Job Description

Senior Partnership Manager

Remote (Johannesburg based preferred)

About Our Client

Our client is a fast-growing African technology company operating in the digital identity space, trusted by some of South Africa's most demanding financial institutions. Their enterprise client base includes tier-1 banks and financial services providers, and they are building a best-in-class client management function as they scale.

The Role

This role is the commercial and relationship backbone of the business's enterprise account portfolio, and it is deliberately dual. You will be a strategic relationship owner, accountable for the health, retention and commercial growth of the most important client accounts, while staying hands-on in the day to day: running executive business reviews, managing renewal cycles and staying close to what each client actually needs.

This is not a reactive support role. As Senior Partnership Manager, you will be a proactive, commercially minded owner who drives measurable revenue outcomes across an assigned portfolio, including renewals, expansions, upsells and new product adoption. You will be the client's internal champion and the business's commercial face to the client.

Clients operate in a technically complex, compliance-heavy environment and are navigating FICA, POPIA and evolving KYC/AML obligations. You will bring deep industry knowledge, strong executive presence and a clear understanding of how digital identity verification creates value in banking and financial services. You will also play a critical part in bringing client insight back into product and commercial strategy, so that the voice of the customer shapes how the platform evolves.

Key Responsibilities

Account Ownership and Client Relationship Management

• Own and manage a portfolio of enterprise clients, including tier-1 banks and FSPs, as the primary relationship lead at every level of the client organisation.
• Build deep, multi-level relationships, from operational and implementation teams through to C-suite and procurement decision makers.
• Develop and maintain structured account plans for each client, covering relationship health, strategic objectives, risk factors, expansion opportunities and agreed success metrics.
• Run regular executive business reviews and operational check-ins, ensuring clients realise measurable value from the platform and that commitments are consistently met.
• Monitor client health indicators such as adoption metrics, support volumes, NPS and contract milestones, and intervene before issues escalate.
• Act as the client's internal advocate: representing their priorities, escalating risks with urgency and coordinating cross-functional responses when needed.

Retention, Renewal and Commercial Growth

• Own the full renewal cycle for assigned accounts, from planning and negotiation to execution, ensuring on-time renewals and strong retention.
• Identify, qualify and close upsell and cross-sell opportunities across the product portfolio, including new use cases, volume expansions and additional integrations.
• Drive new product adoption within existing accounts, working closely with product and solutions teams to align the roadmap with client needs and timelines.
• Lead commercial conversations with confidence, including pricing, contract amendments, scope expansions and multi-year deal structures.
• Keep pipeline and forecast data accurate in the CRM, giving leadership reliable, decision-ready visibility.
• Contribute to net revenue retention targets by maximising expansion revenue and minimising churn risk.

Strategic Account Planning and Executive Engagement

• Develop and execute tailored strategies for key accounts, aligned to both the client's business objectives and the company's commercial goals.
• Engage at senior and executive level, positioning the business as a strategic long-term partner rather than simply a vendor.
• Lead joint business planning sessions with key accounts, aligning on roadmaps, integration priorities and mutual growth initiatives.
• Navigate political dynamics, stakeholder changes and competitive threats within accounts before they become risks.
• Take part in industry forums, events and working groups to deepen relationships and build the company's profile and credibility in the sector.

Industry and Domain Expertise

• Maintain a deep understanding of the South African regulatory landscape relevant to clients, including FICA, POPIA, SARB directives, FSCA requirements and NCA obligations.
• Stay current with trends in digital identity, authentication, KYC/AML and fraud prevention that shape client buying decisions.
• Understand client integration architectures and where the platform fits in their technology and compliance stack, well enough to engage credibly without deep engineering expertise.
• Translate complex technical and regulatory concepts into clear commercial value in client conversations.
• Act as an internal resource on South African FSP and enterprise client dynamics, sharing market intelligence with product, sales and leadership.

