Job Summary

We are building an integrated B2B marketplace that will transform how SMEs trade, access finance and grow their business, co-created with leading local institutions in the UAE.

As Head of Partnerships, you will lead the development and execution of our partnership strategy to accelerate growth across our B2B platform. Your focus will be on building a high-quality ecosystem of financial institutions, integration partners, technology providers, and commercial collaborators. You’ll manage the full lifecycle — from identifying and onboarding strategic partners to delivering measurable value for both sides. This is an opportunity to shape a high-impact platform at day zero, working closely with the founding team and leading institutions in the UAE. 

Key Responsibilities

1. Develop and Drive the Partnerships Strategy

• Define and lead the end-to-end partnerships roadmap aligned with the company’s growth strategy.
• Identify, evaluate, and close new partnership opportunities — including but not limited to funding partners (banks, NBFCs, fintechs) to integrations and ecosystem enablers.
• Establish clear value propositions and success metrics for each partner type.

2. Own the Full Partnership Lifecycle

• Lead deal negotiation, contracting, and onboarding processes.
• Build and manage long-term relationships with key partners.
• Serve as the main point of contact for high-impact partnerships and manage ongoing joint initiatives.
• Ensure timely delivery of partner commitments and co-developed projects.

3. Cross-Functional Leadership

• Collaborate with Product and Tech teams to deliver seamless partner integrations (e.g. APIs, onboarding flows).
• Collaborate with leadership to structure commercial models and incentive structures.
• Work closely with Marketing on joint campaigns and go-to-market activities.
• Align with Operations, Risk, and Legal to ensure compliance, scalability, and performance tracking.

Skills and Experience

Change and Transformation 

Procurement & Supply Chain

Solutions Architect

Technology

Ventures

Corporate Strategy

Data and Analytics

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in partnerships, strategic business development, or alliances, ideally in banking, fintech, marketplaces.
• Proven experience building and managing partnerships with banks, financial institutions, fintech, SaaS companies, or enterprise platforms.
• Strong executive presence and communication skills — you’re able to build credibility and influence at all levels.
• Confident operating in a fast-moving early-stage startup and can build credibility with partners when representing a growing brand
• Bonus: understanding of SME lending, embedded finance, or B2B trade infrastructure

About Standard Chartered

We're an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 170 years, we've worked to make a positive difference for our clients, communities, and each other. We question the status quo, love a challenge and enjoy finding new opportunities to grow and do better than before. If you're looking for a career with purpose and you want to work for a bank making a difference, we want to hear from you. You can count on us to celebrate your unique talents and we can't wait to see the talents you can bring us.

Our purpose, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, together with our brand promise, to be here for good are achieved by how we each live our valued behaviours. When you work with us, you'll see how we value difference and advocate inclusion.

Together we:

• Do the right thing and are assertive, challenge one another, and live with integrity, while putting the client at the heart of what we do
• Never settle, continuously striving to improve and innovate, keeping things simple and learning from doing well, and not so well
• Are better together, we can be ourselves, be inclusive, see more good in others, and work collectively to build for the long term

What we offer

In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.

• Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations.
• Time-off including annual leave, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 months maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum.
• Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns.
• Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market-leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave, mental health first-aiders and all sorts of self-help toolkits
• A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual and digital learning.
• Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions and geographies - everyone feels respected and can realise their full potential.