First Circle

Fintech lender financing SMEs' B2B trade

Senior Account Executive

Account ExecutiveConfirmed live in the last 24 hours

Full-timeAuckland, New ZealandHybrid

About the Job

Requirements

At least 4 years of B2B business development experience, including at least 3 years in SME or commercial lending, business banking, asset finance, invoice finance, or a closely related financial services role.
An established network among New Zealand SME owners, accountants, and brokers, with the credibility to open doors.
A strong understanding of business credit, including the ability to read financial statements, discuss cash flow and serviceability, and recognize a good lending opportunity.
A track record of originating new business against targets, ideally in a start-up, new-market, or growth environment where a pipeline was built from zero.
Comfort with ambiguity and a self-starting approach, including the ability to work across teams and time zones.
High standards of conduct and integrity, understanding fair dealing in lending and prioritizing clients' long-term interests.
Disciplined use of customer relationship management systems and data to manage pipeline and forecast accurately.
A full New Zealand driver's licence and willingness to travel to meet clients and partners.

Responsibilities

Find, qualify, and close established New Zealand businesses seeking flexible working capital by originating new Business Credit Line clients.
Build a referral network with accountants, business advisors, commercial finance brokers, industry associations, and business networks across New Zealand.
Guide clients through application and onboarding, explain the credit process, and collect financial statements, GST returns, and bank data for underwriting.
Work with the credit team to present well-qualified applications and help structure facilities suited to the client and the company.
Manage ongoing client relationships, support drawdowns and annual limit reviews, and hold early conversations when a business encounters difficulties.
Report market feedback to the business, including responsive sectors, competitor pricing, and needed adaptations to the product or process for New Zealand.
Help develop the local go-to-market playbook, including messaging, events, partner programmes, and customer relationship management processes.
Represent First Circle at industry events and build its reputation as a credible lender in the New Zealand SME market.

Desired Qualifications

Experience in a start-up, new-market, or growth environment building a pipeline from zero.

Senior Account Executive (NZ)

First Circle · Auckland, New Zealand (Hybrid) · — · Posted 2026-10-06

Workplace: hybrid

Department: GB department

Description

Kia ora, we're First Circle

First Circle is a Singapore-headquartered SME lender. Since launching in the Philippines in 2016, we've provided close to PHP 30 billion (around USD 500 million) in financing to more than 5,000 small and medium businesses, and this year we celebrated our 10th anniversary.

Now we're bringing that experience to Aotearoa. New Zealand's banks have traditionally lent against property, which leaves a "missing middle" of well-run, established SMEs with real trading history and cash flow who struggle to access working capital without putting their house on the line. First Circle NZ exists to back those businesses, assessing them on how they actually perform rather than what property they own.

The role

This is our first business development hire in New Zealand, and you'll be the person who takes First Circle to market here. You'll build our client base from scratch, originating Business Credit Lines for NZ SMEs, and establishing the referral relationships that will drive our growth. You'll have the backing of a proven group platform, credit team and technology, combined with the autonomy of a founding role. As the NZ business grows, there's a clear path to building and leading the local sales team.

You'll report to the Country Manager and work closely with our group Risk Operations, Credit and Marketing teams.

What you'll be doing

Originating new Business Credit Line clients: finding, qualifying and closing established NZ businesses that need flexible working capital
Building a referral network from nothing, with accountants, business advisors, commercial finance brokers, industry associations and business networks across New Zealand
Guiding clients through application and onboarding, including explaining our credit process and collecting the financials, GST returns and bank data our underwriting team needs.
Working hand in hand with credit, using your judgement to bring forward well-qualified applications and helping structure facilities that work for the client and for First Circle.
Acting as the ongoing relationship manager for your clients, supporting drawdowns, annual limit reviews and early conversations if a business hits a rough patch.
Feeding the market back to the business: which sectors are responding, how competitors are pricing, and where our product or process needs adapting for New Zealand.
Helping shape our local go-to-market playbook, from messaging and events to partner programmes and CRM processes, as we move from launch to scale.
Representing First Circle at industry events and building our brand as a credible new lender in the NZ SME market.

Requirements

4+ years of B2B business development, with at least 3 years in SME or commercial lending, business banking, asset finance, invoice finance or a closely related financial services role.
A genuine network among NZ SME owners, accountants and brokers, and the credibility to open doors from day one.
A strong understanding of business credit: you can read a set of financial statements, talk confidently about cash flow and serviceability, and recognise a good lending opportunity.
A track record of originating new business against targets, ideally in a start-up, new-market or growth environment where you built a pipeline from zero.
Comfort with ambiguity and a self-starting approach. You'll be the first person on the ground, so you're comfortable wearing several hats and working with teams across time zones.
High standards of conduct and integrity. You understand what fair dealing means in lending and put clients' long-term interests first.
Disciplined use of CRM and data to manage pipeline and forecast accurately.
A full NZ driver's licence and the willingness to travel to meet clients and partners.

Benefits

Competitive base salary with generous bonus scheme
The chance to launch a new market and build the NZ team as the business grows.
KiwiSaver employer contributions, private health insurance, paid time off, laptops
Flexible working style
Working with a regional fintech team across Singapore and the Philippines, with a decade of SME lending experience behind you.

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About the Company

First Circle

Fintech lender financing SMEs' B2B trade

First Circle helps small and midsize businesses in growth markets access financing for B2B trade. It provides working-capital and trade-finance solutions that enable companies to pay suppliers or fund sales without relying on traditional collateral or personal connections. The product works by evaluating merit-based business finance needs and offering financing tied to trade transactions, backed by a team with experience from Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, Amazon, and Web Summit. What sets First Circle apart is its focus on SMEs in growth markets and a willingness to extend capital based on business performance and credit merits rather than collateral or networks. The company aims to help growing businesses scale by making it easier to obtain timely finance for trades, thereby supporting broader economic growth.

Company size: 51-200
Company stage: N/A
Total funding: $56M
Headquarters: Taguig, Philippines
Founded: 2015

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