Director, Channel Partner

Job description

**This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, which manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Director, Channel Partner based in the United States.** The Director, Channel Partner will lead the development and expansion of an indirect sales ecosystem within the payments, fintech, and merchant services industries. This strategic leadership role focuses on recruiting, onboarding, and growing partnerships with software providers, value-added resellers, payment integration partners, and independent sales organizations. You will drive revenue growth by building scalable partner programs, strengthening commercial relationships, and expanding access to innovative payment acceptance solutions. Working closely with sales, product, engineering, underwriting, and risk teams, you will ensure seamless integrations and efficient merchant onboarding. The role combines commercial strategy, technical collaboration, and relationship management in a fast-evolving B2B payments environment. You will also build and mentor a high-performing partner channel team while driving measurable improvements in processing volume, partner retention, and revenue growth. ### Accountabilities - **Channel Strategy and Growth:** Develop and execute a comprehensive partner channel strategy targeting Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), value-added resellers (VARs), fintech companies, software integration partners, and Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs) across industries such as manufacturing, construction, B2B commerce, e-commerce, and nonprofit organizations. - **Partner Recruitment and Onboarding:** Identify, recruit, and onboard strategic partners capable of reselling or embedding payment gateway, virtual terminal, and API-based payment acceptance solutions. Establish repeatable recruitment and onboarding processes that support sustainable channel expansion. - **Strategic Partner Relationship Management:** Own relationships with key ISV and ISO partners, serving as the primary point of contact for commercial agreements, residual and revenue-sharing structures, deal registration, and collaborative sales initiatives. - **Partner Enablement and Training:** Design and implement partner enablement programs covering payment technologies, PCI compliance, EMV chip-and-PIN, tokenization, Level 2 and Level 3 processing, ACH payments, recurring billing, and other relevant payment capabilities. Equip partners with the knowledge and resources needed to successfully sell and implement payment solutions. - **Technical Integration and Cross-Functional Collaboration:** Work closely with product and engineering teams to support API and gateway integrations, including hosted payment pages, virtual terminals, mobile and point-of-sale solutions, and recurring billing functionality. Ensure partners can effectively implement and maintain integrated payment solutions. - **Performance Monitoring and Revenue Optimization:** Define and track channel performance indicators, including partner-sourced merchant volume, onboarding and activation rates, total payment volume (TPV), partner-driven revenue, merchant attrition, and chargeback rates. Use performance data to identify growth opportunities and improve channel effectiveness. - **Commercial Negotiations and Agreements:** Negotiate reseller contracts, revenue-sharing and residual agreements, interchange-plus pricing structures, and marketing development fund allocations. Ensure commercial arrangements support partner profitability and business objectives. - **Merchant Onboarding and Risk Coordination:** Collaborate with underwriting and risk teams to streamline merchant onboarding, Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) verification, and compliance requirements for partner-referred accounts. - **Industry Representation:** Represent the organization at industry events, partner meetings, and payments and fintech conferences to strengthen relationships, increase market visibility, and identify new business opportunities. - **Team Leadership and Development:** Build, lead, and mentor a partner channel team as the program expands. Establish clear objectives, performance expectations, and development plans to support a high-performing partnership organization. ## Requirements - **Professional Experience:** At least 7 years of experience in channel sales, strategic partnerships, or business development within payments, merchant services, or fintech, including at least 3 years in a leadership role. - **Payments Industry Expertise:** Strong understanding of the Independent Software Vendor (ISV) and Payment Facilitator (PayFac) ecosystems, merchant acquiring, payment gateway business models, and Independent Sales Organization (ISO) partnerships. - **Technical and Regulatory Knowledge:** Working knowledge of PCI DSS compliance, EMV, tokenization, payment processing, interchange and pricing structures—including interchange-plus, tiered, and flat-rate pricing—and chargeback and dispute management. - **Commercial and Contracting Expertise:** Demonstrated experience structuring and negotiating residual, revenue-sharing, reseller, and other commercial agreements commonly used in merchant services partnerships. - **Channel Development Track Record:** Proven success building, launching, or significantly scaling a partner channel within payments or fintech, with measurable results in partner acquisition, processing volume, and revenue growth. - **Relationship Management and Negotiation:** Excellent relationship-building, negotiation, and executive communication skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders at acquiring banks, payment processors, software providers, and strategic partner organizations. - **Analytical and Strategic Thinking:** A data-driven approach to forecasting partner-sourced processing volume and revenue, evaluating performance, identifying opportunities, and translating insights into actionable growth strategies. - **CRM and Reporting Tools:** Experience using customer relationship management (CRM) and partner relationship management (PRM) platforms, such as Zoho or HubSpot, along with relevant payments industry reporting tools. - **Leadership and Collaboration:** Strong people management, coaching, and cross-functional leadership skills, with the ability to align partnerships, sales, product, engineering, underwriting, and risk teams around shared objectives. - **Communication and Adaptability:** Excellent organizational and problem-solving abilities, a proactive approach to business development, and the flexibility to operate in a dynamic, growth-oriented environment. - **Travel Availability:** Willingness and ability to travel for partner meetings, industry events, and relevant conferences as needed. ## Benefits - **Competitive Compensation:** Annual base salary ranging from **$120,000 to $180,000**, plus an incentive plan. Final compensation depends on work location, relevant experience, knowledge, and skills. - **Medical Coverage:** Medical, dental, and vision insurance. - **Flexible Time Off:** Flexible paid time off (PTO) to support work-life balance. - **Retirement Savings:** 401(k) retirement plan with an employer match. - **Mental Health and Well-Being:** Access to mental health support and well-being programs. - **Family Support:** Paid maternity and paternity leave. - **Professional Development:** Education assistance to support continued learning and career growth. - **Lifestyle Benefits:** A company-funded lifestyle spending account to support personal well-being and lifestyle needs. - **Remote Work:** Remote working arrangement within the United States. - **Career Development:** The opportunity to build and lead a growing partner channel function, shape commercial strategy, and make a direct impact on business expansion in the payments industry. - **Inclusive Culture:** A collaborative, inclusive, and equal-opportunity work environment that values diverse perspectives and professional growth.