Interim Partnerships Lead

Who you are

• 5+ years managing enterprise vendor partnerships in tech or fintech
• Strong negotiator with a track record of exceeding industry benchmarks
• Excellent requirements‑gathering and analytical skills
• Deep critical thinking ability; comfortable diving into complex problems
• Strong data literacy and experience with Excel or analytics tools
• Effective communicator who can simplify complex issues
• Experienced in collaborating cross‑functionally
• Experience in the US and/or UK open banking ecosystem, including data aggregation platforms, regulatory environments, and standards

Desirable

• Experience managing stakeholders across multiple countries and timezones
• Background in B2C embedded finance, consumer lending, payments, or cards
• Experience in high‑growth, VC‑backed startups
• Proven success driving business impact through vendor or partner relationships
• Experience improving operational processes
• Project management experience

What the job involves

• As we scale, we're bringing new features and products into the ecosystem at an increasingly fast pace - across spending cards, credit score coaching, "debt crushing" services and beyond. To make this work at global scale, we're looking for a Partnership Lead who will own and elevate Cleo's most critical strategic partnerships, drive cross-functional alignment, and shape the partner ecosystem that powers our product
• Manage and grow Cleo's most important enterprise partnerships across payments, fraud, data and embedded finance
• Lead negotiations independently, consistently achieving above‑benchmark outcomes
• Build trusted relationships quickly with internal and external stakeholders

Cross‑Functional Leadership

• Align Product, Engineering, Data, Compliance, Risk, and Operations around shared partnership goals
• Act as the connector between internal teams and external partners, ensuring clarity of requirements and smooth delivery
• Build scalable processes for partner onboarding, contracting, and operational collaboration

Product & Requirements Expertise

• Gather and translate partner and user requirements into clear, actionable product specifications
• Maintain strong knowledge of Cleo's product ecosystem, especially partner‑enabled features
• Identify new product opportunities unlocked through partner capabilities
• Define partner KPIs and design data strategies to track performance
• Own commercial and operational reporting for enterprise partners, ensuring accuracy and internal adoption
• Communicate insights and opportunities proactively to stakeholders

Operations & Efficiency

• Manage day‑to‑day partnership operations across payments, fraud, data, new opportunities and compliance
• Drive efficiency improvements across the partner ecosystem, including reducing COGs and improving product delivery
• Oversee issue escalation and ensure strong execution across all partner workstreams

Market & Strategy

• Maintain deep understanding of fintech trends, competitor products, and regulatory changes
• Coach internal teams and leadership on relevant market developments
• Apply industry knowledge to shape Cleo's product and partnership strategy

Compensation & Work Arrangement

• Fixed Term Contract
• Salary not provided + Equity
• Senior and Expert level
• London
• Remote from UK