Senior Manager, Strategic Payments Partnerships

Sezzle•Minneapolis, MN

5d•Remote

About The Position

Sezzle is seeking a Senior Manager, Strategic Payments Partnerships to manage and grow relationships across a portfolio of critical payments, lending, and financial technology partners. This role sits at the intersection of partnerships, product, technology, and operations. You will serve as the primary owner of assigned partner relationships, managing and growing existing partnerships while driving successful integrations, operational excellence, technical alignment, and ongoing partnership performance. The ideal candidate combines strong relationship management and communication skills with deep technical fluency. You are equally comfortable leading business reviews, discussing APIs and integration requirements, coordinating cross-functional initiatives, and navigating complex operational challenges. This is a high-autonomy individual contributor role with significant visibility across Product, Engineering, Risk, Finance, and executive leadership teams.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in strategic partnerships, business development, product management, payments, fintech, or a related field
Deep understanding of the payments ecosystem, including processors, gateways, acquiring, card networks, BNPL, lending infrastructure, and payment technology platforms
Strong technical fluency and the ability to comfortably discuss APIs, webhooks, integration architecture, payment flows, authentication, and technical implementation requirements
Proven experience managing complex strategic partnerships and executive-level relationships
Demonstrated ability to lead complex cross-functional programs and influence stakeholders across multiple functions
Strong business acumen with exceptional communication, presentation, and relationship management skills
Highly organized, self-directed, and comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-growth environment
AI fluency is required. We expect team members to actively leverage AI tools to increase productivity, accelerate research and analysis, improve communication, and enhance decision-making

Nice To Haves

Experience working with payment processors, acquirers, lending platforms, card networks, or other financial technology infrastructure partners
Prior experience in fintech, payments, lending, consumer finance, or BNPL
Experience at a fast-paced, high-growth company
Background in technical account management, solutions engineering, product management, payments strategy, or platform partnerships
Proficiency with SQL and the ability to independently query, analyze, and interpret partner and transaction data to monitor performance and inform partnership decisions

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary relationship owner for Sezzle's most strategic payments, lending, and infrastructure partners
Lead executive business reviews, strategic planning sessions, and governance meetings with partner organizations
Identify and pursue opportunities to expand existing partnerships and unlock new revenue, product, and operational benefits
Represent Sezzle at partner meetings, executive briefings, and industry events
Own strategic partner implementations end-to-end, from contract signing through integration, launch, and optimization
Serve as the internal subject matter expert on partner APIs, integration architecture, payment flows, and lending infrastructure
Drive alignment on integrations and product enhancements that improve customer, merchant, and operational outcomes
Monitor integration health, partner KPIs, and escalation paths, surfacing risks and resolving technical and operational issues
Lead contract negotiations, renewals, and strategic expansion opportunities
Establish and monitor partnership KPIs, SLAs, operational health metrics, and performance scorecards
Build business cases and recommendations for partnership enhancements, operational improvements, and new integration opportunities
Identify, assess, and mitigate strategic, operational, and partner-related risks
Drive resolution of complex commercial, technical, and operational issues
Align stakeholders across Product, Engineering, Risk, Finance, Legal, Revenue, and Operations around partnership priorities and initiatives
Serve as the internal expert on assigned partners, their capabilities, and strategic importance
Lead complex cross-functional initiatives spanning executive, commercial, and technical stakeholders
Partner with internal stakeholders to ensure the successful execution of partnership initiatives and alignment on priorities, timelines, and deliverables