This role involves leading the Lifestyle Content vertical, managing partnerships with financial institutions, developing product offerings, and building teams to drive innovation and scale across US and international markets.
Great to Meet You! We are Ascenda
Ascenda powers the growth of leading financial services brands worldwide with premium rewards programs that differentiate their products, drive profitable customer behaviors, and create sustained engagement.
We are behind the world-class rewards propositions of major banks and fintechs around the globe, including brands like American Express, Capital One, Brex, Robinhood, Ramp, HSBC, Virgin Money (Australia), SMBC (Japan), ICBC (China), Bradesco (Brazil), ANZ (Australia), HDFC (India) and many others.
We are a thriving global Loyalty as a Service company and experiencing rapid expansion. Join our dynamic finance team as one of its earliest leaders, contributing to the development of our financial planning strategies as we strive for hypergrowth. Our team spans 20 cities worldwide, with dual headquarters in Singapore and New York, totaling 250 team members.
About the Role
We are seeking a visionary, commercially astute, and hands-on leader to architect and scale our Lifestyle Content vertical across the US and key global markets. This is a high-impact leadership role responsible for moving rewards beyond traditional utility into high-resonance human motivations. You will own the end-to-end management of this new category from defining the lifestyle content segments, developing transformative partnerships, negotiating strategic partnerships and iterating on the solution and go-to-market model in order to accelerate scale.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead senior-level sales conversations with major banks and financial institutions to own and close large-scale Lifestyle Content partnerships.
- Work with C-suite banking clients to ideate and pilot new models, providing thought leadership on how lifestyle bundles drive customer scale and ROI.
- Lead the development of the new product offering, owning the economic modeling, pricing strategy, and value proposition to ensure scalability.
- Collaborate with clients to refine lifestyle offerings by developing the business cases and operating models required for different customer segments.
- Manage the full business development cycle including prospecting, consultative collaboration, commercial negotiation, and contracting.
- Partner closely with Ascenda’s Product, Engineering, and Data teams to translate market signals into executable tech delivery and program launches.
- Build an internal center of excellence for lifestyle content innovation to ensure the global organization remains aligned with market trends and performance insights.
- Enable the rollout and scale of lifestyle partnership motions across US and other international markets as appropriate.
Who You Are
- 13+ years of experience in loyalty, fintech, or financial services, with a proven track record of launching integrated commerce and embedded financial solutions across US and international markets.
- Strong understanding of digital customer engagement and how "non-utility" content resonates at a deep human level.
- Exceptional relationship-building skills and gravitas with senior-level decision-makers (C-suite) at banks and payment providers.
- Strong commercial acumen with the ability to structure complex negotiations and perform deep economic modeling.
- A collaborative and adaptable leader who thrives in fast-paced, high-growth environments and has a strong bias for action.
- Demonstrated ability to mobilize resources across Product, Data, and Marketing teams to move quickly from strategy to execution.
- Intellectually curious and solutions-focused mindset with a drive to stay ahead of market trends and transform how rewards content is delivered
Why Join Ascenda?
Ascenda offers the unique opportunity to lead in the loyalty ecosystem space, shaping the future of rewards programs. We are passionate, we keep things simple, we focus on results, we work together & we innovate!
We have a rewarding working place that provides a:
- High growth environment & exponential career development
- Mobile & flexible work environment
- WFH office equipment allowance
- Comprehensive Paternal Leave
- Medical insurance coverage
- 401K program with company match
- Employee recognition programs
- Competitive compensation
- Travel perks & Employee rewards
Ascenda is dedicated to diversity and inclusion, welcoming candidates from all backgrounds. Join us on our mission to make loyalty simple and rewarding for everyone, everywhere.
The salary range for this position is between $200,000-$275,000 per year, depending on experience and location.
Ready to power growth for the financial services industry? Apply now! Together, we'll redefine what's possible.
Ascenda New York, New York, USA Office
1460 Broadway, New York, New York, United States, 10036 7329
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