Senior Manager/Manager Banking & Financial Institution Partnerships

About PayerMax

PayerMax is a global fintech company focused on emerging markets, providing omni-method global payment solutions. These solutions include global acquiring, payout, and collections, designed to offer merchants a secure and convenient one-stop payment experience. The company leverages its experience to expand its global presence, aiming to overcome geographical and currency barriers.

Role Overview

PayerMax is seeking a Senior Manager/Manager, Banking & Financial Institution Partnerships to lead strategic banking, financial institution (FI), and payment infrastructure partnerships across the MENA region. This full-time role, based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will also provide support for global initiatives as needed. The individual will be responsible for developing and managing relationships with banks, FIs, payment service providers (PSPs), and fintech partners. Key responsibilities include architecting scalable banking and payment infrastructure, identifying partnership opportunities, and managing end-to-end deal cycles from negotiation to technical integration.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and execute the banking and FI partnership strategy for the MENA region.
• Establish and maintain C-level relationships with banks, financial institutions, PSPs, fintechs, and other strategic ecosystem players.
• Manage the full partnership lifecycle, including sourcing, evaluation, commercial negotiation, due diligence, onboarding, technical integration, and ongoing performance management.
• Architect and optimize scalable banking infrastructure for collections, payouts, settlements, FX, and cross-border payment flows.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, Legal, Compliance/AML, Risk, Treasury, and Operations teams to deliver partnerships and products.
• Develop channel management and volume allocation frameworks to optimize transaction routing based on various factors.
• Conduct counterparty and channel risk assessments, and design mitigation strategies.
• Monitor emerging trends in payments, banking-as-a-service (BaaS), embedded finance, FX, fintech innovation, stablecoins, and Web3 infrastructure.
• Identify opportunities for new product offerings, geographic corridors, and strategic alliances.
• Support the development and deployment of stablecoin and digital asset payment infrastructure.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• 5-10 years of progressive experience in tier-1 banks or leading fintech platforms, with a focus on transaction banking, financial institutions coverage, correspondent banking, strategic partnerships, or payments.
• Proven track record of originating, structuring, and closing complex banking/FI partnerships that delivered measurable business impact.
• Deep domain expertise in AML/KYC frameworks, foreign exchange operations, cross-border payments infrastructure, and modern banking technology stacks.
• Strong working knowledge of payment APIs, SWIFT standards, ISO 20022, and real-time payment systems.
• Solid understanding of virtual account architecture, multi-currency settlement flows, and liquidity management.
• Established, senior-level banking network in the MENA region.
• Demonstrated ability to build trust with C-suite executives and decision-makers at financial institutions.

Skills and Competencies

• Exceptional stakeholder management, negotiation, and executive communication skills.
• Strategic thinking with strong commercial judgment and a focus on execution.
• Ability to drive outcomes across cross-functional teams without formal authority.
• Fluent in Arabic and English (written and verbal) is required.
• Proficiency in Mandarin is considered an advantage.