--- title: 'Senior Manager, Financial Partnerships, Card Issuing & Acquiring, EMEA at Airwallex' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-manager-financial-partnerships-card-issuing-acquiring-emea-airwallex-k4f258g68d2h' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-09' --- # Senior Manager, Financial Partnerships, Card Issuing & Acquiring, EMEA at Airwallex - **Company:** [Airwallex](https://feeny.ai/companies/airwallex) - **Location:** London, United Kingdom - **Employment:** full-time - **Posted:** 2026-07-07 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/airwallex/0041178d-9b99-4c6e-9ad0-d8399d77559f/application **Skills:** Payment networks, Card schemes, Financial institutions, Card issuing business models, Card acquiring business models, Commercial agreement structuring, Cross-functional collaboration, International market experience, Cross-border relationships, Global fintech experience, Pre-IPO startup experience, Merchant acquiring, Card portfolio management, Pricing optimization, Interchange optimization, Product profitability optimization > The Senior Manager, Financial Partnerships leads strategic relationships with global card networks and local card schemes to expand Airwallex's payment network. This role involves facilitating market entry, negotiating partnership agreements, and collaborating with internal stakeholders to drive mutual growth and in... ## Job description ## ABOUT AIRWALLEX Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 250,000 businesses worldwide – including Brex, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more – with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, spend management and treasury, to embedded finance at a global scale. Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 2,300 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 27 offices around the globe. Valued at US$11 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you’re ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us. ## ATTRIBUTES WE VALUE We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you’re motivated by our mission and operating principles https://www.airwallex.com/us/operating-principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor. You're humble and collaborative; turn zero‑to‑one ideas into real products, and you “get stuff done” end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you’ll tackle complex, high‑visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let’s build what’s next. ## ABOUT THE TEAM 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. ## WHAT YOU'LL DO 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. ## RESPONSIBILITIES: - 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. ## WHO YOU ARE We're looking for people who meet the minimum requirements for this role. The preferred qualifications are great to have, but are not mandatory. ## MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: - 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 ## PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: - 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. ## APPLICANT SAFETY POLICY: FRAUD AND THIRD-PARTY RECRUITERS 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 http://airwallex.com email address. Please apply only through careers.airwallex.com http://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. ## EQUAL OPPORTUNITY 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. ## About Airwallex ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Airwallex is a financial technology company building a unified global payments and banking platform that helps businesses manage cross-border payments, treasury, spend, and financial operations through proprietary infrastructure, software, and AI. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series G) - **Headquarters**: Dual headquarters in Singapore and San Francisco, USA; founded in Melbourne, Australia - **Founded**: 2015 - **Founders**: Jack Zhang (CEO), Lucy Liu, Max Li, Xijing Dai, and Ron Li ## Core Business - Primary industry: Financial Services / Payments / Fintech Infrastructure - Target customers: B2B, primarily serving SMBs, scaling enterprises, digital platforms, and marketplaces globally - Mission or purpose statement: "Build the future of global banking" — they aim to replace legacy, fragmented banking systems with a borderless, intelligent, real-time financial operating system for modern businesses. ## Products & Services - **[Business Accounts]**: Multi-currency global accounts to receive, hold, and manage funds in 20+ currencies, with local account details for key markets. - **[Payments]**: Global payment acceptance via 160+ local payment methods, low-code checkout, and programmatic payout capabilities to 200+ countries. - **[Spend / Corporate Cards]**: Multi-currency corporate and employee cards with customisable spend controls, designed for global teams. - **[Expense Management]**: A platform to track, control, and reconcile global business expenses, including employee reimbursements. - **[Billing & Subscription Management]**: A billing platform for usage-based and subscription pricing models, supporting AI companies and complex revenue workflows. - **[Platform APIs]**: API-first infrastructure enabling businesses to embed financial services (accounts, payments, FX, card issuing) into their own products. - **[FX & Treasury]**: Interbank foreign exchange rates and tools to intelligently manage currency risk across markets. ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: US$11 billion (latest valuation in 2025, following a fresh investment round). - **Key Metric**: US$1.8 billion in total funding raised; Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) surpassed US$1 billion by 2025. - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Series G investors include prominent global venture capital firms (specific names not listed in source but backed by top-tier VCs); serves over 200,000 businesses including TikTok, Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, and SHEIN. - **Growth Signals**: - US$287 billion in global payments processed (USD). - 92% of transfers settled same-day, 50% processed instantly. - Over 85 financial licenses and registrations globally. - Team of ~2,300 people across 27 offices internationally. - Dual-headquarters model (Singapore + San Francisco) adopted in 2025 to support next phase of growth. ## Competitive Advantages - Proprietary, API-first infrastructure built from scratch (not riding legacy banking rails), enabling faster, cheaper, and more transparent cross-border transactions. - Unified platform combining banking, payments, spend management, billing, and FX — reducing the need for multiple vendors. - Deep AI integration across the platform to automate financial operations and provide intelligent insights. - Extensive regulatory licensing (85+ licenses) across major markets, creating a high barrier to entry. - Strong network effects: serves both direct businesses and platforms/marketplaces that embed Airwallex into their offerings. ## Strategic Focus - Continue scaling the platform to support the rapid growth of AI-native companies and usage-based business models (highlighted by the launch of their global billing platform). - Expand the dual-headquarters presence to tap into the largest tech talent markets (San Francisco and Singapore). - Invest heavily in AI to build "interconnected, intelligent financial systems where money, data, and decisions move together." - Deepen product capabilities to automate financial operations end-to-end for global businesses. ## Why Work Here - High-growth, ambitious environment: described as "the most ambitious work of your career" by the company; founded in 2015 and already processing $287B in payments. - Global impact and scale: work on infrastructure used by 200,000+ businesses, from startups to enterprises like TikTok and SHEIN. - Hybrid/office culture: 27 offices globally (Melbourne, Singapore, San Francisco, London, Shanghai, Amsterdam, and more) offering opportunities to work across teams and locations. - Engineering-driven culture: heavy emphasis on building proprietary technology, AI, and developer-first products. - Notable perks: opportunity to work on a modern financial stack, exposure to cutting-edge AI/Fintech intersection, and a diverse, international team of "2,200 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech." ## Sources 1. [airwallex.com - Who We Are](https://www.airwallex.com/en-eu/who-we-are) 2. [airwallex.com - Global Platform](https://www.airwallex.com/global) 3. [careers.airwallex.com](https://careers.airwallex.com/) 4. [LinkedIn - Airwallex](https://www.linkedin.com/company/airwallex) 5. 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