Strategic Account Director - Issuer Partnerships

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.

Early Warning follows 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 Strategic Account Director is responsible for Paze’s most strategic issuer partnerships including EWS’s owner banks.  This role drives partner strategy and manages senior relationships to ensure Paze’s growth via direct and indirect investment in our product and strategy. The Strategic Account Director will play a critical role in the success of Paze, maintaining and launching new strategic issuer partnerships, iterating on go-to-market approach, and helping to build out the strategic accounts team.  The primary objective of the role is to drive Paze’s transaction growth by ensuring our top issuing partners deliver best-in-class deployments of Paze.

Essential Functions 

• Develops trusted, influential relationships with key decision makers at our largest, most strategic issuer partners.  This includes Paze advisory committee members and leaders in product/digital, marketing, risk, technology, or other functions critical to Paze’s success. 
• Primary owner of assigned strategic issuer partners.  Requires foremost expertise of partner organizational structure/decision making, company performance, strategic initiatives, product/services, state of EWS-wide relationship, as well as a consistent pulse on the state of Paze performance (e.g., KPIs, user experience), active opportunities and challenges/threats.  
• Launches and develops select new strategic issuer partnerships.
• Ensures the retention, growth and customer satisfaction of key issuer partners.
• Develops overall strategic plan (annual, quarterly, and monthly priorities) in close coordination with Paze cross-functional teams and senior leadership.  Aligns and gains commitment from strategic partners on overall plan, holding partners and internal stakeholders accountable for execution and results. 
• Drives and meets Paze KPIs via strategic partners (e.g., active users, transactions, approval rates).  Ensures a best-in-class Paze user experience within issuer channels (mobile app, marketing touchpoints) that meets and exceeds Paze standards.  
• Evaluates program trends and provides analysis and recommendations to management.  
• Plays a key role in defining product market fit for Paze products, driving influence across Paze as the voice of the issuer and market. 
• Monitors competitor activity at issuers and implements strategies to drive Paze prioritization over competing investments.
• Supports the company’s commitment to risk management and protect 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. 
• Typically, a minimum of 15 years in partner-management roles, such business development, relationship management, and/or consulting and 8+ years of experience working on financial services products, including payments. 
• Experience managing complex strategic partners with a myriad of decision makers. 
• Proven ability to develop and foster impactful relationships with senior leadership.  Outstanding interpersonal skills with the ability to build strong internal and external relationships. 
• Track record of driving change and accomplishing strategic objectives within partner organizations. 
• Consultative, conceptual, and strategic selling skills.  Strong influencing skills, able to sell concepts internally and drive streamlined decision making across partners.
• Executive communication skills – experience coordinating and running impactful meetings, strong written communication and documentation, excellent presentation skills, and an active listener. 
• Strong analytical skills, capable of evaluating opportunities from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives and driving performance tracking. 
• Self-starter who is capable of delivering results within the dynamic environment of a new venture. 
• Ability to travel up to 30%. 
• Background check and drug screen.

Preferred qualifications 

• Experience working at a card issuing bank, payment network, or an established payments fintech as an issuing bank partner. 
• Deep payments expertise, namely in digital wallets, tokenization, and eCommerce and NFC payments. 
• Product development experience and passion for great consumer financial products.  
• MBA.

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 base pay scale for this position in:
Phoenix, AZ/ Chicago, IL / Washington, DC in USD per year is: $160,000 - $180,000
New York, NY/ San Francisco, CA in USD per year is: $200,000 - $225,000.

Additionally, candidates are eligible for a discretionary incentive plan and benefits.

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 – Flexible 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.

And SO much more! We continue to enhance our program, so be sure to check our Benefits page here for the latest. Our team can 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.