Senior Partnership Manager

Role Purpose

This role is the commercial and relationship backbone of iiDENTIFii’s enterprise account portfolio. It is deliberately dual: you operate as a strategic relationship owner — accountable for the health, retention, and commercial growth of iiDENTIFii’s most important client accounts — while remaining hands-on in the day-to-day: running executive business reviews, managing renewal cycles, and staying close to what each client actually needs. You will lead accounts and build trust at the same time.

This is not a reactive support role. As Senior Partnershipt Manager, you are a proactive, commercially-minded owner who drives measurable revenue outcomes: renewals, expansions, upsells, and new product adoption across an assigned portfolio. You are the client’s internal champion at iiDENTIFii, and iiDENTIFii’s commercial face to the client.

Operating in a technically complex, compliance-heavy environment where clients are navigating FICA, POPIA, and evolving KYC/AML obligations, the Senior Partnership Manager must combine deep industry knowledge, strong executive presence, and a clear understanding of how biometric identity verification creates value in the banking and financial services sector. This role also plays a critical part in bridging client insight back into iiDENTIFii’s product and commercial strategy — ensuring the voice of the customer shapes how the platform evolves.

Role Tasks and Responsibilities

Account Ownership & Client Relationship Management

• Own and manage a portfolio of iiDENTIFii’s enterprise clients — including tier-1 banks and FSPs — as the primary relationship lead across all levels of the client organisation
• Build deep, multi-level relationships across client organisations: from operational and implementation teams through to C-suite and procurement decision-makers
• Develop and maintain structured Account Plans for each client, documenting relationship health, strategic objectives, risk factors, expansion opportunities, and agreed success metrics
• Conduct regular executive business reviews (EBRs) and operational check-ins, ensuring clients are realising measurable value from iiDENTIFii’s platform and that commitments are consistently met
• Monitor client health indicators — adoption metrics, support volumes, NPS, contract milestones — and intervene proactively before issues escalate
• Serve as the internal advocate for the client: representing their priorities, escalating risks with urgency, and coordinating cross-functional responses when needed

Retention, Renewal & Commercial Growth

• Own the full renewal cycle for assigned accounts: planning, negotiation, and execution, ensuring on-time renewals with strong retention rates
• Identify, qualify, and close upsell and cross-sell opportunities across the iiDENTIFii product portfolio, including new use cases, volume expansions, and additional integrations
• Drive new product adoption within existing accounts, working closely with product and solutions teams to align iiDENTIFii’s roadmap with client needs and timelines
• Manage commercial conversations with confidence: pricing discussions, contract amendments, scope expansions, and multi-year deal structures
• Maintain accurate pipeline and forecast data for the assigned portfolio in the CRM, providing reliable, decision-ready visibility to leadership
• Contribute to net revenue retention (NRR) targets by maximising expansion revenue within the existing customer base and minimising churn risk

Strategic Account Planning & Executive Engagement

• Develop and execute tailored account strategies for key accounts, aligned to both client business objectives and iiDENTIFii’s commercial goals
• Engage at senior and executive levels within client organisations, positioning iiDENTIFii as a strategic long-term partner — not just a vendor
• Lead joint business planning sessions with key accounts, aligning on roadmaps, integration priorities, and mutual growth initiatives
• Identify and navigate political dynamics, stakeholder changes, and competitive threats within client accounts before they become risks
• Participate in client industry forums, events, and working groups to deepen relationships and build iiDENTIFii’s profile and credibility in the sector

Industry & Domain Expertise

• Develop and maintain deep understanding of the South African regulatory landscape relevant to clients: FICA, POPIA, SARB directives, FSCA requirements, and NCA obligations
• Stay current with trends in digital identity, biometric authentication, KYC/AML, and fraud prevention that affect iiDENTIFii’s client industries and shape buying decisions
• Understand client integration architectures and how iiDENTIFii’s platform fits into their broader technology and compliance stack — well enough to engage credibly without requiring deep engineering expertise
• Use domain knowledge to position iiDENTIFii solutions with authority in client conversations, translating complex technical and regulatory concepts into clear commercial value
• Act as an internal resource on South African FSP and enterprise client dynamics, sharing market intelligence with product, sales, and leadership teams to sharpen strategy

Client Onboarding & Implementation Support

• Lead the commercial and relationship dimension of new client onboarding, ensuring a smooth, confidence-building transition from signed contract to live implementation
• Coordinate internally across solutions engineering, product, operations, and support to ensure onboarding timelines and client commitments are met without exception
• Define and agree success criteria with new clients during onboarding, establishing the foundation for ongoing account health measurement and future expansion conversations
• Ensure clients receive adequate training, enablement, and documentation to adopt iiDENTIFii’s platform confidently and at scale

