Financial Partnerships Specialist

About the role

Checkout.com is looking for a Financial Partnerships Specialist to support its rapid growth and expansion in MENA. The role reports to the Head of Financial Partnerships - MENA and involves managing and growing partnerships with card networks such as Visa and Mastercard, acquiring banks, APMs and other payment providers, contributing to the strategy and execution of such partnerships. The position is based in Dubai.

Key responsibilities

• Manage commercial relationships with card networks, acquiring banks and APMs to deliver market-leading payment solutions for merchants.
• Drive expansion projects across geographies and payment methods in collaboration with a wider team.
• Negotiate operational and commercial outcomes while balancing internal and external stakeholders.
• Ensure existing processes are followed and deliverables met, and design new processes to scale partnerships for growth, efficiency and performance.
• Collaborate with partner organisations' relationship management, business development, risk, compliance, product and operations teams.
• Develop and execute a partnership management model and act as the single point of contact internally and externally for assigned partnerships.
• Craft win-win commercial agreements and go-to-market strategies with payment partners, and act as a subject matter expert for internal teams.

Required profile

• At least 3 years of experience in payments, ideally working extensively with card networks.
• Direct experience in payment processing, acquiring or managing payment partnerships.
• A mix of operations, project management and relationship management skills.
• Strong ownership, collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders across organisations.
• Data-driven, analytical and strategic, and comfortable working across time zones and cultures in a globally distributed team.

Required skills

• Proficiency in payments knowledge, including problem-solving and communicating blockers in the payment flow.
• Experience with card networks or PSPs for acquiring payment transactions is a strong plus.

What we offer

• Hybrid working model with three days per week in the office.
• A culture of real ownership, fewer blockers and flexible work.