Partnership Manager - Financial Institutions

We work with the industry to enable consumers to connect to their favorite services and lead healthier financial lives.

We believe that the way people interact with their finances will drastically improve in the next few years. We’re dedicated to empowering this transformation by building the tools and experiences that thousands of developers use to create their own products. Plaid powers the tools millions of people rely on to live a healthier financial life. We work with thousands of companies like Venmo, SoFi, several of the Fortune 500, and many of the largest banks to make it easy for people to connect their financial accounts to the apps and services they want to use. Plaid’s network covers 12,000 financial institutions across the US, Canada, UK and Europe. Founded in 2013, the company is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in New York, Washington D.C., London and Amsterdam.

The Network Partnerships organization builds and nurtures the external relationships that power open finance. We work with financial institutions, data partners, and industry bodies to enable product innovation at Plaid and expand financial freedom for consumers. Within this group, the Data Partnerships team is responsible for helping our most significant data partners accelerate their open finance journeys while driving adoption of Plaid’s solutions for secure API-based access, consumer privacy controls, risk management, and new business models.

As a Partnership Manager, you will be the primary strategic and business lead for a portfolio of Plaid’s largest financial institution partners. You will own the end-to-end strategy, relationship, and execution of business goals with each partner—building senior stakeholder relationships, pitching and landing new product solutions, and serving as the partner’s advocate within Plaid. Success requires close collaboration with cross-functional partners in Product, Engineering, Legal, Policy, and Go-To-Market, as well as influencing industry conversations around the future of open finance.

This role is both strategic and highly operational. You will drive forward Plaid’s access initiatives while helping design and execute new economic models for data access. You’ll play a central role in transforming how financial institutions engage with aggregators and fintechs, ensuring Plaid is positioned at the forefront of open banking.

Responsibilities

• Lead multiple strategic relationships with Plaid’s largest financial institution partners, serving as their trusted advisor and primary business contact.
• Define and own the partnership strategy and priorities for each FI; align with internal stakeholders and execute against shared goals.
• Cultivate and deepen executive-level relationships within financial institutions, supporting their digital transformation and adoption of Plaid’s solutions.
• Partner with internal product and engineering teams to influence product roadmaps, advocate for open finance standards, and deliver innovative API-based integrations.
• Forge and execute new types of business models tied to data access, including structuring agreements, creating incentives for ecosystem adoption, and piloting new commercial constructs.
• Help shape Plaid’s role in the financial services industry by contributing to policy, regulatory, and industry priorities that enable sustainable, consumer-centric open finance.
• Serve as the escalation point for business or technical issues arising from FI integrations, ensuring fast, high-quality resolution.
• Identify and develop expansion opportunities aligned with Plaid’s FI partnership strategy and company goals.
• Operate in a fast-paced, highly cross-functional environment, adapting to new challenges and priorities with creativity and resilience.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in partnerships, strategy, business development, business operations, or a similar role within financial services, fintech, or technology.
• Demonstrated success owning and growing complex external relationships at the executive level, including negotiating agreements and driving long-term strategic value.
• Proven ability to develop and execute partnership strategies that enable clients/partners to adopt new technologies and business models.
• Strong executive communication skills—able to distill complex technical and business concepts into compelling narratives, reports, and presentations.
• Solid technical and product fluency; comfortable engaging with engineering teams and understanding API-based products.
• Track record of driving large-scale, cross-functional initiatives—influencing stakeholders at all levels, shaping processes, and aligning teams to deliver results.
• Problem-solver and self-starter with the ability to troubleshoot complex issues, apply structured reasoning, and manage escalations with poise.
• Thrives in high-pressure, dynamic environments; able to prioritize effectively, adapt quickly, and maintain momentum despite roadblocks.
• Passion for open finance, consumer empowerment, and building innovative access models that shape the future of financial services.

The target base salary for this position ranges from $160,800/year to $240,000/year in Zone 1. The target base salary will vary based on the job's location.

Our geographic zones are as follows:

Zone 1 - New York City and San Francisco Bay Area

Zone 2 - Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington D.C.

Zone 3 - Austin, Boston, Denver, Houston, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego

Zone 4 - Raleigh-Durham and all other US cities

Additional compensation in the form(s) of equity and/or commission are dependent on the position offered. Plaid provides a comprehensive benefit plan, including medical, dental, vision, and 401(k). Pay is based on factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's work experience and skillset, and location. Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation or benefit plans.

Our mission at Plaid is to unlock financial freedom for everyone. To support that mission, we seek to build a diverse team of driven individuals who care deeply about making the financial ecosystem more equitable. We recognize that strong qualifications can come from both prior work experiences and lived experiences. We encourage you to apply to a role even if your experience doesn't fully match the job description. We are always looking for team members that will bring something unique to Plaid!

Our mission at Plaid is to unlock financial freedom for everyone. To support that mission, we seek to build a diverse team of driven individuals who care deeply about making the financial ecosystem more equitable. We recognize that strong qualifications can come from both prior work experiences and lived experiences. We encourage you to apply to a role even if your experience doesn't fully match the job description. We are always looking for team members that will bring something unique to Plaid!

Plaid is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and values diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religion or religious belief, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, military or veteran status, disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Plaid is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process. If you need any assistance with your application or interviews due to a disability, please let us know at accommodations@plaid.com.

Please review our Candidate Privacy Notice here