Business Development & Partnerships Manager-Session M

Our Purpose
Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we're helping build a sustainable economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential.
Title and Summary
Business Development & Partnerships Manager-Session M
The Services team and solutions fuel growth for our Financial Institution and Retail & Commerce partners globally by providing cutting edge services in the areas of Customer Acquisition and Engagement, Business Experimentation, Personalization, Market Insights, Security Solutions, and Open Banking. Focused on thinking big and scaling fast, our agile sales team is responsible for end-to-end solutions for a diverse global customer base including retailers, airlines, hotels, tourism agencies, public sector entities, restaurants, consumer goods and telecom companies.
Role Summary
SessionM is seeking a BD & Partnerships Manager to build and scale our partner ecosystem-driving net-new revenue through partner-sourced opportunities, enabling partner-influenced deals with our sales teams, and activating co-marketing programs that elevate our brand and demand. This role will identify, onboard, and grow strategic partners (e.g., agencies, consultancies, technology vendors, SI/VAR ecosystems), create repeatable go-to-market motions, and deliver measurable revenue impact.
Key Responsibilities
Partner Sourcing & GTM
Identify and prioritize partner types (agencies, consultancies, ISVs, SIs) that align with SessionM's ICP, verticals, and loyalty use cases.
Develop joint value propositions and solution narratives that tie SessionM capabilities to partner offerings.
Build partner prospect lists and outreach sequences; run discovery, qualification, and onboarding.
Partner-Influenced Sales Motions
Create structured connection workflows between partners and SessionM AEs (intro templates, shared account plans, calendared syncs).
Drive co-selling: joint discovery, solution mapping, POVs, proposals, and executive alignment.
Track influence rigorously (CRM attribution, contact roles, partner source tags).
Co-Marketing & Demand Gen
Plan and deliver 4 quarterly co-marketing events (themes, speakers, landing pages, promotion plans).
Co-create content: case studies, webinars, thought leadership, vertical playbooks, ABM campaigns.
Partner with Marketing for event ops, MQL/SAL definitions, lead routing, and post-event follow-up.
Partner Onboarding & Enablement
Design onboarding (training, certification paths, sales playbook, demo scripts, pricing FAQs).
Establish partner communication cadence: newsletters, office hours, pipeline reviews, Slack/Teams channels.
Create a partner portal folder structure
Operations & Reporting
Own partner KPIs: sourced/influenced pipeline, stage conversion, velocity, win rate, event ROI.
Maintain accurate records in CRM/PRM (deal reg, contact roles, activities, attribution).
Collaborate cross-functionally with Sales, Marketing, Product, Legal, and Finance on agreements, MDF, and compliance.
Required Qualifications
3-5+ years in partnerships, alliances, channel BD, or enterprise sales roles.
Proven track record of partner-sourced and partner-influenced revenue in SaaS/MarTech/Customer Engagement.
Experience designing and running co-marketing programs (webinars, events, ABM).
Strong relationship-building and executive presence with partners and client stakeholders.
Operational rigor: CRM hygiene, pipeline modeling, attribution, and reporting.
Excellent communication, writing, and enablement skills.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with loyalty, customer data, CDP, marketing cloud, or retail/CPG/e-commerce ecosystems.
Familiarity with PRM tools, deal registration workflows, and MDF programs.
Background selling/co-selling with agencies, consultancies, or systems integrators.
• Responsible for developing and executing the sales strategy for a key set of prospect accounts within North America to secure multimillion-dollar, multi-year deals • Build and develop a cold pipeline into an active one, ultimately progressing to signed platform deals • Ability to message the benefits of bundling SessionM with other Data & Services products (Test & Learn, MRS, Managed Services, SpendingPulse, Customer Data Enhancement, Audiences, etc.)• Ability to advocate for funding incentives the Market Development team and with Mastercard Core • Strong communication and influencing skills, should be a compelling presenter to senior client audiences and able to influence large deals• Ability to seamlessly partner across our Data & Services Sales CBL population • Excellent problem solving and analytics skills and should be able to go head to head with internal stakeholders and customers alike with fact-based thinking • Will serve as the face of Mastercard D&S to senior level client stakeholders, including c-suite
All About You
• Required: Deep understanding of Enterprise Marketing SaaS Platforms and/or Loyalty Strategy Consulting • Preferred: Experience selling for a competitive SaaS platform or Loyalty Consulting agency • Strong commercial drive with ability to build and monetize senior client relationships based on empathy, thought leadership, subject matter expertise and business value • Can thrive in a highly matrixed sales environment where team selling is critical • Strong software or data driven solution selling background with success with 4-6+ month sales cycles; never give up attitude, excellent at building relationships through networking and outbound prospecting• Substantial previous experience in progressively complex hunting sales within Retail / Restaurants / CPG / Travel / or Digital, ideally with a rolodex of C-Level / EVP / SVP contacts • Ability to thrive and build robust pipeline with limited lead generation support• The location is flexible provided there is open to 50%+ travel within the North American region
Mastercard is a merit-based, inclusive, equal opportunity employer that considers applicants without regard to gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, disabled or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We hire the most qualified candidate for the role. In the US or Canada, if you require accommodations or assistance to complete the online application process or during the recruitment process, please contact [email protected] and identify the type of accommodation or assistance you are requesting. Do not include any medical or health information in this email. The Reasonable Accommodations team will respond to your email promptly.
Corporate Security Responsibility
All activities involving access to Mastercard assets, information, and networks comes with an inherent risk to the organization and, therefore, it is expected that every person working for, or on behalf of, Mastercard is responsible for information security and must:

• Abide by Mastercard's security policies and practices;
• Ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the information being accessed;
• Report any suspected information security violation or breach, and
• Complete all periodic mandatory security trainings in accordance with Mastercard's guidelines.

In line with Mastercard's total compensation philosophy and assuming that the job will be performed in the US, the successful candidate will be offered a competitive base salary and may be eligible for an annual bonus or commissions depending on the role. The base salary offered may vary depending on multiple factors, including but not limited to location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Mastercard benefits for full time (and certain part time) employees generally include: insurance (including medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, disability, life insurance); flexible spending account and health savings account; paid leaves (including 16 weeks of new parent leave and up to 20 days of bereavement leave); 80 hours of Paid Sick and Safe Time, 25 days of vacation time and 5 personal days, pro-rated based on date of hire; 10 annual paid U.S. observed holidays; 401k with a best-in-class company match; deferred compensation for eligible roles; fitness reimbursement or on-site fitness facilities; eligibility for tuition reimbursement; and many more. Mastercard benefits for interns generally include: 56 hours of Paid Sick and Safe Time; jury duty leave; and on-site fitness facilities in some locations.
Pay Ranges
Miami, Florida: $118,000 - $171,000 USD
Arlington, Virginia: $136,000 - $197,000 USD
Atlanta, Georgia: $118,000 - $171,000 USD
Boston, Massachusetts: $136,000 - $197,000 USD
Chicago, Illinois: $118,000 - $171,000 USD
Purchase, New York: $136,000 - $197,000 USD