Client Onboarding and Implementation Support

• Lead the commercial and relationship side of new client onboarding, ensuring a smooth, confidence-building transition from signed contract to live implementation.
• Coordinate across solutions engineering, product, operations and support so that onboarding timelines and client commitments are met.
• Agree success criteria with new clients during onboarding, laying the foundation for ongoing health measurement and future expansion.
• Ensure clients receive the training, enablement and documentation they need to adopt the platform confidently and at scale.

Voice of the Customer and Internal Collaboration

• Capture and structure client feedback, feature requests and pain points, feeding prioritised insights into product and engineering decisions.
• Work with the product team to ensure the roadmap reflects the real-world needs of the enterprise client base.
• Partner with marketing on case studies, testimonials, reference programmes and co-marketing initiatives.
• Support the sales team in expanding into new business units or entities within existing clients.
• Proactively provide regular, data-driven portfolio reports to the Head of Enterprise Sales and leadership, including health scores, renewal forecasts and expansion pipeline.

AI-Augmented Ways of Working

• Use AI tools as a standard, expected part of the role and a core professional competency.
• Apply AI to accelerate account research, stakeholder mapping, meeting preparation and client communication.
• Use AI to synthesise client feedback, spot portfolio patterns and surface risks or expansion signals earlier.
• Produce high-quality account plans, executive business review materials and internal reports with speed and precision.
• Stay current with the AI tooling landscape and identify productivity opportunities in client management.

What You Will Bring

Experience

• At least 7 years in client management, account management or customer success in a financial services or fintech environment.
• A demonstrable track record of managing and growing a portfolio of enterprise accounts, including tier-1 banks or major FSPs in South Africa.
• Proven ability to manage complex, multi-stakeholder relationships at senior and executive level, building trust and delivering commercial outcomes at the same time.
• Experience owning commercial outcomes end to end, including renewals, upsells, net revenue retention targets and expansion pipeline.
• Exposure to the South African financial services ecosystem (banking, insurance, lending, payments or identity) is strongly advantageous.
• Startup or scaleup experience is preferred, along with comfort operating at pace with evolving processes.

Domain and Industry Knowledge

• A strong understanding of the South African regulatory environment, including FICA, POPIA, SARB, FSCA and NCA, and how these shape FSP buying behaviour.
• Familiarity with digital identity, KYC/AML, onboarding and fraud prevention concepts as they apply to financial services.
• Awareness of the South African financial landscape, including the major and digital banks, insurers and relevant government entities.
• The ability to engage credibly in technical product conversations without needing deep engineering knowledge.

Commercial and Analytical Skills

• Confidence in commercial negotiation, contract discussions and pricing conversations with senior stakeholders.
• Strong commercial instincts: spotting expansion opportunities, recognising buying signals and managing risk to revenue across a complex portfolio.
• Experience using CRM tools such as Salesforce or HubSpot to manage pipeline, forecast accurately and document account activity with discipline.
• A data-driven approach, comfortable using metrics, health scores and dashboards to track performance and present to leadership.

Interpersonal and Communication Skills

• Exceptional written and verbal communication at every level, from operational contacts to C-suite decision makers.
• Strong executive presence and the confidence to hold commercially consequential conversations with senior stakeholders.
• High emotional intelligence, with the ability to read the room, navigate conflict and build trust in complex environments.
• The ability to turn complex technical and commercial concepts into clear, compelling narratives for diverse audiences.

Ways of Working

• Proactive and self-directed, acting on client relationships before issues surface.
• Highly organised, able to manage a large, complex portfolio without losing detail or momentum.
• Comfortable in a fast-paced, scaling environment with a high degree of autonomy.
• Naturally collaborative across product, engineering, solutions, marketing and leadership.
• Receptive to feedback, commercially curious and committed to continuous improvement.

If you have not heard from us within one month of submitting your application, please consider your application unsuccessful. Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are unable to respond to each applicant individually.