Director of Payments & Financial Services Partnerships

1 Month ago • 10 Years + • Financial Analysis • $175,500 PA - $277,500 PA

Job Summary

Job Description

Upwork is seeking a Director of Payments & Financial Services Partnerships to lead and strengthen strategic relationships within its payment and financial services ecosystem. This role is crucial for enhancing the platform's payment capabilities and ensuring seamless, secure payment solutions for freelancers and clients globally. The Director will identify, negotiate, and manage partnerships with payment providers, fintechs, and financial institutions, collaborating with cross-functional teams to drive business growth and improve the payment experience. Key responsibilities include integrating new payment features, ensuring regulatory compliance, and staying abreast of market trends to maintain innovation. The ideal candidate has over 10 years of experience in payments business development or partnerships, expertise in the fintech ecosystem, and a strong track record in deal negotiation. Excellent leadership, communication, and project management skills are essential for this fast-paced, collaborative role.
Must have:
  • 10+ years in payments business development/partnerships
  • Expertise in payments and fintech ecosystem
  • Track record of negotiating complex partnership deals
  • Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills
  • Excellent leadership and communication skills
Good to have:
  • Experience within marketplaces or the payments industry
  • In-depth understanding of the regulatory environment
  • Organized, goal-driven with strong project management
Perks:
  • Comprehensive medical insurance
  • Unlimited paid time off
  • 401(k) plan with matching contributions
  • 12 weeks paid parental leave
  • Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Job Details

Upwork ($UPWK) is the world’s largest work marketplace, connecting businesses with highly skilled professionals worldwide. From entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 enterprises, companies trust Upwork’s platform to access expert talent, leverage AI-powered work solutions, and drive meaningful business outcomes.

Upwork’s AI-powered platform has facilitated over $20 billion in economic opportunity for professionals worldwide. With professionals spanning 10,000+ skills, including AI and machine learning, software development, sales and marketing, customer support, finance and accounting, and more, Upwork empowers businesses of all sizes to scale, innovate, and build agile teams.


We are searching for a Director of Payments & Financial Services Partnerships to lead, strengthen, and establish strategic relationships within our existing and growing payment and financial services ecosystem. The individual will play a pivotal role on our Partnerships team by enhancing our platform's payment and financial services capabilities and ensuring that our freelancers and clients experience seamless, secure, and flexible payment solutions globally.

The Partnerships team is part of Upwork’s Strategy and Growth function, which also includes Corporate Strategy and Corporate Development. The Partnerships team is a dynamic, high-performing team responsible for sourcing, evaluating, negotiating, and executing strategic partnerships. This role is an integral part of how we think about, build, and scale payments and financial service products and is central to Upwork’s continued growth. We work closely with senior leadership, Product, Design, Engineering, Marketing, Legal, and Finance teams to contribute to Upwork’s long range strategy and plans. This role in particular will partner closely on a daily basis with the Payments and Marketplaces business units and will lead all aspects of identifying, evaluating, and executing partnerships that have a significant impact on the overall direction of the company. 

The Director of Payments & Financial Services Partnerships will report directly to the VP of Strategy, Corporate Development and Partnerships and oversee all Payments and Financial Services partnerships end to end. This person will also partner closely with the GM of Payments and Work Management, and will have a high level of autonomy to identify opportunities to advance all elements of our payments and financial services infrastructure through partnerships globally.

Responsibilities

  • Strategic Partnerships: Identify, establish, and nurture relationships with payment partners, fintechs, and relevant financial institutions. This role spans the gambit - the opportunities for exciting and rich new partnerships to solve the myriad of marketplace use cases for both clients and freelancers are plentiful, focus will be key. 

  • Business Growth: Collaborate with cross-functional teams to design and implement strategies that drive payment volume, P&L impact, and a delightful platform payments experience for clients and freelancers.

  • Contract Negotiation: Negotiate commercial terms with partners, ensuring our platform and its users get the most favorable conditions.

