Strategic Partnership Lead

Job description / Role

About Thunes

Thunes is the smart superhighway for money movement around the world. Thunes' proprietary Direct Global Network allows members to make payments in real-time in over 130 countries and more than 80 currencies.

Thunes' network connects directly to over 7 billion mobile wallets and bank accounts worldwide, via more than 350 different payment methods, such as GCash, M-Pesa, Airtel, MTN, Orange, JazzCash, Easypaisa, AliPay, WeChat Pay and many more.

Members of Thunes' Direct Global Network include gig economy giants like Uber and Deliveroo, super-apps like Grab and WeChat, MTOs, fintechs, PSPs and banks. Thunes' Direct Global Network differentiates itself through its worldwide reach, in-house Smart Treasury Management Platform and Fortress Compliance Infrastructure, ensuring members of the network receive unrivalled speed, control, visibility, protection and cost efficiencies when making real-time payments globally.

Headquartered in Singapore, Thunes has offices in 12 locations, including Barcelona, Beijing, Dubai, London, Manila, Nairobi, Paris, Riyadh, San Francisco, Sao Paulo and Shanghai.

Context of the role

This is a unique opportunity to be part of a commercial team driving partnership development globally. The Strategic Partnerships Lead role is expected to set up, strategise, grow and execute channel sales partnerships in the Middle East region, providing a clear direction to the leadership on how and where to accelerate growth in this space across our key markets.

With all the untapped potential in channel sales, strategic partnerships are a critical component to scale the overall go-to-market for the business, generate revenue, and create lasting partnerships. This is a business development role reporting to the Head of Strategic Partnerships in Europe with a clear revenue target to achieve. The person will need to have a strong executive presence, be target-driven, and have a passion and ownership to deliver numbers. This will be a hands-on role with deep involvement in execution, leading from the front.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop a strategic positioning of how Thunes can grow exponentially via indirect sales channels by executing commercial partnerships with key technology platforms.
• Drive the strategic partnership's agenda for the Middle East region, working with key stakeholders across the globe to achieve objectives, including product, tech, sales, etc.
• Develop new relationships with strategic players with the ultimate objective of agreeing on areas of mutual beneficial value between Thunes and potential partners.
• Structure and close commercial deals that will help Thunes to accelerate revenue growth and increase visibility.
• Develop and execute strategic and tactical account plans with specialist partners.
• Collaborate with the sales and product teams to identify opportunities to work with partners to maximise revenue and build deeper client relationships.
• Work closely with the product teams to evolve the value proposition, products, and platforms to meet client and market needs.
• Act as the liaison for partners, proactively identifying and solving partner and customer issues and challenges.

Professional Experience and Qualifications

• Bachelors or master's degree in business, finance, IT, or related discipline.
• 5-10 relevant years of experience in a commercial setting, e.g., business development or partnership management.
• Deep understanding of cross-border payments, fintech, and enterprise tech ecosystem.
• Demonstrable track record of achieving or exceeding commercial targets within a partnerships role.
• Excited by working across a global remit; this may also include a decent amount of global travel.
• An exceptional communicator and influencer, leading with integrity to build long-standing relationships both internally and externally.
• Strategic yet hands-on - this is a senior position in which you will decide what to do as well as execute on it.
• Must possess a can-do, entrepreneurial drive, focusing on solving problems creatively with a high level of energy. This is critical both as a cultural fit and based on the nature of internal business growth plans.
• Proven ability to operate in a fast-paced and geographically diverse company.
• High flexibility to travel and cover multiple markets globally.