Strategy & Partnerships Manager

Akoya•Boston, NY

11d•Remote

About The Position

Akoya is an API-based network backed by major financial institutions that creates a safer and more transparent way for people to safely send their personal financial data to third-party financial apps. This role is at the intersection of strategy, market and competitive intelligence, pricing, cost optimization, and channel partner development. It is an individual contributor role for an experienced professional with strong influence amongst internal colleagues and external clients and partners. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable planning and facilitating collaborative and productive working sessions with clients and partners as well as building a financial model or developing a presentation or white paper synthesizing market developments. You will work closely across executives and departments, including Product Management, Growth, Customer Success, Marketing and Engineering, to advance Akoya’s core strategic initiatives. You will also interface with external-facing financial institutions, fintech, and ecosystem partners.

Requirements

At least 3 years' experience in management consulting, product strategy or a closely related function, preferably serving the financial services and/or fintech sectors
Demonstrated ability to build financial models, business cases, and pricing analyses in Excel
Experience conducting and synthesizing market and competitive analysis, including maintaining structured frameworks and repeatable outputs
Experience managing or supporting external channel partnerships and ongoing relationship management
Genuine curiosity about fintech, open finance, and emerging technology; extreme comfort engaging in technical discussions with Product, Engineering, Solutions and Architecture colleagues
Demonstrated proficiency and motivation in leveraging generative AI tools (such as Claude) to enhance productivity, improve efficiency, and elevate the quality of work outcomes, with a commitment to continuous learning and sharing of best practices amongst team members

Nice To Haves

Background in commercialized API platforms, data networks, or banking technology infrastructure
Experience interpreting regulatory and compliance requirements in the design and development of solutions
Prior relationship management of channel partners in referral or reseller arrangements
Use of business tools such as Confluence, Jira, Figma, and BI reporting tools (such as QuickSight, Domo, PowerBI, etc)
Client-facing or internal experience with US Financial Institutions
Exposure to TCH, FDX, EWS, or other open finance or financial services industry payment or fraud consortiums

Responsibilities

Own Discovery & Evaluation of Key Initiative & Innovation Opportunities: Drive structured discovery for strategic initiatives, including customer research, value proposition development and use case documentation.
Develop and validate business cases grounded in forecasting benefit realization and initial effort and investment estimates
Develop pricing and monetization: Own and evolve product pricing models – continuously partner with customers and the Growth team to adjust to market input
Maintain cost optimization tracking to identify anomalies and partner with Product & Engineering on reduction opportunities
Market Analysis & Competitive Intelligence: Monitor market and competitive developments and share key highlights with colleagues for awareness and recommended actions
Conduct deep dives on emerging players in the ecosystem who may be potential partners
Contribute analytical materials for strategic planning and executive materials
Channel Partner Management: Own the end-to-end health of partner relationships (resellers, referrals), serving as the primary day-to-day point of contact for the partner
Ensure co-selling artifacts are available (pitch decks, tear sheets, demos) and continuously improve and evolve per partner feedback, collaborating with Marketing
Enable the partner’s team through training and live deal support
Conduct monthly and quarterly partner business reviews to measure success, identify improvement areas, and surface feedback; prepare executive updates, including pipeline and financials