  • Product Integration: Work closely with the product and tech teams to ideate, scope, and  integrate new payment features and partners, ensuring ease of use and top-notch security.

  • Regulatory Compliance: Collaborate closely with legal and compliance to ensure all payment partners adhere to regional and global regulations.

  • Market Trends, Insights & Strategy: Stay updated with industry trends, competitor actions, and advancements in payment and fintech technology to keep our platform at the forefront of innovation. Stay plugged in and connected with payments and fintech leadership peers through conferences, and other events. Translate trends and insights into perspective and payments and financial services strategy.

What it Takes to Catch our Eye

  • Proven experience (10+ years) in payments business development or partnerships roles, preferably within marketplaces and/or the payments industry.

  • Expertise in the payments and fintech ecosystem, including cross-border payments, digital wallets, payment orchestration, and embedded financial services.

  • Demonstrable track record of negotiating and managing complex partnership deals.

  • In-depth understanding of the payments landscape, including the regulatory environment.

  • Strong analytical, problem-solving and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to translate complex or ambiguous ideas into structured, actionable strategies and partnership initiatives.

  • Excellent leadership skills, with an ability to thrive, navigate and work collaboratively with executives and high-performing cross-functional teams in a fast-paced environment.

  • Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and build relationships at all levels. 

  • Organized, structured and goal-driven “doer” with strong project management skills, a willingness to roll up sleeves, take initiative independently and have ownership accountability. 

  • Ability to travel as required.


Come change how the world works.

At Upwork, you’ll shape talent solutions for how the world works today. We are a remote-first organization working together to create exciting remote work opportunities for a global community of professionals.  While we have a physical office in Palo Alto, California, currently we also support hiring of corporate full-time employees in 19 states in the United States. Please speak with a member of our recruitment team to determine whether you are located in a state in which we are hiring corporate full-time employees. 

At the core of our vibrant culture are shared values that form the foundation of our organization. These values revolve around trust, risk-taking, customer focus, and excellence. Our overarching mission is to create economic opportunities so that people have better lives. We foster an environment where individuals are encouraged to bring their authentic selves to work, nurturing personal and professional growth through development opportunities, mentorship programs, and participation in Upwork Belonging Communities.

We take pride in providing exceptional benefits to our employees. These include comprehensive medical insurance coverage for both you and your family, unlimited paid time off, a 401(k) plan with matching contributions, 12 weeks of paid parental leave, and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. To explore these benefits in detail, as well as gain insights into our company values, working principles, and the overall employee experience, we invite you to visit our Life at Upwork page.

Upwork is proudly committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse and inclusive workforce. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we never discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

The annual base salary range for this position  is displayed below. The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum salary for this position, and individual base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Additionally, this position is eligible for the annual bonus plan or sales incentive plan and eligibility to participate in our long term equity incentive program.

Annual Base Compensation

$175,500 - $277,500 USD

To learn more about how Upwork processes and protects your personal information as part of the application process, please review our Global Job Applicant Privacy Notice

Similar Jobs

Alpha Sense - Channel and Customer Research Analyst

Alpha Sense

New York, United States (Remote)
2 Months ago
Assystems - Senior Road Engineer

Assystems

Al Khobar, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia (On-Site)
9 Months ago
Forcepoint - Principal Endpoint Developer

Forcepoint

Campbell, California, United States (On-Site)
2 Weeks ago
Activision - Producer, Call of Duty

Activision

Santa Monica, California, United States (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Nintendo - Intern - Retail Marketing & Strategy

Nintendo

Redmond, Washington, United States (On-Site)
9 Months ago
PwC - Financial Crime Unit (FCU) Senior Associates

PwC

Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines (On-Site)
10 Months ago
Activision - Senior Financial Analyst

Activision

Seoul, South Korea (On-Site)
2 Weeks ago
nissan - Financial Planning Specialist

nissan

Mexico City, Mexico (On-Site)
1 Month ago
GoTo Group - Financial System Operational Lead

