Sr. Director, Strategic Relationship Management - Merchant

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.

Overall Purpose

The Sr. Director, Strategic Relationship Management - Merchants is responsible for building the Paze merchant relationship management function and leading the team to drive acceptance, awareness, optimization, and support the overall strategic engagement with Paze merchants. The Sr. Director oversees merchant relationship health, building strong cross-functional relationships to enable Paze strategies and success at the senior executive level, ensuring these partnerships grow and thrive over time. This role is also responsible for hiring, managing, motivating and leading the Paze merchant relationship management team as we rapidly grow and scale Paze across the US market. This role is expected to deliver strong team and individual results in a high-growth environment.

Essential Functions

• Develops trusted, influential partnerships with key senior level decision makers across merchant accounts, as well as with our Paze owner banks and strategic channel partners who enable and support Paze merchants.

• Primary owner of Paze's key strategic merchant accounts and responsible for working with merchants to drive consumer awareness, adoption, and usage. Requires foremost expertise of merchant organizational structure/decision making, company performance and strategic initiatives, product/services, and consistent pulse on the state of Paze performance (e.g., KPIs, user experience (UX), active opportunities, marketing/promotions, and challenges/threats).

• Develops strategic account plans for top strategic merchants (annual, quarterly priorities) in close coordination with Paze cross-functional teams and senior leadership.

• Expertly presents the roadmap and value of Paze to external merchant teams, instilling confidence and gaining buy-in and commitment, while navigating complex discussions to expand the relationship, including signing agreements (e.g., marketing and incentives) and ensuring compliance with Paze network rules.

• Works collaboratively with leaders in product/digital, marketing, risk, technology, operations and other functions critical to Paze's success.

• Leads the activities for the Merchant Relationship Management group. Hires, mentors, leads and motivates the Paze Relationship Management team.

• Responsible for building the merchant relationship management function infrastructure, reporting and operating model to scale for long term success. Develops and executes the functional strategy to achieve key business objectives.

• Manages the post-integrations relationship with Paze merchants, tracking & driving growth, identifying new engagement opportunities, and leading quarterly business reviews.

• Works with marketing and product and Paze merchants to improve the customer experience, inform the product roadmap, market and promote Paze adoption and transactions, and execute marketing and promotional campaigns to maximize success.

• Influences and negotiates with great latitude for successful outcomes; presents and defends complicated or delicate issues.

• Applies in-depth knowledge of relationship management and customer success, the financial services/payments industry, and business expertise to help differentiate EWS and Paze from the competition.

• Supports the company's commitment to risk management and ethical business practices, safeguarding 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.Graduate degree a plus.

• 15+ years' experience in financial services/payments and relationship management, customer success and/or business development.

• 5+ years managing a team, either directly or indirectly through projects or functional area. Demonstrated leadership skills in recruiting, developing and retaining a highly engaged, high performing team.

• Experience managing, structuring, and successfully executing partnerships with merchants and other key industry stakeholders (e.g., acquirers, PSPs, PayFacs, and other payment channel partners).

• Ability to develop senior level collaborative relationships with a diverse portfolio of merchants to drive broad adoption of Paze services and functionality.

• Proven senior level merchant and/or partner relationship management experience in technology solutions focused on payments, with an emphasis on revenue generation in the financial services sector.

• Consultative, conceptual, and strategic selling skills. Strong influencing skills, able to sell concepts internally and drive streamlined decision making across clients at the senior level.

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

• Proven ability to engage with senior level executives at top-tier merchants, banks, payment industry providers. Outstanding interpersonal skills with the ability to expertly collaborate cross-functionally across internal, merchant and channel partner stakeholders to succeed.

• Self-starter who thrives in a dynamic environment, managing ambiguity while delivering results with minimal oversight.

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

• Expertise in building business cases for market opportunities, including strategy development, market segmentation, competitive analysis, and financial analysis.

• Positive and collaborative team player who excels in goal setting and achievement for self and team members.High ethical compass who can coach and mentor a growing team.

• Background and drug screen.

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.

The total cash compensation scale for this position in:

New York, NY/ San Francisco, CA in USD per year is: $350,000 - $395,000.

Additionally, candidates are eligible for a competitive benefit package.

This pay scale is subject to change and is not necessarily reflective of actual compensation that may be earned, nor a promise of any specific pay for any specific candidate, which is always dependent on legitimate factors considered at the time of job offer. Early Warning Services takes into consideration a variety of factors when determining a competitive salary offer, including, but not limited to, the job scope, market rates and geographic location of a position, candidate's education, experience, training, and specialized skills or certification(s) in relation to the job requirements and compared with internal equity (peers). The business actively supports and reviews wage equity to ensure that pay decisions are not based on gender, race, national origin, or any other protected classes.

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 -Unlimited 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.

AndSOmuch more! We continue to enhance our program, so be sure tocheck our Benefits page here for the latest. Ourteamcan 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.