Senior Banking Partnerships Manager - North America

Wise And Co•Austin, TX

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

Please Note: This is a full-time physical position based in our NYC office. We are on a hybrid working model and located in the Flatiron District. Unfortunately, we cannot support remote work at this time. We're looking for an experienced Senior Banking Partnerships Manager to join the North America Banking & Expansion team in NYC. Wise sends more money into and out of USD than any other currency. Our bank and payment partner relationships and infrastructure determine the quality of our product and a large part of its economics. Our relationships with regulators, governments and domestic payment systems are also crucial. So, we're seeking an experienced executor with a strong knowledge of payment systems and the regulatory landscape, an analytical mind and executive communication and project management skills to help deepen our presence in a critical region. Your mission: Advance our payment infrastructure in North America. Understand and help other teams understand in detail the existing and planned payments infrastructure in the U.S. and Canada and support our payments strategy to provide the best cross-border payments services to our customers in North America. Have in-depth knowledge about North America payment systems (e.g., rails and schemes) and support direct payments systems integration efforts as well as integrations to payment systems via bank partners in the US and Canada . Execute projects related to infrastructure growth, risk management, governance and regulatory/license expansion for us to have the best payment infrastructure in the U.S. and Canada. This might include projects related to integrating and expanding payment rails that Wise utilizes to receive and deliver payments in North America or expanding regulatory licenses and entity infrastructure to process payments directly with central bank payment systems. Align closely with Government Relations and Legal teams to review and apply deep understanding of current and proposed payments and financial services regulations to support Wise's policy and regulatory goals to make North America payment systems more accessible, competitive and transparent. Lead key bank and payment partner relationships for the North America region Own key bank and payment partner relationships, collaborating between the partner and internal, cross-functional teams such as Product, Engineering, Platform, Compliance, Payment Operations and Legal. Advocate for Wise's products and compliance goals with banks and payment partners and act as the bank's advocate within Wise to ensure we are meeting agreed compliance and payment processing requirements. Drive and complete periodic and ongoing due diligences, to make sure bank partners are aware and comfortable with our operations and controls and that the bank is the right partner for Wise. Work closely with Compliance, Risk and Product teams for this. Lead commercial negotiations and business reviews, pitch for Wise's new products, features and platform innovations. Review and improve key metrics via business reviews to grow Wise's volume to ensure Wise is receiving the best possible leverage from our partners. Working with the Product Leads, help define the opportunities and direction for our products in North America. Work closely with product and engineering teams to develop our vision and build better products and experiences for our customers. Your contribution will mainly be from the payments infrastructure, regulatory and operational banking partnerships point of view. Work with North America and global teams (Product, Operations, Compliance, Finance, Treasury, etc.) to ensure our North American customers and products are at the center of our mission. Independently execute high priority projects and workstreams to deepen North America presence Leverage financial services and payments infrastructure knowledge to lead priority projects such as onboarding new bank and payment partners, integrating new payment methods, operationalizing new licenses and completing discovery for new and innovative financial products. Independently initiate and execute high priority projects that will deepen Wise's presence in North America. This includes identifying and communicating internally the potential impact, building conviction from other teams. Consequently, drive and execute the delivery of the project. This role is part of the Global Banking team, which is focused on expanding and deepening our presence in local markets. For us, this is the US and Canada. The team is led by a Head of Banking and Expansion, North America and has four additional team members covering the market (3 people in Austin, 2 in NYC). Our banking relationships determine the quality of our product and a large part of its economics. And our relationships with regulators, governments and payment systems are crucial too. Members of this team Lead banking partnerships: they identify, build, and deepen relationships with banks, financial institutions, and infrastructure partners; Bridge tech and trust: they translate Wise's infrastructure into practical integrations with regulated financial institutions looking to leverage their payments stack, or use Wise's; Drive strategic deals: they own the end-to-end partner lifecycle from prospecting to pitching to negotiation, integration, and long term growth, our payments network infrastructure.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in relevant fields such as Finance, Law, Accounting, Economics, Business Management.
7-12 years work experience with payments companies, transaction/corporate/investment banking, financial technology, financial consulting or a financial regulator.
Detailed understanding of payment systems and FX regulation and experience with BSA/AML/KYC and risk management controls.
Experience with US and Canada financial systems, including banking infrastructure, payment rails, regulatory agencies and payment regulations and scheme rules, with the ability to “speak the language” of these topics to senior internal and external stakeholders.
An independent generalist who is able to get stuff done efficiently and isn't afraid to get into the details - no matter the subject area - to progress towards your goals. You'll need an entrepreneurial and collaborative mindset to thrive. This includes demonstrated ability to collaborate closely with product, engineering, compliance, operations and legal teams with a solid track record of execution and delivering results.
Ability to structure and independently lead external relationships (e.g., banks, regulators, or vendors) and cross-functional projects, including executive-level verbal and written communications, sharp analytical and numerical aptitude and critical thinking skills, and the ability to apply these skills to go-deep on payments/regulatory topics, take thoughtful decisions and then build buy-in for key outcomes and action items with internal and external stakeholders across levels.
Familiarity with how corporate banks, partner banks and financial institutions work and their decision makers.
You're excellent at managing those relationships and are constantly creating opportunities to improve them.
You are an outstanding negotiator. Able to independently negotiate the most ideal terms with a clear product vision and understanding in mind and you can figure out the ideal operational and commercial process with every new partner or system.
Passion for the financial technology, payments and financial services industries and excited to work in a fast-paced, execution-oriented, entrepreneurial and collaborative environment.

Responsibilities

Advance our payment infrastructure in North America.
Understand and help other teams understand in detail the existing and planned payments infrastructure in the U.S. and Canada and support our payments strategy to provide the best cross-border payments services to our customers in North America.
Have in-depth knowledge about North America payment systems (e.g., rails and schemes) and support direct payments systems integration efforts as well as integrations to payment systems via bank partners in the US and Canada
Execute projects related to infrastructure growth, risk management, governance and regulatory/license expansion for us to have the best payment infrastructure in the U.S. and Canada.
Align closely with Government Relations and Legal teams to review and apply deep understanding of current and proposed payments and financial services regulations to support Wise's policy and regulatory goals to make North America payment systems more accessible, competitive and transparent.
Lead key bank and payment partner relationships for the North America region
Own key bank and payment partner relationships, collaborating between the partner and internal, cross-functional teams such as Product, Engineering, Platform, Compliance, Payment Operations and Legal.
Advocate for Wise's products and compliance goals with banks and payment partners and act as the bank's advocate within Wise to ensure we are meeting agreed compliance and payment processing requirements.
Drive and complete periodic and ongoing due diligences, to make sure bank partners are aware and comfortable with our operations and controls and that the bank is the right partner for Wise.
Lead commercial negotiations and business reviews, pitch for Wise's new products, features and platform innovations.
Review and improve key metrics via business reviews to grow Wise's volume to ensure Wise is receiving the best possible leverage from our partners.
Working with the Product Leads, help define the opportunities and direction for our products in North America.
Work closely with product and engineering teams to develop our vision and build better products and experiences for our customers.
Work with North America and global teams (Product, Operations, Compliance, Finance, Treasury, etc.) to ensure our North American customers and products are at the center of our mission.
Independently execute high priority projects and workstreams to deepen North America presence
Leverage financial services and payments infrastructure knowledge to lead priority projects such as onboarding new bank and payment partners, integrating new payment methods, operationalizing new licenses and completing discovery for new and innovative financial products.
Independently initiate and execute high priority projects that will deepen Wise's presence in North America.