Global Business Development Lead

About the Role
We’re hiring a high-performing Global Business Development Lead to help drive the company’s next phase of international expansion.
Based in Dubai, London, or Paris, you will work closely with the Head of Business Development as their right-hand execution partner, helping shape global priorities and turning them into commercial partnerships and successful market launches. This is a broad, high-ownership role spanning new markets, strategic partnerships, and cross-border growth opportunities.
You will own expansion initiatives at every stage - from identifying and evaluating opportunities to developing partner relationships on the ground, negotiating agreements, and coordinating execution through launch. You will work across multiple regions and corridors, with exposure to banks, fintechs, payment providers, regulators, and other ecosystem partners.
We would particularly value candidates with experience working across Africa, although the remit is global and strong experience in other emerging markets is equally relevant.
This role is ideal for someone who combines market insight, commercial judgment, and execution speed. You will bring a high bias for action, move comfortably between strategy and hands-on delivery, and maintain momentum across complex, fast-moving workstreams.
The role will involve frequent international travel and is well suited to someone who enjoys being on the ground - meeting partners, understanding how markets operate in practice, and solving problems firsthand. You should be energized by unfamiliar environments and comfortable going wherever needed to turn opportunities into successful launches.

What You'll Do:

• Act as a right-hand partner to the Head of Business Development, helping translate global growth priorities into clear plans and concrete action
• Own end-to-end partnership development across global markets - from opportunity identification and initial outreach through negotiation, execution, and launch
• Identify, assess, and prioritize new countries, corridors, partners, and commercial opportunities based on impact, economics, feasibility, and strategic value
• Source, structure, negotiate, and execute partnerships with banks, fintechs, payment providers, mobile money operators, and other ecosystem participants
• Develop market-entry and partnership strategies that reflect local customer needs, competitive dynamics, regulatory requirements, and commercial realities
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with senior external stakeholders across cultures, markets, and organizational environments
• Drive multiple workstreams in parallel, including market research, partner sourcing, commercial analysis, negotiations, contracting, and launch planning
• Coordinate closely with product, operations, compliance, legal, finance, and commercial teams to turn partnership opportunities into successful launches
• Identify regulatory, commercial, technical, and operational risks early, and take pragmatic action to keep progress on track
• Prepare clear recommendations and decision materials for leadership, balancing speed, economics, execution complexity, and long-term strategic value
• Help strengthen the company’s global business development capabilities, processes, and partner network as the company scales

What You'll Need:

• 8+ years of experience in business development, partnerships, strategy, market expansion, consulting, or a comparable role in a high-growth company
• A strong track record of developing partnerships or launching businesses across multiple international markets
• Experience working in or with emerging markets; experience across Africa is strongly preferred
• Strong commercial judgment, with the ability to evaluate trade-offs across speed, economics, regulatory constraints, operational complexity, and strategic value
• Highly autonomous and comfortable acting as a self-starter in unstructured, zero-to-one environments
• Excellent relationship-building and negotiation skills, with the ability to establish trust across cultures and stakeholder groups
• A hands-on, execution-focused approach and the ability to move fluidly between high-level strategy and detailed delivery
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple markets, partnerships, and workstreams simultaneously
• Comfortable working closely with senior leadership and taking ownership of high-priority, time-sensitive initiatives
• Adaptable and resilient, with the judgment to navigate changing priorities and cross-border complexity
• Experience in fintech, payments, remittances, financial services, or another regulated industry is a strong advantage
• Fluent in English; additional languages relevant to our markets are highly valued
• Willingness to travel frequently

Company Values

• Impact first
• Team next
• Accept reality
• Propose solutions
• Win with grit
• Be proactively candid, with yourself and others
• Love the particular
• Own it
• Create positive energy
• Maybe, even have fun

The company is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to building an inclusive and diverse workforce. All employment decisions are decided on the basis of qualifications, experience, and business need. We strongly encourage applications from members of underrepresented communities to apply.
If you require reasonable adjustments to be made during the recruitment process, please do not hesitate to let us know. Any information you provide us in this respect will only be used to accommodate your requirements.
Note: we recognize imposter syndrome is real - any candidate that does not perfectly fit every characteristic of this role is still strongly encouraged to apply.