Director – Business Development - New Issuers

At Early Warning, we’ve powered and protected the U.S. financial system for over thirty years with cutting-edge solutions like Zelle®, Paze®, and so much more. As a trusted name in payments, we partner with thousands of institutions to increase access to financial services and protect transactions for hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses.

Early Warning follows a hybrid work model to allow for a more collaborative working environment.

Candidates responding to this posting must independently possess the eligibility to work in the United States, for any employer, at the date of hire. This position is ineligible for employment Visa sponsorship.

About the Team

Paze’s Issuer, Network and Digital Partnerships team develops and manages relationships with issuers, payment networks, and big tech/agentic partners, with a remit spanning partner strategy, business development, and sales. Positioned at the intersection of Paze and the broader payments ecosystem, the team activates these relationships to bring Paze’s value proposition to life, translating partner capabilities, priorities, and market developments into opportunities for the business. The team sits within EWS Partnerships and works across the organization and alongside senior leadership to optimize Paze performance and drive adoption, transaction growth, and loyalty – while helping shape what Paze builds, how it scales, and where it invests next.

Overall Purpose

The Business Development Director – New Issuer Partnerships leads the sales strategy for Paze across the nation’s top 30+ financial institutions. This role is accountable for winning new issuer partners—from identifying and prioritizing opportunities through consultative discovery, executive alignment, solution development, negotiation, and contract execution. The Director builds trusted relationships with senior leaders across product, digital, payments, marketing, technology, operations, and risk to establish the value of Paze, secure enterprise commitment, and achieve business growth objectives.

The Director develops tailored pursuit strategies, mobilizes the right internal resources, tightly coordinates with Channel Partnership colleagues, and navigates complex institutional buying processes to move opportunities forward. This role combines strategic selling, executive presence, commercial discipline, and cross-functional influence to build a strong pipeline and convert priority prospects into signed partners. Once an agreement is executed, the Director ensures a coordinated handoff to the teams responsible for integration and ongoing relationship management.

Essential Functions

• Develop and execute the issuer sales strategy for targeted top 30+ financial institutions, including market segmentation, account prioritization, opportunity qualification, pipeline development, and sales objectives.
• Build trusted relationships with senior executives and key decision-makers while developing a deep understanding of each institution’s strategy, organizational structure, technology environment, customer priorities, and decision-making process.
• Lead consultative discovery and translate institutional needs into a differentiated Paze value proposition, tailored solution, and compelling business case.
• Deliver high-impact executive presentations and conversations that build confidence in Paze, create urgency, and secure the sponsorship and cross-functional alignment required to advance opportunities.
• Own complex enterprise sales cycles from initial engagement through due diligence, solution alignment, commercial negotiation, and contract execution.
• Coordinate closely with the Issuer Channel Partnership team, which manages the reseller and technical platform partners essential to issuers’ Paze enablement.
• Develop disciplined pursuit plans, pipeline forecasts, and executive updates that clearly communicate opportunity value, progress, competitive dynamics, risks, decision points, and required actions.
• Orchestrate internal stakeholders across Product, Marketing, Technology, Operations, Finance, Legal, Risk, and senior leadership to develop strong proposals, resolve barriers, and maintain momentum throughout the sales process.
• Capture and communicate market intelligence, prospect feedback, and competitive insights to strengthen Paze’s product strategy, positioning, and go-to-market priorities.
• Establish a clear transition plan and coordinate the handoff of signed partners to the teams responsible for implementation and ongoing account management.
• Represent Paze and EWS with credibility in executive meetings, industry forums, conferences, and other external engagements while supporting the company’s commitment to risk management and safeguarding the integrity and confidentiality of systems and data.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, marketing, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Typically 15+ years of experience in financial services, payments, enterprise sales, or business development.
• Demonstrated success selling complex technology or payment solutions to large financial institutions, including top-tier banks and credit unions.
• Proven ability to develop enterprise sales strategies, build qualified pipelines, navigate long and complex buying cycles, negotiate agreements, and close high-value partnerships.
• Strong understanding of the issuer landscape, card and payment products, digital banking experiences, digital wallets and tokenization, and enterprise technology considerations.
• Exceptional consultative and strategic selling skills, with the ability to connect institutional priorities to a differentiated value proposition and compelling business case.
• Established success building relationships with senior executives and influencing decisions across complex stakeholder groups.
• Strong commercial and negotiation capabilities, including experience navigating procurement, legal, technology, operational, and risk requirements.
• Excellent executive communication skills, including the ability to lead high-impact meetings, deliver persuasive presentations, communicate clearly in writing, and listen for both stated and unstated needs.
• Experience developing market strategies, account pursuit plans, competitive analyses, financial assessments, pipeline forecasts, and executive-level opportunity updates.
• Demonstrated ability to mobilize and influence cross-functional teams throughout complex sales pursuits.
• Self-directed, analytical, and commercially minded, with the ability to navigate ambiguity, maintain momentum, and deliver results in a high-growth environment.
• Successful completion of a background and drug screening.

