Director of Partnerships and Business Development

About Highnote 

Founded in 2020 by a team of leaders from Braintree, PayPal, and Lending Club, Highnote is an all in one card issuer processor and program management platform. We give digital-first organizations the flexibility to easily issue and process payment cards that accelerate business growth and profitability. 

We’ve raised $104M and grown our team to 100 employees. Headquartered in San Francisco, we’ve managed to build one of the most advanced payments teams in the industry, with team members in 22 US states. 

Operating through our core values of customer obsession, executional excellence, intentional inclusion, we’re helping businesses grow for the future by creating the payment products demanded by tomorrow, with the ability to solve for use cases that don’t exist yet.

We are fast-moving, hands-on, and strongly believe everyone deserves a seat at the table. We believe we’re unlocking incredible opportunities that can change the future of payments, as long as we have the right people to make it happen.

The Opportunity: 

Highnote is seeking a Director of Partnerships and Business Development that will oversee Highnote’s entire bank and network partnership relationships. This director will be responsible for building and growing relationships with senior executives at target partners. The role reports into the Chief Revenue Officer. 

What you’ll need to be wildly successful: 

• 5 years of experience in partnerships, business development, or similar roles with a proven track record of cultivating, closing, and managing partnership pipeline over time
• Strong payments background 
• Previous experience negotiating enterprise contracts and developing partnerships to grow the business via distribution and feature expansion 
• A person who works with dedication and pace to assist partners 
• An entrepreneurial and ‘get-things-done’ mindset focused on delivering results
• A strategic, collaborative, and inclusive approach
• Strong communication, presentation, and analytics skills
• Ownership mindset - caring about seeing projects through from start to finish
• Technical expertise partnering with banks, networks, or channel partners 
• Lead by example, with empathy and humility

What you’ll be doing:

• Run day to day Business Development including commercial engagements with banks, networks, and partnerships spanning product, operations and compliance disciplines
• Oversee Highnote’s bank and channel partnership relationships 
• Build out the framework for channel partnerships from the ground up
• Identify, qualify, and execute opportunities with existing and new partners to leverage a best in class platform 
• Become a subject matter expert on our current and future initiatives and drive partnership strategies both internally and externally 
• Establish strong relationships with C-Suite executives within Highnote’s partner organizations
• Collaborate with internal teams including Sales, Operations, Product and Engineering to ensure an exceptional outcomes and partner experiences

Bonus Qualifications:

• Previous experience managing a team
• Experience working at an Issuer Processor
• Experience working at a high growth early stage start-up

Why Highnote?

• We’re an early stage startup that allows for our employees to truly build from the ground up and impact every layer of our organization. 
• We’re a team of payments obsessed individuals. While some of us come from the fintech world, some of us don’t. We value the varied backgrounds and the diverse perspectives of our employees. 
• We’re small on hierarchy and big on growth. We’re a flat organization that allows everyone to have direct exposure to our leadership team. We are looking for builders who thrive in ambiguity. 
• We’re backed by Oak HC/FT, Costanoa Ventures, and XYZ Ventures. Angel Investors include Bill Ready (CEO at Pinterest) and Renaud Laplanche (Co-Founder & CEO of Upgrade).

Highnote benefits

• Flexible time off (unlimited PTO)
• 100% healthcare coverage 75% coverage for dependents
• 401k program
• Up to 16 weeks off for Maternity leave up to 6 weeks of Paternity leave
• Equity in Highnote
• Stipend to build out your home office; internet reimbursement
• At Highnote we have built a total rewards philosophy that includes fair, equitable, geo-based compensation that is performance and potential based. Our compensation packages are competitive based on robust market research and are a combination of a cash salary, equity, and benefits. In compliance with the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, the annual salary range for applicants is $175,000-215,000

Please note that positions located in San Francisco are hybrid and include core working days of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in office. We provide flexible work options based on distance from our downtown SF office. 

Highnote is a diverse and inclusive company committed to growing a diverse and inclusive team. We invite people from all backgrounds and identities to apply. We do not discriminate based on gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, religion, age, national origin, citizenship, disability, pregnancy status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected by US federal state or local laws, or the laws of the country or jurisdiction where you work. Additionally, we encourage everyone to share which pronouns you wish for us to use when addressing you (i.e.: she/her, he/him, they/them, etc).