Strategic Partnerships Director - Digital

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 Strategic Partnerships team develops and manages relationships with Issuers, Networks, and Digital (i.e., 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 Strategic Partnerships Director – Digital – is responsible for developing and managing strategic partnerships with big tech and leading AI companies to expand Paze acceptance across digital commerce and help position Paze at the forefront of agentic commerce. This role drives partner strategy for priority partnerships and develops trusted relationships with senior decision-makers to identify, advance, negotiate, and launch strategic partnership opportunities. The Strategic Partnerships Director works across Paze and the broader payments ecosystem to align digital partners, payment networks, issuers, EWS owner banks, and internal stakeholders around product capabilities, commercial opportunities, risk considerations, and operating requirements. The role serves as a key voice of the partner and market, bringing digital-commerce and agentic-commerce insights into Paze to inform partnership priorities and product decisions. The primary objective of the role is to expand Paze capabilities, acceptance, adoption, and transaction growth through high-impact digital partnerships. Essential Functions Develops trusted, influential relationships with senior leaders and key decision-makers at big tech, AI companies, and other prospective and established digital commerce partners. Serves as the primary owner for priority strategic partnership opportunities and relationships, maintaining deep knowledge of partner organizational structure and decision-making, strategic priorities, business models, product roadmaps, competitive environment, and opportunities relevant to Paze. Identifies, develops, recruits, launches, and grows strategic partnerships that expand Paze acceptance, enable differentiated digital commerce experiences, and address evolving consumer and partner payment needs. Develops strategic partnership and account plans in coordination with Paze cross-functional teams and senior leadership, establishing priorities and driving execution against agreed-upon objectives. Builds and advances a pipeline of strategic business development opportunities with technology platforms, AI companies, and emerging agentic-commerce participants. Leverages Paze's bank-owned model by working with business development and product teams at EWS owner banks to identify opportunities, leverage established relationships, and jointly advance strategic pursuits. Coordinates complex, multiparty opportunities across Paze's issuer and network partnership teams, digital partners, payment networks, issuers, and internal stakeholders to align product capabilities, risk considerations, operating requirements, and commercial commitments necessary to bring new experiences to market. Partners with Product, Engineering, Operations, Risk, Legal, Finance, Marketing, and other functions to develop commercially compelling solutions for digital and agentic-commerce use cases, build internal alignment, and provide partner and market insights that inform product priorities. Owns assigned partnership opportunities through the deal lifecycle, including opportunity development, business-case creation, commercial and financial analysis, negotiation, contracting, launch coordination, and ongoing relationship development. Drives performance against partnership objectives and Paze KPIs, including pipeline development, partnership conversion, new acceptance capabilities, adoption, customer experience, and transaction growth. Evaluates partnership, market, competitive, digital-commerce, and agentic-commerce trends and provides analysis and recommendations to management. Serves as a voice of the partner and market, identifying opportunities to improve product-market fit and informing Paze product, partnership, and innovation priorities. Monitors competitor activity and broader industry developments and implements approaches to strengthen Paze's position within assigned partnerships and strategic pursuits. Provides leadership and subject-matter expertise to colleagues supporting digital strategic partnerships and contributes to the development of repeatable partnership practices as the portfolio grows. 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. 12+ years of experience or demonstrated portfolio consistent with experience required of the role