Payments Partnerships Manager

Airbnb

3h•Remote

About The Position

Airbnb was born in 2007 when two hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 5 million hosts who have welcomed over 2 billion guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe. Every day, hosts offer unique stays and experiences that make it possible for guests to connect with communities in a more authentic way. The Community You Will Join: Airbnb is redefining the world's approach to accommodation and travel. We are creating highly local, personal and authentic experiences for our host and guest community around the world. Our platform connects millions of people a year and furthers our mission to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere. To power the global Airbnb community, we are building a world-class payments platform - one that currently supports 191 countries, 63 currencies, connects dozens of payment providers and banks, and processes billions of dollars per year for all of Airbnb’s business units. As the platform grows, we’ll be adding new payment partners, establishing licensed payments companies around the world, and building innovative payment experiences and financial products for our guests and hosts. Our goal? To create a future where transparent, simple, and familiar payment solutions can empower people, entrepreneurs and communities on our global marketplace. The Difference You Will Make: We are seeking a Manager to lead every aspect of payments partnerships and related tasks across the partner life cycle including payments subject matter expertise, partner relationship management, business development, incident management, network compliance, and cross-functional collaboration for Pay-ins and Networks. A Typical Day: Payments Subject Matter Expert Serve as a subject matter expert on global payments (Card Networks, Acquirers, Processors, Payment Methods); Analyze and understand Airbnb’s total cost of payments including the composition of costs. Lead payment auth improvement and performance initiatives across various Airbnb markets Work with analytics, finance, and operations teams to provide actionable insights and performance reports. Develop strategies to drive strategic outcomes with partners within the payments ecosystem (banks, networks, processors, fintechs etc) to support processing needs, drive user acquisition and new bookings, and lower payments processing costs Maintain a strong working knowledge of card network rules (e.g. Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover) and ensure partner compliance with those standards. Partner Relationship Management Manage day-to-day relationships with a portfolio of payment partners (e.g. payment processors, acquirers, networks, PSPs). Serve as the primary liaison for partner communications, ensuring alignment on operational and strategic goals. Support regular business reviews with partners, including performance updates, issue tracking, and roadmap discussions. Escalate and coordinate resolution of partner issues by working cross-functionally with internal teams (e.g. platform product, operations, customer support, etc.). Business Development Support Identify opportunities to expand or enhance payment capabilities through new or existing partnerships. Contribute to market research and partner assessments to support decision-making around new integrations or services. Lead negotiations and execution of commercial agreements in collaboration with senior stakeholders and legal teams. Monitor industry trends and competitor partnerships to inform internal strategy. Incident Management Partner Coordination Lead partner coordination during operational incidents, service disruptions, or degraded performance. Partner alongside technical and operational teams to perform root cause analysis and define preventive actions, particularly where there are partner implications. Cross-Functional Collaboration Act as the connector between external partners and internal stakeholders across product, engineering, finance, and operations. Provide partner insights to influence product development and operational planning. Participate in cross-functional projects to launch new payment features, geographies, or customer experiences.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in Payments Industry with specific focus on partnerships, product or consulting
Experience in integrating large scale processing platforms and global payment methods
Knowledge of card and non-card payments ecosystem
Proven analytical skills, particularly in the realm of payments cost drivers and approval optimization
History of interacting with stakeholders across the payments value chain, including issuers, acquirers, networks, fraud and risk management providers
Comfortable driving partner discussions and negotiations to drive payments economics and product performance
Excellent communication skills and attention to detail, and ability to communicate complex details simply
Detail-oriented with great organizational skills, and highly analytical, but also comfortable with ambiguity
Entrepreneurial and comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with the ability to thrive under minimal guidance

Responsibilities

Serve as a subject matter expert on global payments (Card Networks, Acquirers, Processors, Payment Methods)
Analyze and understand Airbnb’s total cost of payments including the composition of costs. Lead payment auth improvement and performance initiatives across various Airbnb markets
Work with analytics, finance, and operations teams to provide actionable insights and performance reports.
Develop strategies to drive strategic outcomes with partners within the payments ecosystem (banks, networks, processors, fintechs etc) to support processing needs, drive user acquisition and new bookings, and lower payments processing costs
Maintain a strong working knowledge of card network rules (e.g. Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover) and ensure partner compliance with those standards.
Manage day-to-day relationships with a portfolio of payment partners (e.g. payment processors, acquirers, networks, PSPs).
Serve as the primary liaison for partner communications, ensuring alignment on operational and strategic goals.
Support regular business reviews with partners, including performance updates, issue tracking, and roadmap discussions.
Escalate and coordinate resolution of partner issues by working cross-functionally with internal teams (e.g. platform product, operations, customer support, etc.).
Identify opportunities to expand or enhance payment capabilities through new or existing partnerships.
Contribute to market research and partner assessments to support decision-making around new integrations or services.
Lead negotiations and execution of commercial agreements in collaboration with senior stakeholders and legal teams.
Monitor industry trends and competitor partnerships to inform internal strategy.
Lead partner coordination during operational incidents, service disruptions, or degraded performance.
Partner alongside technical and operational teams to perform root cause analysis and define preventive actions, particularly where there are partner implications.
Act as the connector between external partners and internal stakeholders across product, engineering, finance, and operations.
Provide partner insights to influence product development and operational planning.
Participate in cross-functional projects to launch new payment features, geographies, or customer experiences.