Vice President, Strategic Partnerships

The role

You will lead the development of strategic white-label partnerships with financial institutions, fintechs, and consumer brands. You will manage the entire partnership lifecycle from sourcing and negotiating complex commercial agreements to onboarding and launch.

What you will do

• Build and manage a pipeline of prospective white-label partners.
• Develop and prioritize a target list based on strategic fit, reach, and revenue potential.
• Represent Upgrade at industry events and in outbound outreach.
• Source potential partnerships to support emerging AI-driven product initiatives.
• Lead commercial negotiations for partnership agreements including economics, exclusivity, SLAs, and branding terms.
• Partner with Legal, Finance, and Risk to structure deals.
• Own the business case and internal approval process for each partnership.
• Own the end-to-end onboarding of signed partners.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for partners during implementation.
• Build repeatable onboarding playbooks and SLAs.

Required qualifications

• 10+ years in strategic partnerships, business development, or a related deal-making role
• Track record of sourcing and closing complex commercial agreements
• Experience in fintech, consumer lending, or financial services
• Comfortable with regulatory, compliance, and risk considerations
• Demonstrated ability to manage a deal from first outreach through signed contract and through live launch
• Strong cross-functional leadership to align Legal, Compliance, Risk, Product, and Engineering
• Excellent negotiation and executive presence

Nice to have

• Direct experience structuring white-label or embedded finance partnerships
• An existing network of relationships at financial services companies or consumer-facing brands
• Experience at a high-growth fintech or consumer lending company

Benefits

• Competitive salary & stock option plan
• Paid coverage of medical, dental and vision insurance
• Flexible PTO
• Opportunities for professional growth and development
• Paid parental leave
• Health & wellness initiatives

About the company

Upgrade helps customers move in the right direction with affordable and responsible financial products. Since 2017, they have helped over 7.5 million customers access over $42 billion in consumer credit.