Senior Manager, Financial Partnerships, Card Issuing & Acquiring, EMEA

Airwallex is the AI-native financial operating system for a real-time, intelligent economy. More than 675,000 businesses, including McLaren Racing, Qantas, SHEIN, and TikTok, use us, directly or through our platform partners, to run their financial operations or build and monetize financial products of their own.

We started in Melbourne in 2015 to build the infrastructure global commerce runs on. We're the regulated backbone behind global payments: not by accident, but by design. A decade plus, 85+ licenses, and a financial infrastructure spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

We're co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, with more than 2,300 people across 27 offices. We hire builders with founder-level energy, people who move fast with good judgment, dig in with real curiosity, and make calls from first principles rather than waiting to be told what to do. Read our operating principles to see it in full.

The Financial Partnerships team at Airwallex is dedicated to building and managing strategic relationships with key financial institutions and fellow fintech partners worldwide. We focus on expanding Airwallex’s payment network, enhancing our product offerings, and driving mutual growth for Airwallex and our partners. We coordinate closely with cross-functional internal and external stakeholders to deliver innovative solutions and ensure our customers have access to the best financial services worldwide. Join a collaborative, high-impact team that values creativity, agility, and results.

As Senior Manager, Financial Partnerships, Card Issuing & Acquiring, EMEA, you’ll play a pivotal role in scaling Airwallex’s card issuing and acquiring businesses. You’ll be responsible for building and managing partnerships with global card networks (e.g., Visa, Mastercard, Amex, etc.) and regional/local card schemes, facilitating Airwallex’s entry into new markets, and unlocking strategic opportunities with our network partners. You’ll collaborate closely with internal stakeholders to deliver on critical initiatives and represent Airwallex at partner and industry events, helping to build our brand profile with partners and customers. This role is based in London.

• Build and manage partnerships with global card networks and local card schemes to support Airwallex’s card issuing and acquiring businesses.

• Facilitate Airwallex’s entry into new markets by coordinating network licensing, regulatory requirements, and program implementation.

• Identify and execute on strategic opportunities with network partners, including product/feature collaboration, new revenue streams, cost optimization, and co-marketing initiatives, amongst others.

• Negotiate and structure mutually beneficial partnership agreements, and oversee the execution of Airwallex’s obligations under these agreements.

• Represent Airwallex at partner and industry events, actively building our brand profile with partners and customers.

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders (Product, Legal, Compliance, Finance, Commercial) for strategic planning, execution of critical initiatives, business analysis, and communications regarding partnership status and strategy.

We're looking for people who meet the minimum requirements for this role. The preferred qualifications are great to have, but are not mandatory.

• 7+ years of experience working with payment networks, card schemes, financial institutions, or other players in the card issuing/acquiring industry.

• Deep understanding of card network dynamics, issuing and acquiring business models, and economics.

• Proven track record of building and managing strategic partnerships in a fast-paced, technology-led environment.

• Strong negotiation, relationship management, and commercial agreement structuring skills.

• Experience working with cross-functional teams, including Product, Legal, Compliance, Finance, and Commercial.

• International experience—working in multiple markets or managing cross-border relationships.

• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills—able to connect with stakeholders at all levels and communicate project expectations and progress effectively.

• Thrive under pressure—work well in a high-velocity environment with aggressive timelines, constant change, and dynamic priorities.

• Creative problem-solving skills and innate curiosity—we’re trying to grow Airwallex exponentially by exploring new business constructs, not just replicating the old models employed by industry incumbents

• Experience at a global, high-growth fintech or pre-IPO startup.

• Experience building financial partnerships in a new geography.

• Experience with merchant acquiring and/or card portfolio management and optimizing pricing, interchange, and product profitability.

• Recognized as an industry thought leader; experience representing your company at industry events.

This job description is designed to attract top-tier candidates by clearly outlining the impact, expectations, and growth opportunities of the role, while aligning with Airwallex’s internal standards and industry best practices.

To protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for bank details, sensitive ID numbers (i.e. passport), or any form of payment during the application or interview process. All official communication will come from an @airwallex.com email address. Please apply only through careers.airwallex.com or our official LinkedIn page.

Airwallex does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms/recruiters. Airwallex will not pay any fees to search firms/recruiters if a candidate is submitted by a search firm/recruiter unless an agreement has been entered into with respect to specific open position(s). Search firms/recruiters submitting resumes to Airwallex on an unsolicited basis shall be deemed to accept this condition, regardless of any other provision to the contrary.

Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don’t regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.