Partnerships Development Manager, Link - Payments Partnerships

About this role

Who we are About Stripe Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform for businesses. Millions of companies - from the world’s largest enterprises to the most ambitious startups - use Stripe to accept payments, grow their revenue, and accelerate new business opportunities. Our mission is to increase the GDP of the internet, and we have a staggering amount of work ahead. That means you have an unprecedented opportunity to put the global economy within everyone's reach while doing the most important work of your career. About the team The Link Partnerships team sources, develops, and manages relationships with the payments ecosystem partners that power Link, Stripe's consumer wallet. Our team drives the growth and utility of Link by building partnerships with card networks, card issuers, local payment methods, crypto providers, and emerging commerce platforms. We execute on high-impact, cross-functional initiatives that expand Link's acceptance, improve performance, and enable new payment experiences—including agentic commerce. These partnerships have a significant impact on Stripe and the products used by millions of our users. What you’ll do We're looking for a Partner Development Manager who builds and manages Link's payments partnerships with card networks, card issuers, local payment method providers, and crypto and stablecoin providers. You'll own the strategy and execution of partnerships that expand Link's payment capabilities, improve transaction performance, and position Link as the default payments layer for agentic commerce. You'll negotiate commercial agreements, drive technical integrations, and shape Link's payments roadmap in collaboration with these partners. As part of these efforts, you'll collaborate closely with cross-functional stakeholders, including Product, Engineering, Legal, Finance, Risk, and others. You'll also lead relationship management and partner closely with external partners' executive leadership. Responsibilities • Define and execute Link's payments partnership strategy across card networks, card issuers, local payment methods, and crypto and stablecoins • Negotiate and manage commercial agreements with payment partners that expand Link's acceptance footprint, improve authorization rates, and unlock new payment capabilities • Develop a deep understanding of the card network and issuer landscape—including scheme rules, tokenization frameworks, authentication protocols, and competitive dynamics—to inform partnership strategy • Drive partnerships that enable Link to serve as the payments layer for agentic commerce, working with networks and issuers to establish rules, liability frameworks, and technical standards for agent-initiated transactions • Gather inputs from and coordinate with internal cross-functional stakeholders (including product, risk, compliance, engineering, and security) to drive creation and execution of partner strategy including our global LPM roadmap • Work closely with Product and Engineering to define requirements and shape Link's payments product roadmap based on partner capabilities and market opportunities • Identify partner stakeholders who will champion Stripe, educate them about Link's value proposition, and build alignment between Stripe and our partners' executive teams • Identify and effectively analyze new partnership opportunities, ultimately making recommendations to relevant decision makers and cross-functional stakeholders • Exhibit an operationally focused mindset, with an ability to lead teams through complex relationship management activities by setting a clear vision and running tight processes Who you are We're looking for someone who meets the minimum requirements to be considered for the role. If you meet these requirements, you are encouraged to apply. The preferred qualifications are a bonus, not a requirement. You're a skilled dealmaker and a strategist by nature. You understand how to work closely with Product and Engineering teams and can formulate partner strategies that drive tangible and measurable results. You're energized by the intersection of payments infrastructure and emerging commerce models, and you see the opportunity to define how payments work in an agentic world. Minimum requirements • 10+ years of experience in partnerships, business development, corporate development, or related field • 5+ years of experience in or working closely with card networks, card issuers, digital wallets, or payments infrastructure providers • 3+ years of experience negotiating commercial deals with partners, including scaling such deals across multiple partners • Strong communication skills, in both verbal and written form, and ability to influence stakeholders across a wide variety of functions, including at executive levels • Technical acumen, especially an ability to understand product strategy and use this understanding to define requirements for scaling products through partnerships • Experience developing partnership strategies and identifying, sourcing, and analyzing new partnership opportunities in greenfield segments • Strong agency, can handle ambiguity in a fast-moving organization, and thrives on a high level of autonomy and responsibility Preferred qualifications • Familiarity with card scheme rules, tokenization (network tokens, device tokens), authentication frameworks (3DS, SCA), and issuer-side authorization optimization • Experience with emerging payment models such as agentic commerce, embedded payments, or programmable payment flows • Experience building a new partnership category or vertical from zero—defining the strategy, establishing first partnerships, and scaling the program