Voice of the Customer & Internal Collaboration

• Systematically capture and structure client feedback, feature requests, and pain points — feeding actionable, prioritised insights into product and engineering decision-making
• Collaborate with the product team to ensure the iiDENTIFii roadmap reflects the real-world needs and priorities of the enterprise client base
• Partner with marketing on case studies, client testimonials, reference programmes, and co-marketing initiatives that build iiDENTIFii’s market credibility
• Work closely with the sales team to support expansion into new business units or entities within existing client organisations
• Provide regular, data-driven portfolio reports to the Head of Enterprise Sales and leadership team, including health scores, renewal forecasts, and expansion pipeline — without being prompted

AI-Augmented Ways of Working

• Use AI tools as a standard, expected part of the role — a core professional competency, not optional
• Apply AI to accelerate account research, stakeholder mapping, meeting preparation, and client communication drafting
• Use AI to synthesise client feedback, identify portfolio patterns, and surface risks or expansion signals earlier than traditional approaches allow
• Leverage AI to produce high-quality account plans, EBR materials, and internal reports with speed and precision
• Stay current with the evolving AI tooling landscape and proactively identify productivity opportunities relevant to client management

Living the iiDENTIFii Culture

• Champion iiDENTIFii’s culture, values, and purpose in every client interaction and internal collaboration
• Contribute to building a best-in-class client management function as iiDENTIFii scales
• Foster a team environment defined by intellectual rigour, psychological safety, collaborative excellence, and a bias for action
• Actively contribute to iiDENTIFii’s mission: powering innovators in remote biometric digital authentication, globally

Qualifications, Experience and Skills Needed

Experience

• 7+ years in client management, account management, or customer success in a financial services or fintech environment
• Demonstrable track record of managing and growing a portfolio of enterprise accounts, including tier-1 banks or major FSPs in South Africa
• Proven ability to manage complex, multi-stakeholder relationships at senior and executive levels, driving trust and commercial outcomes simultaneously
• Experience owning commercial outcomes end-to-end: renewals, upsells, net revenue retention targets, and expansion pipeline
• Exposure to the South African financial services ecosystem — banking, insurance, lending, payments, or identity — is strongly advantageous
• Startup or scaleup experience preferred; comfort operating at pace with evolving processes and limited structure

Domain & Industry Knowledge

• Strong understanding of the South African regulatory environment: FICA, POPIA, SARB, FSCA, NCA, and related compliance obligations that shape FSP buying behaviour
• Familiarity with digital identity, KYC/AML, onboarding, and fraud prevention concepts and how they apply to financial services clients
• Awareness of the South African banking landscape: Big Four (ABSA, Standard Bank, FNB, Nedbank), digital banks (TymeBank, Discovery Bank, Capitec), insurers, and government entities such as SASSA and DHA
• Ability to engage credibly in technical product conversations — understanding enough to be useful without requiring deep engineering knowledge

Commercial & Analytical Skills

• Confidence in commercial negotiation, contract discussions, and pricing conversations with senior client stakeholders
• Strong commercial instincts: able to identify expansion opportunities, recognise buying signals, and manage risk to revenue across a complex portfolio
• Experience using CRM tools (Salesforce, HubSpot, or similar) to manage pipeline, forecast accurately, and document account activity with discipline
• Data-driven approach to account management: comfortable using metrics, health scores, and dashboards to track portfolio performance and present findings to leadership

Interpersonal & Communication Skills

• Exceptional communicator — written and verbal — across all levels from operational contacts to C-suite decision-makers
• Strong executive presence and the confidence to hold strategic, commercially consequential conversations with senior stakeholders
• High emotional intelligence: able to read room dynamics, navigate conflict, and build trust in complex, multi-stakeholder environments
• Ability to simplify complex technical and commercial concepts into clear, compelling narratives for diverse audiences

Ways of Working

• Proactive and self-directed: does not wait to be told when a client relationship needs attention — identifies and acts before issues surface
• Highly organised with the ability to manage a large, complex portfolio without losing detail or momentum
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, scaling startup environment with evolving processes and a high degree of autonomy
• Collaborative across internal functions: works naturally with product, engineering, solutions, marketing, and leadership to deliver for clients
• Receptive to feedback, commercially curious, and committed to continuous improvement in both craft and domain knowledge

Originally posted on Himalayas