GoTo Group

Jakarta, Indonesia (On-Site)
1 Month ago
Car Gurus - Senior Financial Planning and Analysis Analyst

Car Gurus

Boston, Massachusetts, United States (Hybrid)
3 Weeks ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Similar Skill Jobs

plarium - Game Designer

plarium

Lviv, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine (On-Site)
3 Months ago
Whalar - Senior Manager, Client Services

Whalar

New York, United States (Hybrid)
2 Weeks ago
Fortra - Cloud Security Operations Lead

Fortra

United States (On-Site)
3 Weeks ago
Vertx Inc. - IT Product Manager II - Revenue Operations and Receivables

Vertx Inc.

Pennsylvania, United States (Remote)
4 Weeks ago
CityBlock - Care Team Operations Associate

CityBlock

Maryland, United States (Hybrid)
1 Year ago
Riot Games - Manager, Software Engineering - Infrastructure / Cloud Foundations

Riot Games

Los Angeles, California, United States (On-Site)
6 Months ago
Marvell - Principal Engineer, System Design and Validation

Marvell

Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (On-Site)
1 Year ago
PwC - Associate - AppTech - GDC

PwC

Kolkata, West Bengal, India (On-Site)
10 Months ago
GoTo Group - Enterprise Sales Support Manager

GoTo Group

Jakarta, Indonesia (On-Site)
2 Months ago
ELk studios - Art Director

ELk studios

Stockholm, Stockholm County, Sweden (On-Site)
2 Months ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Jobs in United States

Rackspace Technology - Senior Data Architect - Big Data (AWS)

Rackspace Technology

Reston, Virginia, United States (Remote)
3 Months ago
Snorkel AI - Staff Software Engineer  — AI Platform

Snorkel AI

San Francisco, California, United States (Hybrid)
3 Months ago
Ion - Technical Support Analyst, Chicago - 5849/9555

Ion

Chicago, Illinois, United States (On-Site)
9 Months ago
Prophecy - AI Community Manager

Prophecy

San Francisco, California, United States (Remote)
4 Weeks ago
lifechruh - Contracts Coordinator

lifechruh

Edmond, Oklahoma, United States (On-Site)
3 Months ago
LightForce Orthodontics - Senior R&D Mechanical Engineer

LightForce Orthodontics

Wilmington, Massachusetts, United States (On-Site)
3 Weeks ago
DraftKings - Revenue Operations Manager

DraftKings

United States (Remote)
2 Weeks ago
Rippling - Staff Full Stack Engineer (Backend), Performance Management

Rippling

New York, United States (On-Site)
1 Month ago
Salesforce - AVP, Sales - Financial Services Key Accounts

Salesforce

New York, United States (On-Site)
1 Week ago
Yahoo - Senior Analyst, Corporate Development

Yahoo

United States (Hybrid)
2 Weeks ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Financial Analysis Jobs

Ceragon Networks - Manager, Financial Systems

Ceragon Networks

San Francisco, California, United States (Hybrid)
1 Month ago
Olg  - Senior Financial Analyst

Olg

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada (Hybrid)
1 Year ago
SimpliSafe - Senior Financial Analyst

SimpliSafe

Boston, Massachusetts, United States (Hybrid)
2 Months ago
Kavalirio - Financial Analyst

Kavalirio

Orlando, Florida, United States (Hybrid)
4 Weeks ago
GoMotive - Senior Manager, FP&A

GoMotive

United States (Remote)
1 Week ago
DraftKings - Analyst II, Sportsbook Pricing

DraftKings

Boston, Massachusetts, United States (On-Site)
1 Week ago
Loft Orbital - FP&A Manager

Loft Orbital

Toulouse, Occitanie, France (Hybrid)
1 Month ago
PwC - Financial Crime Unit (FCU) Senior Associates

PwC

Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines (On-Site)
10 Months ago
nissan - Financial Planning Specialist

nissan

Mexico City, Mexico (On-Site)
1 Month ago
undefined - FP&A Analyst

New York, United States (On-Site)
2 Months ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded