Partnerships Manager - SME Lending

Role Summary

Responsibilities

• Manage and grow strategic partnerships with PSPs, Payment Facilitators, marketplaces, aggregators, banks, and enterprise partners to drive SME loan origination and disbursement volumes.
• Develop and execute joint business plans with partners to meet lending targets, portfolio growth, and performance KPIs.
• Conduct regular business reviews with partners to assess pipeline health, approval rates, disbursement trends, and portfolio performance, identifying opportunities for optimization.
• Drive partner-led revenue growth by enabling and cross-selling SME lending solutions alongside payment products such as POS, QR, VIBANs, and digital acceptance tools.
• Oversee end-to-end partner onboarding, integration, and go-to-market readiness for SME lending products while maintaining agreed SLAs.
• Monitor partner performance metrics including lead quality, conversion rates, loan utilization, and delinquency indicators, and implement data-driven improvement initiatives.
• Ensure adherence to Central Bank regulations, credit policies, and compliance requirements related to SME lending and financial services.
• Collaborate closely with internal teams (Credit, Risk, Product, Tech, Operations, Compliance) to enhance partner enablement, streamline processes, and resolve operational issues.
• Represent the company in partner meetings, ecosystem discussions, and industry events to strengthen relationships and expand SME lending partnerships.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in partnerships, SME lending, fintech, financial services, or related domains (experience in MENA preferred).
• Proven track record of driving business growth through partnership-led models, preferably in SME lending or credit products.
• Strong understanding of SME lending, credit assessment, loan lifecycle management, and partner-based distribution models.
• Experience working with PSPs, merchant aggregators, marketplaces, or platforms enabling SME financial solutions.
• Familiarity with POS-based lending, embedded finance, digital lending, or alternative credit products is a strong advantage.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to track lending KPIs, portfolio performance, and partner effectiveness.
• Excellent stakeholder management, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to operate in a fast-paced fintech environment while managing multiple partners and commercial objectives.