Now Hiring - Financial Services Industry Partner Relationships Director - Remote in Phoenix, AZ

THE OPPORTUNITY:

We are seeking a talented Industry Partner Relationships Director. The primary job responsibility of the Industry Partner Relationships Director is to serve as an operational level liaison and strategic representative of Co-op in building relationships with the digital& core partners who provide technology services to our member credit unions and prospects. The Director will proactively engage our top technology partners, and work to build strategic relationships for open collaboration to support our mutual clients. This role will be responsible for participating directly in client projects, including executing annual strategic business plans for project coordination, support sales & new business implementation initiatives, and will be expected to leverage executive and operational level relationships to support our existing clients, and forge new and profitable partnerships with digital & core providers that result in referrals, sales leads, and new business for Co-op. The Director will also formulate and execute business plans to ensure seamless client experience in conjunction with Co-op and their technology partners. This position works tightly with Sales, Operations, Vendor Management, Network Implementations, Systems & Support, Marketing, Finance, Legal, and Product.

WHAT YOU CAN LOOK FORWARD TO:

• Initiate, build, and nurture relationships with core processors, digital providers and other technology partners
• Design and implement strategies to collaborate with top technology partners to make it more seamless and easy to do business with Co-op
• Drive initiatives to secure reseller/marketing agreements designed to generate new business leads for Co-op
• Collaborate with Co-op key accounts and their top core partners to identify mutually beneficial opportunities, seeking quantifiable impact to cost/revenue, and client experience/satisfaction surrounding these opportunities
• Serve as industry expert in financial payment platforms and a solution specialist on all Co-op products & services including but not limited to Credit, Debit, ATM/Terminal Driving, Shared Network and Member Center services and products
• Sell technology partners on the value of , performing and prioritizing development work to support the entire suite of Co-op products and solutions for net new sales, add-on products and retentions all to retain and grow revenue and clients
• Develop marketing, referral, or re-seller agreements with technology partners
• Negotiate terms to support partnership between Co-op, digital & core providers, and our mutual clients
• Deliver Sales presentations, contracts, materials, on-site client/prospect visit support in conjunction with sales team, CBE, EMT, Configuration and Technical Integration teams to present value of our partnerships in supporting mutual clients
• Collaborate in creating presentations, proposals, competitive insights for line of business sales and client renewals
• Partner with Strategic Client Development team, Regional Sales Managers (RSM), Division Executives (DE’s), Client Business Executives (CBE) & Client Business Representative (CBR), Project Managers (PM’s), and Product team in preparing and participating in client meetings, delivery of prospect presentations, provide expert technical and product support throughout the sales development life cycle on all revenue generating products
• Maintain technical and executive level mastery of all Co-op products, platforms and technology solutions as well as infrastructure including but not limited to ATM/Debit Processing, Fraud and Analytic tools, Shared Branching, Member Center Support, Digital, Credit Processing and add on services demonstrating technological advances and articulating product capabilities
• Clearly delineate roles and responsibilities with internal Co-op colleagues (Product, IT, Network Implementations).
• Ensure communication and process is defined and evolved based upon changing client and market dynamics.
• Design and execute strategy with Co-op Product Team, Implementation Team and technology partners to ensure proactive readiness to support digital integration options, enhancements, full API suite, etc. prior to GA
• Design and execute strategy with Co-op Product Team, Implementation Team and digital partners to ensure proactive readiness, pre-certification, and seamless implementation readiness for support of network mandates, batch files and online message enhancements, and technical updates as needed to support our mutual clients.
• Provide strong competitive intelligence to educate both clients and co-workers on where Co-op products fit into the competitive spectrum and ecosystem
• Vet new digital providers, assist Vendor Management and Systems and Support areas in obtaining due diligence documentation, and negotiating additional business relationships the are profitable to Co-op and beneficial to our clients
• Collaborate with Configuration and Technical Integration teams and Finance to identify opportunities to streamline certification, ongoing project engagements, and processes to pursue future enhancements in a more seamless way
• Create benchmark data points and track impact of digital & core relationship management on key performance indicators (emergency DB change fees, implementation timelines, quality of projects, project queue for industry wide enhancements, etc.).
• Maintain data and act as SME for all info surrounding competitive intel, market trends, business analysis
• Create action plan from discovery process to optimize business relationships for key net new clients and existing business to drive sales initiatives and retention
• Present and demo processing/network solutions and propose value differentiators within the competitive landscape
• Conduct regular vendor educational sessions, break out VIP insight sessions, regular in person collaboration sessions, and ensure touchpoints with major players with regular, meaningful cadence
• Establish process for ongoing market information sharing and seamless RFP engagement
• Establish process to engage digital & core providers for Co-op mandates, key client project initiatives, and large scale client support and communication
• Establish KPI metrics surrounding vendor relationships – impact on client and Co-op cost, as well as impact on new and renewal sales ACV as result of partner referral relationships
• Collaborate with Co-op product, technology, implementation, and marketing teams and act as a liaison to the sales organization
• Participate in product launch teams throughout the delivery lifecycle
• Provide market Intel and feedback directly to the membership, product and marketing teams and consultant and vendor partners regarding evolving client needs and product direction/strategy
  • Drive and complete the Request for Proposal stages for lines of business including debit, credit, shared branching, digital banking, ATM/terminal driving. This requires being technically competent in all lines of business subject areas.
  • Deliver client-focus and industry-savvy messaging in written and oral content
  • Perform any support activities including but not limited to pre-sale activity, request for proposals, requests for information, competitive review, post-sale activity/follow up
  • Participate in various meetings, conferences, and presentations as directed
  • Evaluate and understand market changes and significant events and report to Co-op executive management
  • Analyze records of present and past sales trends, development costs, estimated and realized revenue, commitments, and obligations as they relate to key vendor partnerships
  • Maintain open communication with Executive management to optimize productivity
• Drive all dashboards and sales metrics to strategize, understand and win and retain clients, and measure impact in project resource allocation, revenue, and cost trends as partnerships develop
• Initiate and maintain all sales metrics, key business indicators and information to maximize relationship efficiency.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO SUCCEED:

• Co-op products, platforms, market intelligence, industry knowledge, sale operations, negotiations, industry consulting best practices, business and technology partners in credit union space.
• Must be able to take own initiative and possess the ability to problem solve
• Must have knowledge of project/implementation process with Co-op and technology partners.
• Must have knowledge of technical requirements relating to payments processing (telecom, message types, file types,
• integration options, etc.).
• Must have the ability to react to change productively and handle other essential tasks as assigned.

REQUIRED EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE:

• Ten years of Financial Institution background in operations, marketing, sales, sales operations, platform or member services are required.
• 3-5 years of experience surrounding RFP process, vendor analysis, negotiations.

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For California, Colorado and New York Applicants: In accordance with the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, the expected salary range for this position is between:

Actual Pay will be adjusted based on experience and other job-related factors permitted by law.

This position qualifies for the following benefits; Co-op Solutions offers a competitive Total Rewards package: 401(k) with generous company match, Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance options, Health Savings Account/Flexible Spending Account, Life Insurance, Short- and Long-Term disability benefits, Pregnancy and Parental Leave, Tuition Reimbursement, Paid Time Off (PTO), Paid Holidays, Community Volunteer Time Off, and an Employee Assistance Program.