Head of Product and Vendor Partnerships

Description

We are seeking a strategic and execution-focused leader to serve as Head of Product and Vendor Partnerships. This role will be responsible for driving the development, delivery, and commercialization of innovative payment and lending solutions, while managing key vendor relationships and referral arrangements. The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise in product management, go-to-market strategy, and customer analytics, with a strong understanding of the requirements needed to scale digital financial products.

This role will also work in close alignment with our merchant acquiring partner to drive referral growth and co-innovate on integrated payment solutions that enhance customer experience and expand market reach.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional teams to deliver new products and enhancements across payments and digitized lending platforms.
• Oversee project management execution, ensuring timely and high-quality delivery aligned with business objectives.
• Develop and execute GTM strategies for new offerings, including pricing, positioning, and channel enablement.
• Manage vendor-hosted referral arrangements, including onboarding, performance tracking, and compliance oversight.
• Collaborate closely with merchant acquiring partner to align on referral strategy and co-develop innovative payment solutions.
• Partner with Enablement and Sales teams to ensure readiness, training, and activation of new products and referral programs.
• Drive innovation in business credit card offerings and payment-oriented solutions.
• Identify and prioritize strategic capital investments required to scale product platforms.
• Leverage data and analytics to understand customer behavior, identify growth opportunities, and inform product strategy.

Core Competencies

• Agile Delivery Expertise: Working knowledge of Agile methodologies and experience leading product teams in iterative development environments.
• Business Payments Acumen: Deep understanding of commercial payment products, merchant services, and transaction flows.
• Customer Journey Design: Ability to map and optimize end-to-end customer experiences across digital and physical touchpoints.
• Capital Procurement Strategy: Experience identifying and securing strategic capital investments to support product scaling and innovation.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in product management, partnerships, or strategy roles within financial services or fintech.
• Proven track record of launching and scaling digital financial products.
• Strong understanding of payments, lending, and referral-based business models.
• Experience working with merchant acquiring platforms or partners is highly desirable.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Analytical mindset with experience in customer segmentation and portfolio analysis.
• MBA or equivalent advanced degree preferred.

Hours & Work Schedule

• Hours per Week: 40
• Work Schedule: M-F

Some job boards have started using jobseeker-reported data to estimate salary ranges for roles. If you apply and qualify for this role, a recruiter will discuss accurate pay guidance.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Citizens, its parent, subsidiaries, and related companies (Citizens) provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all colleagues and applicants for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, citizenship, physical or mental disability, perceived disability or history or record of a disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, genetic characteristic, marital or domestic partner status, victim of domestic violence, family status/parenthood, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, pregnancy/childbirth/lactation, colleague’s or a dependent’s reproductive health decision making, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by federal, state and/or local laws. At Citizens, we are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that enables all colleagues to bring their best selves to work every day and everyone is expected to be treated with respect and professionalism. Employment decisions are based solely on merit, qualifications, performance and capability.