Strategic Partnerships Development Manager

Role Overview

As the Strategic Partnership Development Manager, you will be the driving force behind expanding our business ecosystem, unlocking new market opportunities, and accelerating growth through high-impact external partnerships.

This is a dynamic, high-visibility "hunter" role designed for a master relationship builder who possesses a proven ability to independently self-source deals and brings a robust, ready-to-leverage network of industry contacts to hit the ground running from day one.

Your primary mission is to autonomously identify, pitch, negotiate, and onboard key partners that align with our long-term business objectives. By capitalising on your deal-sourcing capabilities, existing relationships, and industry reputation, you will bypass traditional cold outreach turning existing trust into high-value strategic alignments.

You will completely own the entire early-stage partnership lifecycle from initial scoping to final contract execution.

Responsibilities

• Tap into your established network of industry executives, decision-makers, and influencers to quickly open doors and introduce our value proposition.
• Continually scout the wider market to uncover untapped opportunities, analyse industry trends, and map out new, high-value potential partners beyond your current network.
• Lead the end-to-end deal cycle, pitching to C-suite executives and navigating complex commercial negotiations to secure mutually beneficial terms.
• Lead the initial onboarding process by providing partners with the sales training, product expertise, and marketing collateral required to represent Qashio effectively in the field.
• Facilitate collaborative workshops with new partners to identify "low-hanging fruit" and high-value opportunities within their existing customer databases.
• Partner internally with Product, Sales, and Marketing teams to ensure newly acquired partners are seamlessly integrated and set up for maximum ROI.Establish Qashio as the "top-of-mind" solution for new partners through consistent engagement and by demonstrating the immediate financial benefits of the partnership.
• Drive partners toward their first revenue milestones, ensuring they are fully activated and self-sufficient before transitioning them to the long-term relationship management team.
• Qualifications and Experience5+ years of experience in strategic partnerships or business development with a documented history of sourcing and closing high-value deals.
• Experience collaborating closely with internal product, legal, marketing, and sales teams to ensure alignment and smooth post-sign onboarding
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills; comfortable and credible pitching directly to C-suite and VP-level executives.
• Relationship management skills and a can-do attitude when presented with challenges
• Ability to look beyond immediate sales targets to see how a partnership creates long-term ecosystem value and competitive advantage.
• Ability to combine quantitative data (from your Excel models) with qualitative strategy to see how a partnership creates long-term market advantage.
• Demonstrated experience, exposure and interest in the FinTech space; preferably having worked directly with a FinTech company
• A bachelor’s or postgraduate degree in business or related fields would be a plus
• In-depth understanding of FinTech software/platforms, and accounting and expense management systems would be a plus