[Hiring] Ecosystem Partner Development Lead @Block

Role Description

The Block Ecosystem Partnerships team leads product partnerships, business development, and commercialization for Afterpay, Cash App, and Square. We develop partnerships that extend the capabilities and reach of our products across the payments and technology industries, building relationships with leading companies in payments, finance, and technology.

We’re looking for an experienced business development and partnerships leader to define and own the global strategy for a portfolio of high-impact partnerships and emerging opportunities. You’ll identify where we should invest, shape our approach, and lead execution across teams to turn those opportunities into measurable business results.

A significant part of this role will involve leading multiple zero-to-one initiatives where the product, partnership model, or go-to-market approach may not yet exist. You’ll bring structure to open-ended opportunities, develop the strategic rationale and commercial model, and work with cross-functional leaders to take ideas from initial concept through launch and scale. This requires strong business judgment about which opportunities to pursue, what not to prioritize, and when to change direction.

You’ll work closely with leaders across Afterpay, Cash App, and Square, including Product, Engineering, Sales, Account Management, Marketing, Finance, Compliance, and Legal. Beyond delivering results for your portfolio, you’ll build repeatable approaches that improve how teams develop, launch, and grow partnerships.

• Define and own partnership strategy:
• Set the long-term growth direction for your partnership area.
• Translate customer needs, payments economics, competitive developments, and emerging technologies into clear priorities, investment recommendations, and execution plans.
• Balance near-term commercial results with longer-term opportunities, including agentic commerce.
• Build new opportunities from zero to one:
• Identify unmet customer and partner needs, develop business cases, and shape new partnership and distribution models.
• Lead multiple initiatives in parallel, establishing direction where there is no existing playbook.
• Make commercial and investment decisions:
• Evaluate market potential, unit economics, strategic fit, and execution requirements.
• Recommend which opportunities to pursue or decline, with clear tradeoffs, resource needs, and expected returns.
• Turn early bets into scalable businesses:
• Define experiments, milestones, and criteria to scale, pivot, or stop.
• Lead opportunities through partner development, negotiation, integration, launch, and commercialization.
• Turn successful approaches into repeatable models that other teams and markets can adopt.
• Own portfolio performance:
• Take accountability for the commercial outcomes and long-term health of your partnerships.
• Establish success measures, assess performance, and adapt strategy as products, partner priorities, and market conditions evolve.
• Coordinate with colleagues working with the same partners to create a coherent global approach.
• Build executive relationships and lead complex negotiations:
• Earn trust with senior decision-makers while maintaining effective working relationships across partner organizations.
• Structure and negotiate agreements that expand distribution, extend product capabilities, and support sustainable economics, including situations where partners may also be competitors.
• Shape cross-functional priorities and resolve blockers:
• Translate strategy into clear product dependencies, resource requirements, ownership, and delivery plans.
• Influence roadmap and investment decisions, resolve competing priorities across teams, and bring clear recommendations to senior leaders when tradeoffs require broader decisions.
• Commercialize products globally:
• Develop distribution strategies for business-to-business and business-to-business-to-consumer payment products, including new integrations, upsell, and cross-sell opportunities.
• Expand our reach through partner platforms while accounting for regional customer, regulatory, and operational requirements.
• Build practices that scale beyond your portfolio:
• Establish shared planning cadences, decision frameworks, and accountability across participating teams.
• Improve how opportunities are evaluated and partnerships are executed.
• Mentor senior colleagues and other leaders, helping them navigate ambiguity and make stronger strategic and commercial decisions.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience across business development, strategic partnerships, and commercialization, with deep experience in payments or financial technology.
• Demonstrated ownership of business strategy and commercial outcomes across complex partnerships, products, or markets.
• A proven track record of building new businesses or partnership models from zero to one.
• Experience identifying opportunities, developing business cases, shaping product and go-to-market strategy, negotiating complex agreements, and delivering measurable growth.
• Strong commercial and strategic judgment, including evaluating investment tradeoffs, assessing unit economics, prioritizing resources, and influencing senior leaders on which opportunities to pursue, scale, or stop.
• Deep knowledge of consumer and business payments, including payments economics, distribution models, and competitive dynamics.
• Proven ability to build C-suite relationships and navigate complex organizations.
• Expert negotiation skills, a strong understanding of commercial contracts, and experience managing dynamics that may be simultaneously cooperative and competitive.
• Strong product fluency and experience working with multiple Product and Engineering teams for a single partner.
• Demonstrated ability to influence without formal authority, resolve organizational blockers, and secure cross-functional commitment to shared priorities.
• Entrepreneurial ownership and sound decision-making in ambiguous, fast-changing environments.
• Willingness to travel, primarily domestically with some international travel.
• BS/BA required. An MBA or other master’s degree is a plus.

Benefits

• Remote work
• Medical insurance
• Flexible time off
• Retirement savings plans
• Modern family planning