Partnerships Lead
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Oct 25, 2026. First seen by Alion on May 18, 2026. Payflows scores B on the Alion truth index.
Payflows is the agentic finance platform built for modern enterprises. Backed by Balderton Capital, Ribbit Capital, and Headline (€25M Series A), we help finance teams automate accounts payable, procurement, and payments - replacing manual processes with AI-driven workflows that deliver 90%+ touchless invoice rates and dramatic cost savings. Our customers are fast-growing mid-market and enterprise companies across Europe, and private equity-backed businesses are increasingly a cornerstone of our ICP.
The Role
This is a founding role. You'll build Payflows' partnerships and alliances function from scratch, designing the model, identifying the right partners across PE, technology, and advisory ecosystems, and turning those relationships into a repeatable, measurable pipeline.
You'll own three partnership pillars:
Private equity & sponsors - value creation teams, operating partners, and portfolio finance leads at EMEA mid-market funds
Technology & ecosystem - ERPs, accounting platforms, payments providers, and complementary finance tooling
Advisory & SI - finance transformation consultancies, Big Four practices, and implementation partners who shape the buying decision
You'll sit at the intersection of partnerships, sales, and strategy. This is a high-autonomy, high-impact position that reports directly to the Head of GTM and works closely with the CEO and founding team. If you've built alliances functions at a high-growth SaaS company, or you've spent years inside PE, the ERP ecosystem, or a finance transformation practice and want to be on the building side of the table, this is the role for you.
What You'll Do
Build the function from zero - define the partnership model, tier partners by fit across all three pillars, and develop the playbook for how Payflows engages with PE funds, technology partners, and SIs at every stage
Own the relationship map - cultivate relationships with value creation teams and operating partners at target funds; with alliance, channel, and BD leaders at ERP and ecosystem partners; and with finance transformation leads at advisory firms
Drive qualified pipeline - convert partner relationships into warm introductions, co-sell motions, and referrals; track and report on partnership-sourced revenue as a first-class number
Develop partnership collateral - work with GTM and marketing to build partner-specific one-pagers, ROI tools, integration narratives, and co-branded materials that resonate with each audience
Run the outreach motion - own outbound sequencing to new partners, attend LP/GP events, ERP and finance ecosystem conferences, and represent Payflows at industry forums
Stand up co-marketing and co-selling - joint webinars, events, content, and field motions with anchor partners
Collaborate on deal execution - stay involved through the sales cycle on partner-sourced deals; bring context on portco dynamics, fund priorities, integration positioning, and stakeholder maps
Feed intelligence back into the business - surface themes from partner conversations that inform product roadmap, integrations, packaging, and ICP strategy
Why Join
Greenfield ownership - you're not inheriting someone else's playbook, you're writing it
Direct access to leadership - small team, fast decisions, high visibility
Strong backer network - Balderton, Ribbit, and Headline open doors; you'll have investor relationships to leverage from day one
Meaningful equity - early-stage, competitive package
Category tailwind - agentic AI in finance is one of the most active investment themes in enterprise software.
Requirements
Must-haves
5+ years in partnerships, alliances, business development, or value creation - at a B2B SaaS company building a partner ecosystem, at a PE fund (operating partner, value creation, portfolio ops), or at a technology/SI partner selling into finance buyers
A genuine network across at least one of our three pillars (PE, ERP/fintech ecosystem, or finance advisory) in EMEA - particularly UK and European mid-market - and the credibility to build the other two quickly
Strong commercial instincts - you understand how partners evaluate vendor relationships, how CFOs make buying decisions, and what "joint value" actually means in practice
Track record of sourcing pipeline through partners - you can point to specific deals, ARR, or relationships you've built and closed through
Excellent communication - you can speak fluently to a CFO, an operating partner, an ERP alliance lead, and a founder in the same day
Self-starter mentality - you're comfortable with ambiguity and energised by building something new
Nice-to-haves
Background in finance, fintech, or finance transformation (AP automation, P2P, ERP, payments)
Experience standing up an alliances function at a high-growth Series A/B SaaS company
Existing relationships with NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, or major finance advisory practices