# Director, Business Development

**Company:** [Cardless](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/cardless)
**Location:** San Francisco, CA
**Role:** Business Development
**Experience:** 7+ years
**Skills:** Business Development, Partnerships, Enterprise Sales, Financial Services, Payments, card programs, rfp processes, CRM, Competitive Intelligence, Relationship Building, Pipeline Management
**Posted:** 2026-07-17

> Own the top of the commercial funnel as an IC to identify prospects, build senior relationships at consumer brands and financial institutions, navigate RFPs/consulting channels, and close complex enterprise deals for Cardless credit card programs. Requires 7-10 years BD/sales experience in financial services with strong payments network.

## Job Description

## What You Will Do

**Build New Partner Relationships**
- Identify and prioritize brands most likely to benefit from a Cardless card program using market data, competitive intelligence, and network.
- Develop relationships with senior decision-makers at target companies over long time horizons for enterprise deals.
- Represent Cardless credibly to executives at major consumer brands, financial institutions, and loyalty programs.
- Collaborate with Marketing and Product on materials, demos, and narratives.

**Work the Consulting and RFP Channel**
- Build and maintain relationships with consulting firms and networks running RFP and vendor selection for card programs.
- Ensure Cardless is known and represented in these processes through ongoing relationship maintenance.
- Develop POV on most active consulting firms and invest in key relationships.
- Respond to RFPs with accurate, compelling materials, coordinating with product, finance, and partnerships teams.

**Target Companies with Existing Card Programs**
- Identify companies with incumbent card programs and build case for Cardless as superior partner.
- Develop deep familiarity with competitive landscape, incumbent offerings, shortcomings, and customer priorities.
- Build respectful relationships focused on future opportunities.
- Collaborate with product and partnerships to ground pitches in real capabilities and performance data.

**Own the Business Development Process**
- Manage pipeline from first contact to signed agreement with enterprise sales discipline (forecasting, next steps).
- Work with leadership to prioritize opportunities given partnerships team constraints.
- Maintain CRM, contact databases, and outreach cadences for scalable operations.
- Provide regular reporting on pipeline health, deal velocity, and competitive dynamics.

## What We Are Looking For

**Experience**
- 7-10 years in business development, partnerships, or sales with meaningful financial services exposure (ideally bank, card issuer, or payment network).
- Track record closing complex, multi-stakeholder enterprise deals from prospecting through signature.
- Existing network in card and payments space with decision-makers at consumer brands, financial institutions, loyalty programs, or consulting firms.
- Experience navigating formal RFP processes for financial services technology is a strong plus.

**Skills and Competencies**
- **Network and Relationship Building**: Ability to open doors and leverage network as competitive advantage.
- **Financial Services Fluency**: Deep understanding of card program economics, players, contracts, and regulatory context.
- **Sales Process and Discipline**: Clean pipeline management with accurate forecasting and follow-through.
- **Communication and Presence**: Effective with senior executives; strong verbal and written skills.
- **Competitive Intelligence**: Stay current on market evolution to sharpen positioning.
- **Judgment and Autonomy**: Prioritize opportunities independently without heavy management.

This role is not a fit for those with primarily inbound sales/account management backgrounds, without meaningful financial services experience, seeking management roles, or requiring remote/hybrid arrangements.

## Similar roles

- [Director, Business Development + Strategy](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/48c883b6-cee3-4d6d-834e-27dd106de141) - Polymarket - New York, NY
- [Head of Business, Crypto Exchanges](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/1c138b12-5ae8-4ff5-9181-8499f6722681) - Alpaca - Remote
- [Head of Business Development](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/b5406c3b-4849-4278-a7cd-4293dbeab12a) - Adswerve - Remote - $180k – $250k/yr
- [Head of Government Relations](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/fc9d7a74-0a4b-4e57-9eac-e5f1f660e0a8) - Cape - Washington, DC - $250k – $350k/yr
- [Life Sciences Commercial Strategy and GTM Director](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/990f83c9-c445-4316-b6b1-54b0526c87d3) - Viz.ai - Remote - $200k – $230k/yr

**Apply:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/d2fa45aa-c80f-421a-b71b-0c35a16b1fec
**Canonical:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/d2fa45aa-c80f-421a-b71b-0c35a16b1fec