Description

Citizens is seeking a seasoned professional to lead and grow our Merchant Acquiring Sponsorship business. This role is critical to managing a portfolio that contributes approximately $50MM in annual recurring revenue and supports ~$1.2Bn in average daily balances. Sponsorship clients account for over 55% of Citizens’ ACH originated transactions and offer significant cross-sell opportunities, particularly within our Atlanta-based CML fintech vertical. As the Relationship Manager for Sponsorship Management, you will be responsible for developing and maintaining strategic relationships with sponsored clients, ensuring compliance with regulatory and network requirements, and driving revenue growth through innovative partnership models.

The Merchant Acquiring Sponsorship RM is responsible for identifying, establishing, and maintaining profitable relationships with Citizens’ merchant acquiring clients.  This includes, but is not limited to:

Developing and maintaining the Merchant Acquiring Sponsorship Business Model

Pursuing opportunities with potential clients that meet the business model

Coordinating multi-disciplinary due diligence of potential clients

Developing and negotiating terms, conditions, and pricing with potential clients

Negotiating and executing sponsorship agreements with desired clients

Managing relationships with sponsored client’s executive management team, including regular interaction with CEO, CFO, COO, CIO, Senior Counsel, Risk Manager, Head of Credit, and their teams

Establishing and maintaining strong relationships with payment network and industry experts

Coordinating internal operational, technical, information security, risk management, and financial groups to provide robust, evolving, and innovative solutions to client needs

Educating internal executive leadership about the business model

Ensuring the comprehensive revenue derived from clients is included and reported in the division’s financial reports

Coordinating with the head of Merchant Acquiring Sponsorship and Third Party Payment Oversight on a regular basis

Skills/Competencies:

The incumbent should possess the following skills/abilities:

Extensive knowledge of merchant acquiring businessStrong ability to expand business growth within the boundaries of the business modelExcellent communication skills, both verbal and writtenStrong ability to teach and coachStrong ability to work individually a as a self-starter or as part of a teamStrong product development and implementation skillsCreative problem solver

Experience:

BA/BS degree preferable or suitable experience required10+ years of progressively responsible positions in top-tier financial institution or merchant acquiring businessMerchant acquiring, electronic payments operations, product management, or operational risk management experience desirable3 – 5 years direct management of merchant acquiring or sponsorship management functionDemonstrated ability to identify and implement revenue generating opportunitiesSuperior Microsoft Office skills, especially Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Pay Transparency 

The salary range for this position is $162k - $185k per year, plus an opportunity to earn an annual discretionary bonus. Actual pay is based on various factors including but not limited to the work location, and relevant skills and experience.

We offer competitive pay, comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, maternity/paternity leave, flexible work arrangements, education reimbursement, wellness programs and more. Note, Citizens’ paid time off policy exceeds the mandatory, paid sick or paid time-away policy of every local and state jurisdiction in the United States. For an overview of our benefits, visit https://jobs.citizensbank.com/benefits

Some job boards have started using jobseeker-reported data to estimate salary ranges for roles. If you apply and qualify for this role, a recruiter will discuss accurate pay guidance.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Citizens, its parent, subsidiaries, and related companies (Citizens) provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all colleagues and applicants for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, citizenship, physical or mental disability, perceived disability or history or record of a disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, genetic characteristic, marital or domestic partner status, victim of domestic violence, family status/parenthood, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, pregnancy/childbirth/lactation, colleague’s or a dependent’s reproductive health decision making, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by federal, state and/or local laws. At Citizens, we are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that enables all colleagues to bring their best selves to work every day and everyone is expected to be treated with respect and professionalism. Employment decisions are based solely on merit, qualifications, performance and capability.