JOB DESCRIPTION

Head of International Sales - Banking Products, Services & Partner-Led Growth

Location: Mumbai or Nashik, India.

Reports to: Co-Founder & CEO

Team: Initially 5-6 regional Business Development Managers, expanding with revenue growth.

Compensation: Market-leading and commensurate with experience; not a constraint for the right candidate.

The Opportunity:

The role will own international revenue, margin and pipeline performance. It will combine partner-led growth with selective direct engagement on strategic accounts and complex deals. Priority customer segments include banks, microfinance institutions, SACCOs and co-operative lenders, NBFCs and other regulated financial institutions.

Key Responsibilities :

- Own the international sales plan, revenue target, gross-margin performance, sales budget and forecast across priority markets.

- Translate BFSI strengths into clear country, segment and proposition priorities rather than pursuing generalist IT opportunities.

- Build and execute market-entry and go-to-market plans for Africa, the UK and Europe, and selected APAC markets, with clear account targets, routes to market and investment cases.

- Develop a balanced revenue portfolio across organisation's banking products, implementation and integration work, application services, testing and delivery assurance, data and AI-enabled services, and other relevant BFSI capabilities.

- Identify, evaluate and appoint the right partners, including banking technology vendors, system integrators, software services firms, infrastructure and cloud providers, telecoms businesses, advisers and local market specialists.

- Own the full partner lifecycle: segmentation, due diligence, commercial structure, contracting, onboarding, enablement, joint planning, pipeline creation, deal registration, performance reviews and corrective action.

- Lead major opportunities personally, coordinating discovery, solution design, demonstrations, pre-sales, RFP responses, proposals, pricing, negotiations and executive sponsorship through to contract signature.

- Build senior relationships with bank executives, partner leadership teams, regulators, industry bodies and trusted market influencers where these relationships directly support market access and revenue.

- Lead, coach and hold accountable the regional Business Development Managers; introduce disciplined account planning, CRM hygiene, pipeline stages, conversion metrics and weekly forecasting.

- Work closely with product, delivery, marketing, finance and legal teams so that commitments are commercially sound, deliverable and aligned with product roadmaps.

- Provide leadership with practical market intelligence on customer needs, competitors, procurement practices, regulation and emerging banking technology trends.

Measures of Success:

- International revenue, gross margin and order-book growth against plan.

- Quality, coverage and conversion of qualified pipeline; improved forecast accuracy and sales-cycle discipline.

- Revenue contribution, pipeline creation and win rate by partner, market and proposition.

- Number of productive partners, not simply partners signed, and the speed from appointment to first qualified opportunity and first win.

- Growth in referenceable BFSI customers, repeat business, cross-sell and expansion revenue.

- Development of a capable, accountable international sales team with clear regional and individual targets.

What You Will Bring:

You will be a hands-on international sales leader who can set direction and still enter the detail of an opportunity, partner plan or commercial negotiation. You will bring judgement, pace and personal ownership, together with the credibility to engage bank executives and founder-led leadership teams.

Essential Experience and Capabilities:

- At least 12 years successful B2B technology sales experience, including meaningful leadership responsibility and a consistent record of achieving revenue and margin targets.

- Strong BFSI domain experience gained in banking software products, financial technology or banking-focused software and technology services. Relevant areas may include core banking, digital banking, lending, payments, collections, financial inclusion, testing or delivery assurance.

- Proven experience creating revenue through partners such as resellers, system integrators, OEMs, technology alliances, local consultants or referral partners. Candidates do not need to come only from a product company; strong banking-focused services experience combined with genuine partner-led selling is relevant.

- Evidence of converting partner relationships into qualified pipeline and closed business, including partner selection, joint account planning, commercial models, enablement and performance management.

- Experience leading complex, consultative sales cycles involving senior banking stakeholders, multiple decision-makers, formal procurement, RFPs, solution teams, pricing and contract negotiation.

- Practical experience of at least one or two priority international regions-Africa, the UK and Europe, or APAC-with a credible network and the ability to learn and enter adjacent markets. Breadth across every region is not required.

Personal Attributes:

- Entrepreneurial and resourceful, comfortable building a business where not every process or route to market is already defined.

- Commercially demanding but collaborative; able to challenge weak assumptions without damaging relationships.

- Credible, culturally aware and adaptable across different countries, institutions and partner types.

- Low-ego and team-oriented, willing to share credit, bring in specialists and stay accountable for the outcome.

- High standards of integrity, especially in partner selection, procurement, pricing and commitments made to regulated institutions.