Director of Strategic Partnerships

KEY INFORMATION

Position: Director, Strategic Partnerships

Reporting to: VP, Global Head of Partnerships

Location: Atlanta, Georgia Hybrid (3 days a week in office) Open to remote

Role Overview

CMSPI is seeking a Director, Strategic Partnerships to lead, build, and scale our most critical partner relationships across global payment networks, acquirers, fintechs, issuers, and emerging solution providers.

As a critical part of CMSPI’s global partnerships team, the Director, Strategic Partnerships will be committed to ensuring the organization has the right framework to support our industry partners across the payments landscape in shaping sustainable, scalable collaboration with CMSPI’s merchant community. This includes guaranteeing the organization maintains a current view on partner solutions, capabilities and coverage while working closely to modernize data sharing and developing market leading thought leadership.

This role sits at the forefront of CMSPI’s evolution—at an inflection point in how payment data is sourced and activated for merchants in order to optimize and enhance their payment performance. You will directly architect CMSPI’s next-generation partnership model, unlocking differentiated data access, advancing our technology and translating partner collaboration into scalable strategic value.

The Director will act as a senior, externally facing leader with responsibility for end-to-end partnership strategy—from opportunity identification and value co-creation through to execution and commercial impact. They will build, maintain, and grow complex global partnerships requiring a high degree of trust, diplomacy, executive engagement, confidentiality, and cross-cultural collaboration.

Job Role

Partnership Strategy, Growth & Engagement

• Lead and scale CMSPI’s Tier 1 partner relationships, acting as the senior executive point of contact.
• Foster long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships through executive presence, strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, and the ability to influence outcomes in complex, high-stakes environments.
• Build and execute structured engagement models (QBRs, executive forums, co-innovation sessions) that drive sustained partner engagement and satisfaction.
• Identify and deliver mutual value creation opportunities, including co-developed initiatives, joint solutions, and shared market propositions.
• Expand CMSPI’s global partner network, strengthening connectivity across strategy, product, data, and innovation teams.
• Expand CMSPI’s global partner network, strengthening connectivity across strategy, product, data, and innovation teams.
• Actively position CMSPI in the ecosystem, deepening relationships that compound in value over time.

Data, Technology & Future Capability Build

• Own the strategy and roadmap for partner-enabled data access, including identifying and securing supplemental and alternative data sources aligned to CMSPI priorities.
• Drive the evolution of CMSPI’s data ecosystem toward more automated, scalable, and real-time ingestion models (APIs, standardized pipelines).
• Identify how partner data can support CMSPI’s future-state capabilities.
• Ensure all data unlocked is validated, normalized, and usable at scale.

Market Intelligence & Product Enablement

• Identify market intelligence gaps and proactively feed opportunities into CMSPI’s Solutions and Insights teams.
• Shape how partner-enabled data is utilized to create tangible merchant insights and scalable offerings that reinforce CMSPI’s independent positioning.
• Act as a key conduit between external ecosystem signals and internal strategy development.

Strategic Impact

• Build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders across global partner organizations, demonstrating discretion, sound judgment, cultural intelligence, and the ability to manage sensitive and confidential matters with integrity.
• Drive time-to-value from partnerships, accelerating the conversion of data access into client outcomes and transaction performance and optimization initiatives.
• Contribute directly and indirectly to sales, client growth, and commercial targets by enabling differentiated capabilities.
• Support RFPs, client engagements, and strategic pursuits with partner-enabled insights and propositions.
• Balance strategic partnership value with commercial outcomes, ensuring alignment to CMSPI growth priorities.
• Proactively managing partner risk, dependency, and concentration exposure through proactive and ongoing partner engagement – focus on creating strategic, mutual value for all CMSPI partners
• Establish best practices for data governance, compliance, and engagement frameworks across partners.
• Ensure consistency in partner communications, data handling, and operating models.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Act as an internal connector and influencer, ensuring partner-driven insights are embedded across CMSPI teams.
• Work closely with Delivery, Data, Solutions, Insights, Sales, and Marketing to align ecosystem activity with business priorities.
• Provide strategic input into CMSPI’s broader product, data, and partnership roadmap.
• Operate with high visibility to senior and executive leadership, contributing to firm-wide strategy.

Success Measures

• Expansion and depth of high-value partner relationships and executive engagement
• Increased access to unique, high-impact, and non-traditional data sources
• Measurable progress toward scalable, automated data ingestion and activation
• Tangible creation of new market intelligence products and client solutions
• Demonstrated commercial impact, including improved time-to-value and contribution to growth initiatives
• Strengthened resilience and diversification of CMSPI’s partner relationships and data ecosystem

Experience & Qualifications

Required

• 10+ years in payments, fintech, financial services, or data-driven platforms
• Proven ability to develop and steward high-value strategic partnerships in complex global environments, leveraging executive influence, political acumen, discretion, stakeholder management, and the ability to align diverse interests toward shared outcomes.
• Strong commercial mindset with the ability to translate data and partnerships into business impact
• Deep understanding of data sharing, governance, and modern data infrastructure (APIs, event-driven models, etc.)
• Track record of identifying new opportunities (including non-traditional data sources) and converting them into value
• Ability to operate as a self-starter and builder in an evolving environment
• Strong executive presence with experience engaging C-suite stakeholders globally

Preferred

• Experience influencing or negotiating complex data-sharing arrangements
• Background working at the intersection of data, product, and commercial strategy
• Exposure to payments innovation areas (e.g., routing, authorization, fraud, network economics)
• Experience contributing to thought leadership, industry forums, or external market representation

• Comprehensive, payments industry training by in-house and industry expert
• Personal and professional learning opportunities and growth experiences aligned with your career aspirations.
• 100% healthcare coverage for employees and low-cost dental and vision options
• Health Savings Account, Flexible Savings Account, and Commuter Benefit options
• 401(k) retirement plan with company match up to 5% after 90 days of employment
• Annual company bonus plan based on company & individual performance
• Quarterly values award for all employees - with a financial prize
• Regular companywide socials and team building events
• 15 vacation days, 5 sick days, 8 paid company holidays, and discretionary office closure during the holiday season