Director, Business Development, Financial Services Marketplace

About the role

We are looking for a Director of Business Growth & Strategic Partnerships to lead expansion of our financial services marketplace across key verticals including credit cards, personal loans, insurance, banking, and other consumer financial products. This leader will own the strategy, execution, and performance of high-impact partnerships that drive marketplace revenue, customer engagement, and long-term ecosystem growth. This role is ideal for a commercially-minded operator who combines deep partnership expertise with strong analytical rigor and marketplace intuition. You will be responsible for identifying and scaling strategic partnerships, optimizing monetization performance, negotiating complex commercial agreements, and building durable relationships with leading financial institutions, affiliate partners, fintech platforms, and distribution channels. You will lead the business team cross-functionally with Product, Design, Marketing, Data, Finance, and Engineering to shape the overall marketplace strategy roadmap and unlock new growth opportunities. This role will inherit, lead, and develop a growing business development team fully dedicated to this initiative. The ideal candidate has experience in consumer fintech, affiliate marketplaces, lead generation ecosystems, or financial services platforms similar to companies like Credit Karma and NerdWallet.

Responsibilities

• Marketplace Growth Strategy
• Own the growth strategy and commercial roadmap for the financial services marketplace across categories such as credit cards, personal loans, insurance, banking, and adjacent fintech products
• Identify new revenue opportunities, partnership models, and distribution channels to expand marketplace monetization
• Develop scalable frameworks for partner acquisition, lifecycle management, and revenue optimization
• Drive strategic initiatives that improve marketplace efficiency, user conversion, LTV, and partner ROI
• Evaluate competitive trends, market dynamics, and emerging fintech opportunities to inform long-term strategy
• Strategic Partnerships & Business Development
• Source, negotiate, and close high-value partnerships with banks, lenders, insurance carriers, fintechs, affiliate networks, and lead buyers
• Structure complex commercial agreements including CPA, CPL, rev-share, hybrid monetization, and exclusive distribution partnerships
• Own executive-level partner relationships and serve as the primary escalation point for strategic accounts
• Lead negotiations across pricing, economics, data-sharing, compliance requirements, marketing placements, and operational integrations
• Expand wallet share within existing partnerships through upsell, cross-sell, and new product expansion initiatives
• Build repeatable outbound and partnership sourcing strategies to drive sustained marketplace growth
• Marketplace Operations & Optimization
• Oversee onboarding, launch, tracking implementation, and operational readiness for new partners
• Partner closely with Product, Engineering, and Design to improve marketplace infrastructure, attribution systems, lead routing, and optimization tooling
• Drive experimentation across placement strategy, conversion funnels, pricing models, and user segmentation
• Establish scalable operational processes and performance management systems for the partnerships organization
• Ensure partner compliance, quality standards, and operational SLAs are maintained
• Analytics & Revenue Performance
• Own core marketplace KPIs including revenue growth, contribution margin, conversion rates, EPCs, CAC efficiency, approval rates, and partner retention
• Build forecasting models and business cases to evaluate partnership opportunities and investment decisions
• Analyze marketplace performance data to identify optimization opportunities, risks, and growth levers
• Deliver regular executive reporting and strategic recommendations to leadership
• Use data-driven insights to prioritize initiatives and allocate resources effectively
• Cross-Functional Leadership
• Partner closely with Product, Design, Marketing, Data, Finance, and Engineering to align marketplace priorities
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Additional Information

Kikoff: The Fintech Powering Financial Security at Scale Kikoff is a profitable, pre-IPO fintech company on a mission to empower everyone to achieve financial security. With record revenue growth in 2025 and a unicorn valuation, we've built a suite of products that help millions of people build credit, access liquidity, and save money. We're scaling fast. Join us if you want to build something meaningful and help millions of people move forward financially. Why Kikoff: This is a consumer fintech startup, and you will be working with serial entrepreneurs who have built strong consumer brands and innovative products. We value extreme ownership, clear communication, a strong sense of craftsmanship, and the desire to create lasting work and work relationships. Yes, you can build an exciting business AND have real-life real-customer impact.

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