Forty-Five Group is a boutique executive search firm based in Houston, Texas. It was founded on the principle of getting back to basics in recruiting. Our goal is to present our clients with quality talent while providing a positive experience for our candidates.​

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Please visit www.fortyfivegroup.com for more career opportunities.

We are actively interviewing candidates for a Vice President of Business Development and Partnerships.

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Position Overview

The Vice President, Business Development & Partnerships is a senior, quota-carrying sales executive responsible for aggressively driving new merchant acquisition for payments processing and direct Zelle B2C reselling to Financial Institutions in a high-growth fintech US startup environment backed by a very successful Canadian parent company. This is a pure ‘hunter’ role—focused on sourcing, developing, and closing net-new business with enterprise and mid- market merchants across the U.S.

In addition to leading from the front on strategic deals, this role may manage and develop a team of Business Development Representatives (BDRs), or work closely with them, ensuring strong pipeline generation and disciplined outbound execution. The VP will set the pace for sales performance, combining personal production with team leadership.

Key Responsibilities
1. New Business Acquisition (Primary Focus)

• Own and exceed ambitious revenue and merchant acquisition targets

• Own and exceed ambitious sales targets and revenue goals for new Zelle B2C financial services organizations (FSOs)

• Personally source, develop, and close high-value merchant and FSO opportunities

• Lead full-cycle sales: prospecting, discovery, solutioning, negotiation, and closing

• Maintain a strong individual pipeline of enterprise and mid-market deals

• Ongoing management of closed book of business

• Representing the business at professional conferences & events.

2. BDR Team Leadership & Pipeline Generation

• Optionally hire, coach, and manage a small team of Business Development Representatives. If not directly responsible for the reporting of this group, this role will work closely with management and the BDR team to drive new opportunities through email and phone outreach.

• Establish outbound strategies, messaging, and activity targets to drive consistent pipeline creation

• Monitor performance metrics (calls, meetings booked, conversion rates) and hold team accountable

• Mentor BDRs on prospecting techniques, qualification, and career progression into closing roles

• Ensure tight alignment between BDR pipeline generation and personal/organizational revenue goals

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3. Enterprise Sales Execution

• Close complex merchant deals involving multiple stakeholders (product, finance, risk, legal)

• Sell consultatively by aligning payment solutions to merchant needs (conversion optimization, cost reduction, global expansion, embedded payments)

• Negotiate pricing, contracts, and commercial terms to maximize long-term values

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4. Partnership-Led Growth

• Identify and close channel and referral partnerships that unlock scalable merchant acquisition or Zelle B2C bank opportunities (ISVs, platforms, marketplaces, agencies)

• Structure and execute revenue-sharing and embedded payments agreements

• Activate partnerships quickly to generate near-term pipeline and revenue

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5. Startup Execution & Ownership

• Operate with urgency and autonomy in a fast-paced, early-stage environment

• Build and refine repeatable sales processes, playbooks, and messaging

• Provide direct feedback to product and leadership to strengthen market fit and competitiveness

• Contribute to go-to-market strategy, pricing, and positioning

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6. Market Expertise

• Apply deep knowledge of the U.S. payments ecosystem (acquiring, gateways, PayFac models, interchange economics, Zelle)

• Track competitive dynamics and emerging fintech/payment trends

• Position the company’s solution effectively in a crowded mark

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Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in fintech, payments, or merchant acquiring, with a strong focus on net-new sales

•  Proven success in a hunter role with consistent quota overachievement

•  Experience managing or mentoring junior sales or BDR teams

•  Demonstrated ability to build pipeline from zero while also leading others to do the same

•  Deep understanding of the fintech or payments processing space including faster payment rails such as Zelle, RTP, FedNow and standard rails such as ACH, Cards.

•  High proficiency in tech-enabled sales stack to manage the full sales cycle using LinkedIn and ZoomInfo to identify prospects, structuring personalized campaigns in Outreach, and maintaining 100% data hygiene in the CRM to meet or exceed quota.

• Strong negotiation and deal-closing expertise

• The role requires the ability to travel on business up to 25-50% of the year.

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Key Competencies

•  Player-coach mindset: leads by example while developing others

•  Relentless hunter mentality with a bias for action

•  Strong coaching and performance management skills

• Commercial acumen and deal-making creativity

• High resilience in a fast-paced, ambiguous startup environment

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Success Metrics

•  Individual quota attainment (revenue and customer acquisition)

•  Team pipeline generation (meetings booked, qualified opportunities created)

•  Conversion rates from BDR pipeline to closed deals

•  Total payment volume (TPV) and revenue growth

• Team development and progression (BDR performance and promotion readiness)

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Why This Role Matters

• This role is central to building both the company’s revenue engine and its future sales organization. By combining elite individual sales performance with strong BDR team leadership, the VP, Business Development & Partnerships drives immediate growth while laying the foundation for scalable, repeatable success.