Business Development Manager

Role Purpose

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Partnerships Manager to lead and manage relationships with banks, payment service providers (PSPs), schemes, payment providers and other key stakeholders in the payments ecosystem, including UPI, IMPS, cards and other payments schemes. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of digital payments, banking partnerships, and regulatory frameworks governing A2A payments in India.

Key Responsibilities

Partnership Development & Management:

• Establish and manage strategic partnerships with banks, PSPs, NPCI, and fintech players to enhance A2A payment adoption.
• Negotiate and finalize agreements with financial institutions and third-party service providers to drive business objectives.
• Work closely with banking partners to enhance payment infrastructure, onboarding processes, and product innovation.
• Building relationships Establish and maintain strong rapport with clients, partners and other stakeholders.

Business & Ecosystem Growth:

• Drive UPI and A2A payment adoption through partnerships with banks, merchants, fintech firms, and payment aggregators.
• Identify new business opportunities, industry trends, and technological advancements in the digital payments ecosystem.
• New Business Development: Identify and manage a sales pipeline from the Next 150 list that projects 3x quota target and a sales forecast that projects 2x quota target
• Sales Management: Lead the entire sales process from initial lead generation to closing deals. Create and execute sales strategies that align with Boku's business objectives. Fully understand and quantify merchant challenges with respect to growth, expansion and execution in the markets. Perform gap analysis. Enlist Boku SMEs to ideate, craft and deploy solutions to merchant problems.
• Collaborate with internal teams (Product, Compliance, Legal, Tech) to align partner strategies with business goals.
• Developing and implementing strategies - Develop and expand Boku's business in country and adapt Boku's strategies to fit the local market. Build and nurture strong, long-term relationships with new and existing clients. Understand client needs and act as the main point of contact for all sales-related inquiries.
• Market trends – research and analyze market trends and competitor performance to develop effective strategies, followed by execution of the plans.

Compliance & Regulatory Engagement:

• Ensure all partnership engagements adhere to RBI, NPCI, and other regulatory requirements.
• Stay updated on compliance changes, risk management practices, and security measures for A2A payments.
• Represent the company in discussions with regulatory bodies and industry stakeholders.
• Ensuring compliance – working with internal teams to ensure compliance to local regulations
• Operational efficiency – working with the team to ensure efficiency of operations with partners through optimization and process improvements

Performance Monitoring & Optimization:

• Track and analyze partner performance using KPIs such as transaction volumes, success rates, revenue impact, and cost optimization.
• Work with tech and operations teams to troubleshoot and optimize payment processing, fraud mitigation, and operational efficiencies.
• Implement and monitor SLA agreements with partners to ensure seamless service delivery.

Key Skills and Competencies

• Self-starter with a customer centric focus.
• An analytical mindset.
• Attention to detail.
• Experience and demonstrable records in managing complex projects, collaborating & engagement with internal & external cross functional teams & key stakeholders
• Possess good judgement and ability to make effective decisions in a timely manner.
• Ability to develop and execute effective sales and understanding the partners requirements.
• Understanding of digital payments, alternative payment methods, and global transaction ecosystems.
• Ability to respond flexibly to change.
• Strong written and oral communication skills in both English.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree/diploma
• At least 5 years of experience working in a combination of business development, project management, marketing or product development, preferably in Payments/Fintech
• Prior experience working with a fintech company, bank, or PSP in a partnership or business development role.
• Understanding of technical integrations (APIs, SDKs) related to payment processing.
• Knowledge of emerging payment trends such as UPI Lite, UPI Global, and real-time cross-border payments.