Sr Director, Partnerships, ISV Payments

It's a new day with a new opportunity at 8am! 

About the role:

You will build and lead a team of Partner Account Managers responsible for sourcing new Independent Software Vendor (ISV) partnerships and managing and growing our existing portfolio of ISV partners with payments use cases. You’ll operate as both strategist and operational leader — setting the vision for how 8am’s payments partner ecosystem expands in scope and value, while building the day-to-day discipline, processes, and accountability that turn that vision into measurable results.

This is a leadership role with high visibility across 8am’s Partnerships, Product, and Sales organizations. You’ll be accountable for your team’s book of ISV relationships, the roadmap of new functionality and payment types brought to those partners, and the rigor with which your team manages pipeline, renewals, and partner health. While the relationships you and your team manage are business-to-business, you’ll keep the shared end customer — the businesses and consumers who ultimately experience these payment capabilities — at the center of every decision.

About us:

At 8am, our vision is to power a world where professionals thrive. We start every day on a mission to empower professionals with the most trusted, innovative technology to deliver world-class outcomes for their clients and exceptional financial results for their business. They count on our purpose-built solutions to simplify operations, ensure compliance, and fuel profitable growth, so they can focus on their clients and do more of the work that matters.

Founded in 2005, 8am™ (formerly AffiniPay) is the professional business platform built to help legal, accounting, and other client-focused professionals run stronger, more profitable businesses. Today, more than 250,000 professionals across the U.S. trust 8am to help them work smarter, serve clients better, and unlock their full potential. We have been recognized as one of Inc 5000’s fastest growing companies in the U.S. for 13 years in a row, and as a result, our teams continue to grow as well!

What you'll do:

• Build, lead, and develop a team of Partner Account Managers — responsible for sourcing new ISV partnerships and managing and growing the existing portfolio of ISV partners with payments use cases.
• Own the strategic roadmap for 8am’s ISV and payments partner ecosystem — identifying which partners, integrations, and payment types will drive the greatest shared growth for 8am and our partners alike.
• Champion partner growth and success as a direct lever for 8am’s growth — building the programs, incentives, and enablement that help ISV partners succeed with payments, and in turn grow with 8am.
• Prioritize and drive new functionality and payment types — new payment methods, embedded capabilities, and value-added services — that create tangible value for partners and the shared end customers they serve.
• Set and manage team KPIs, scorecards, and an operating cadence — covering pipeline health, partner satisfaction, revenue growth, and integration or launch velocity.
• Establish and run a consistent partner engagement model — QBRs, escalation paths, and executive-level relationship-building with 8am’s most strategic ISV partners.
• Lead commercial strategy for the ISV portfolio — pricing, incentive structures, renewals, and negotiation support for your team’s largest and most strategic partnerships.
• Partner cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Marketing, Legal, Risk, and Compliance — to ensure new payment capabilities and partner integrations ship successfully and on plan.
• Maintain a B2B-with-a-C-in-mind mindset — ensuring that even purely business-to-business partnership decisions are evaluated for their impact on the end consumer and customer experience.
• Coach, mentor, and grow a high-performing team — building a strong talent bench and a culture of accountability, curiosity, and customer-centricity.
• Represent 8am externally — as an executive-level point of contact for top ISV partners.

About you:

• 10+ years of experience in partnerships, business development, or partner/account management within payments, fintech, or SaaS — including significant experience with ISV or software partner ecosystems.
• 5+ years of people leadership experience, having built, managed, and developed teams of partner account managers or a similar partner-facing function.
• Deep knowledge of the payments ecosystem — acquiring/processing, payment methods, embedded payments, and the economics underpinning ISV and software partner models.
• Demonstrated ability to operate as both strategist and operator — equally comfortable setting multi-year partner strategy and rolling up your sleeves on day-to-day team execution.
• Proven track record of driving partner growth (revenue, adoption, retention) through structured account management and commercial negotiation.
• Experience prioritizing and launching new product functionality or payment types in partnership with Product and Engineering teams.
• Strong commercial and analytical instincts — comfortable with partner economics, KPIs, and data-driven prioritization.
• Excellent leadership, coaching, and cross-functional influence skills, with a track record of developing high-performing teams.
• A genuine customer-centric mindset — able to translate business-to-business partnership decisions into better outcomes for the end customer.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with strong executive presence.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, or a related field; MBA a plus.
• Willingness to travel periodically (~20%) for partner and team engagements, on-sites, and industry events.
• Demonstrated experience leveraging AI tools and technologies to improve workflows, enhance decision-making, or drive innovation.

Additional Information
The annual salary range for this position is $180,000 to $220,000. The salary range for performing this role outside of the US / Austin / California may differ.  8am is committed to offering competitive, fair and commensurate compensation and has provided an estimated pay range for this role. Actual compensation may vary based on job-related knowledge, skills, experience and education.

Why 8am: 

At 8am, our culture is shaped by the people who bring it to life every day. Together, we build a company rooted in continuous learning, genuine community, holistic wellness, and meaningful engagement—values that empower us as individuals and unite us as a team. Our culture is grounded in our core values: Work Smart, Win Fast; Outshine Ordinary, and We Find a Way. These values drive how we serve our customers and work with each other in a collaborative, inspiring, and empowering environment, every day.

Here’s how we support our 8Team:

• Health Insurance Coverage: We offer our 8Team a variety of medical, dental, and vision plans, designed to fit your needs, including a 100% company-paid HDHP plan for employees.
• Financial perks: We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package including annual bonuses, equity options and 401(k) or RRSP if in Canada, with a company match for all team members.
• Time for what matters: Flexible Time Off, paid holidays, and a parental leave program for our new parents.
• Wellness: Wellness stipends, mental health support, and one-on-one nutrition coaching.
• Learning and Development: Continuous learning through 8am.edu, leadership programs, professional development funds, and individually focused talent development.
• Giving back to the communities around us: Participate in our charitable matching gift program, paid time off for volunteer service, and company-sponsored volunteer events (both local and virtually).
• Engagement: Virtual and in-person team-building events, quarterly award recognition through our Rise & Shine Award of Excellence Program, and our peer-to-peer appreciation platform.

At 8am, we don’t just offer benefits - we create an environment where people can thrive, grow, and make a real impact every day.

Diversity, equity & inclusion at 8am:

At 8am, we recognize that innovation occurs with a strong team of people who are diverse in background, personality, talent and ideas. Experience comes in many forms and ensuring a diverse and inclusive workplace where we continue to learn from each other is an integral part of our culture. We are committed to creating a welcoming and transparent environment for all that embraces those differences through education, equal access to opportunities and information, inclusionary programs, and community outreach. 

Security advisory:

Our hiring teams at 8am are dedicated to recruiting top talent that share our passion for serving the professional services industry through innovative financial technology.  As such, our Talent Acquisition Team only follows legitimate hiring practices.  We will always communicate with our candidates using emails with the 8am domain and will never ask for sensitive/personal data during the application process.  All interviews take place over phone call, Zoom/Google Meet or in person.  All offers are communicated verbally by our Talent Acquisition Specialists with a written offer letter as a follow up.