Director, Strategic Partnerships – Fintech & Payments

About Engine Engine is the AI-native platform for intelligent travel. For a decade, Engine has built the proprietary technology and supply behind modern business travel, serving over 40,000 customers and nearly 2 million travelers, along with leading travel and AI companies that build on Engine's infrastructure. One system powers business travel, group travel, human agents, and AI agents. That work has earned recognition as one of Fast Company's Best Workplaces for Innovators (2025), TravelTech's Reservation Platform of the Year (2026), and one of Built In's Best Places to Work (2020–2026). We're looking for bold, ambitious people to help redefine how businesses manage and experience travel. Working here, you can expect exponential growth, an ambitious pace, full ownership, and high-caliber colleagues who push you to do the best work of your career. Every hire raises the bar. Come outpace the ordinary and build the future of travel with us. Engine is redefining how businesses experience travel — and the strategic partnerships that power our growth are central to that mission. As Director, Strategic Partnerships– Fintech & Payments, you will own our most consequential Fintech & Payments partnerships from first conversation through long-term scale. This is a full-cycle role: you source it, negotiate it, close it, and grow it. You will build deep executive relationships across the Fintech & Payments landscape, structure complex high-value deals, and ultimately build and lead a team beneath you as this vertical scales. If you thrive at the intersection of strategic thinking and relentless execution — and you want to build something that matters at a category-defining company — this is your role. What You'll Do • Full-Cycle Partnership Ownership: Own the end-to-end lifecycle for Fintech & Payments partnerships — from initial outreach and qualification through negotiation, close, onboarding, and long-term growth. You bring it in, you scale it. • Pipeline Development: Identify, qualify, and build a high-value pipeline of Fintech & Payments partnerships, each with the potential to reach $100M+ in annual volume. Manage a named account list, tier opportunities strategically, and self-source with creativity and urgency. • Executive-Level Negotiation: Lead complex, multi-stakeholder deal negotiations with C-suite and VP-level decision-makers at Fintech & Payments organizations. Craft compelling partnership structures that drive durable mutual value. • Vertical Expertise & Market Intelligence: Develop and maintain deep knowledge of the Fintech & Payments landscape — key players, buying dynamics, competitive forces, regulatory considerations, and partnership models that unlock distribution or revenue at scale. • Post-Close Relationship Leadership: Serve as Engine's primary executive relationship owner for Fintech & Payments partners post-close. Drive retention, expansion, and partner satisfaction across your portfolio. • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Product, Marketing, Revenue Operations, and Finance to craft tailored proposals, support partner onboarding, and ensure Engine's platform capabilities match Fintech & Payments partner needs. • Industry Representation: Represent Engine at Fintech & Payments-relevant conferences, industry events, and executive forums. Build Engine's brand and credibility in the market. • Pipeline Rigor & Forecasting: Maintain a well-organized, accurate pipeline in Salesforce. Forecast clearly, communicate progress to leadership, and leverage tools like ZoomInfo, Outreach, and Gong to drive efficiency. • Team Building: As the Fintech & Payments vertical matures and scales, recruit, develop, and lead a high-performing BD team beneath you. You're not just a dealmaker — you're building a bus