Senior Partner Acquisition Manager - Germany - #2707925

Berlin or Frankfurt (Germany)

We're looking for a Senior Partner Acquisition Manager (m/f/d)

You'll own iwoca's most strategic partnerships in Germany, from the first conversation with a bank, payment provider or business software platform to a live integration that funds small businesses. Your mission is to bring fast, flexible finance to the places where SMEs already run their business.

The company

Small businesses move fast. Opportunities often don’t wait, and cash flow pressures can appear overnight. To keep going, and growing, SMEs need finance that’s as flexible and responsive as they are.

That's why we built iwoca. Our smart technology, data science and five-star customer service ensures business owners can act with the speed, confidence and control they need, exactly when it's needed.

We’ve already cleared the way for 100,000 businesses with more than £4.5 billion in funding. Our passionate team is driven to help even more SMEs succeed, through access to better finance and other services that make running a business easier. Our ultimate mission is to support one million SMEs in their defining moments, creating lasting impact for the communities and economies they drive.

The team

The Partner Acquisition Germany team builds the partner channel through which iwoca reaches small businesses in Germany: comparison platforms and brokers, banks, payment providers, business software providers and financial advisors who offer iwoca's finance to their customers at the moment it is needed. The team works with three partnership models, from a co-branded referral link and a partner portal to a full API integration, and measures its success by partners that are live and funding customers.

The team is small and works closely together: the Head of Partner Acquisition Germany, a Strategy & Data Manager who owns market analysis, business cases and the CRM, and the partner managers who own the relationships. The team prioritises partners by strategic fit, works through warm introductions and existing networks wherever possible, and stays close to every new partner until the first customers are funded. It works hand in hand with Relationship Management and the product and engineering teams in London / Berlin / Frankfurt that build the integrations.

The role

This is a senior role with full ownership of the partners you pursue. Three things matter more than anything else: You will qualify before you sell, because the best partnerships begin with a genuine customer need. You know how to activate networks and create warm introductions rather than relying solely on cold outreach. And you consider a deal complete only when the partnership is live, working well and funding its first customers. You'll travel across Germany one to two days a week for face-to-face partner meetings, industry events and trade fairs.

Ownership and impact

• Own a portfolio of the highest-value partnership prospects in Germany, from first conversation to signed contract and live integration.
• Lead negotiations with founders, managing directors and heads of product or partnerships at banks, payment providers, business software platforms and financial intermediaries.
• Design the cooperation model and commercial terms for each partner so that the partnership works for both sides over years, not quarters.
• Bring every partner to go-live with a committed internal promoter and a first concrete use case, so that your work turns into funded customers and long-term value.

Autonomy, backed by a dedicated strategy and data function

• Spend your time on relationships and deals, with a Strategy & Data Manager who builds target models, business cases and CRM automation alongside you for your prospects and partners.
• Own your pipeline end to end and keep it transparent, so that forecasts and decisions rest on input and numbers everyone trusts.
• Decide together with the Head of Partner Acquisition which segments and partners you pursue and where you say no.

Influence on product and strategy

• Feed what you learn from partners directly into our partnership models, the integration roadmap and the go-to-market plan for Germany.
• Shape the activation playbook for new partners and the handover to Key Account Management together with the Head of Business Development.
• Represent iwoca at the industry events, trade fairs and partner roundtables that matter for SME finance in Germany.

The requirements

Essential:

• At least five years of experience in B2B partnerships, business development or key account management in fintech, banking, payments or business software. You can show a proven track record of closing complex deals with six to twelve month sales cycles at C-Level, founder, board or head-of-department level.
• A working understanding of how a financing product is integrated into a partner's platform: APIs, embedded finance and how a partner's customer data can be used in the application journey. You won't build integrations yourself (our engineering teams do that), but you need to lead that conversation credibly.
• Native-level German and professional English.
• Demonstrates curiosity to use and learn more about AI tools. You’ll already be comfortable using AI tools in practical ways to help solve problems, increase productivity and improve quality of work, showing good judgement about when to use them and the ability to explain the reasoning behind that use.

Bonus:

• An existing network among German banks, payment providers, brokers or business software platforms.
• Experience with lending, working capital or other financial products for small businesses.
• Experience managing a partner pipeline in HubSpot and using data to prioritise targets.

Don’t take this list as prescriptive: it’s just to give you a sense of who might do well at the job. We’d still love to hear from you if you don’t hit every point on the list, or if you have other experience.

The salary

We expect to pay from €70,000 - €85,000 base salary plus a performance-related bonus for this role. But, we’re open-minded, so definitely include your salary goals with your application. We routinely benchmark salaries against market rates, and run quarterly performance and salary reviews.

The culture

At iwoca, the best idea wins. We model our culture on independent thinking, challenging untested logic, and evidence-based decisions. We prioritise learning and growth, and give people the autonomy to develop in the direction that makes them most effective.

We're a tech company and believe in the power of AI to help us work faster and better. We provide the infrastructure where every iwocan always has access to the best models and where those models have access to all of our data. We will help our people to learn how to use and grow with the new tools available to them.

The offices

We put a lot of effort into making iwoca a great place to work:

• Offices in London, Leeds, Berlin, and Frankfurt with plenty of drinks and snacks.
• Events and community-led groups, including running groups, padel, and monthly ping-pong and pool competitions.

The benefits

• A smart, motivated and international team (we represent over 35 different nationalities) with a ridiculous growth-mindset.
• 26 days of vacation a year plus a free day for your birthday.
• One-month fully paid sabbatical after 4 years.
• Mental health support with direct access to certified psychologists via our partner OpenUp.
• iwoca takes over a ski chalet in winter so that you and your team can ski or snowboard (and work) for a week. During summer we are drawn to the sun. We’ve been to France, Italy, Spain, and further afield.
• Access to the gym membership program, €25 for either Fit711 or Urban Sports Club.
• €30 contribution towards the Deutschlandticket.
• Company Pension with Canada Life.
• Great office locations. In Frankfurt in the middle of the city, our Berlin office is located in Prenzlauer Berg.
• A paid volunteer day that gives you the opportunity to invest time to support a charity of your choice.
• Corporate Benefits discounts.
• ’iwocans’ also benefit from fully stocked fridges in our offices with whatever is needed to strengthen them. There are snacks (both healthy and less healthy) for the whole day.

And to make sure we all keep learning, we offer:

• A learning and development budget for everyone, including a book budget.
• Learning German budget.
• Company-wide talks with internal and external speakers.
• Access to learning platforms like Treehouse.

Useful links:

• See iwoca benefits & policies https://coda.io/@iwocade/iwoca-benefits-policies-de for detail and some additional benefits.
• See iwoca interview welcome pack https://coda.io/@iwocade/iwoca-interview-welcome-pack-de.