Physical Requirements

Working conditions consist of a normal office environment. Work is primarily sedentary and requires extensive use of a computer and involves sitting for periods of approximately four hours. Work may require occasional standing, walking, kneeling, and reaching. Must be able to lift 10 pounds occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently. Requires visual acuity and dexterity to view, prepare, and manipulate documents and office equipment including personal computers. Requires the ability to communicate with internal and/or external customers. Employee must be able to perform essential functions and physical requirements of position with or without reasonable accommodation.

Candidates responding to this posting must independently possess the eligibility to work in the United States at the date of hire.

The above job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow instructions and perform other related duties as assigned by their supervisor.

The base pay scale for this position in:
Phoenix, AZ/ Chicago, IL / Washington, DC in USD per year is: $131,000 - $164,000.
New York, NY/ San Francisco, CA in USD per year is: $158,000 - $197,000.

Additionally, candidates are eligible for a Sales Incentive Plan (with potential annual target of 100%), and benefits.

This pay scale is subject to change and is not necessarily reflective of actual compensation that may be earned, nor a promise of any specific pay for any specific candidate, which is always dependent on legitimate factors considered at the time of job offer. Early Warning Services takes into consideration a variety of factors when determining a competitive salary offer, including, but not limited to, the job scope, market rates and geographic location of a position, candidate’s education, experience, training, and specialized skills or certification(s) in relation to the job requirements and compared with internal equity (peers). The business actively supports and reviews wage equity to ensure that pay decisions are not based on gender, race, national origin, or any other protected classes.

Some of the Ways We Prioritize Your Health and Happiness 

• Healthcare Coverage – Competitive medical (PPO/HDHP), dental, and vision plans as well as company contributions to your Health Savings Account (HSA) or pre-tax savings through flexible spending accounts (FSA) for commuting, health & dependent care expenses.

• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Featuring a 100% Company Safe Harbor Match on your first 6% deferral immediately upon eligibility.

• Paid Time Off – Flexible Time Off for Exempt (salaried) employees, as well as generous PTO for Non-Exempt (hourly) employees, plus 11 paid company holidays and a paid volunteer day.

• 12 weeks of Paid Parental Leave

• Maven Family Planning – provides support through your Parenting journey including egg freezing, fertility, adoption, surrogacy, pregnancy, postpartum, early pediatrics, and returning to work.

And SO much more! We continue to enhance our program, so be sure to check our Benefits page here for the latest. Our team can share more during the interview process!

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Early Warning Services, LLC (“Early Warning”) considers for employment, hires, retains and promotes qualified candidates on the basis of ability, potential, and valid qualifications without regard to race, religious creed, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, protected veteran or disability status or any factor prohibited by law, and as such affirms in policy and practice to support and promote equal employment opportunity and affirmative action, in accordance with all applicable federal, state, and municipal laws. The company also prohibits discrimination on other bases such as medical condition, marital status or any other factor that is irrelevant to the performance of our employees.