computers. Requires the ability to communicate with internal and/or external customers and travel. 

Employee must be able to perform essential functions and physical requirements of position with or without reasonable accommodation. 

The above job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow instructions and perform other related duties as assigned by their supervisor. 

#LI-AV

#Dice

Some of the Ways We Prioritize Your Health and Happiness 

• Healthcare Coverage – Competitive medical (PPO/HDHP), dental, and vision plans as well as company contributions to your Health Savings Account (HSA) or pre-tax savings through flexible spending accounts (FSA) for commuting, health & dependent care expenses.

• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Featuring a 100% Company Safe Harbor Match on your first 6% deferral immediately upon eligibility.

• Paid Time Off – Flexible Time Off for Exempt (salaried) employees, as well as generous PTO for Non-Exempt (hourly) employees, plus 11 paid company holidays and a paid volunteer day.

• 12 weeks of Paid Parental Leave

• Maven Family Planning – provides support through your Parenting journey including egg freezing, fertility, adoption, surrogacy, pregnancy, postpartum, early pediatrics, and returning to work.

And SO much more! We continue to enhance our program, so be sure to check our Benefits page here for the latest. Our team can share more during the interview process!

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Early Warning Services, LLC (“Early Warning”) considers for employment, hires, retains and promotes qualified candidates on the basis of ability, potential, and valid qualifications without regard to race, religious creed, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, protected veteran or disability status or any factor prohibited by law, and as such affirms in policy and practice to support and promote equal employment opportunity and affirmative action, in accordance with all applicable federal, state, and municipal laws. The company also prohibits discrimination on other bases such as medical condition, marital status or any other factor that is irrelevant to the performance of our employees.