Senior Partnerships Manager, Startup and VC Ecosystem, France

ABOUT AIRWALLEX Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 200,000 businesses worldwide – including Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more – with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, spend management and treasury, to embedded finance at a global scale. Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 2,200 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 26 offices around the globe. Valued at US$8 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you’re ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us. ATTRIBUTES WE VALUE We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you’re motivated by our mission and operating principles https://www.airwallex.com/us/operating-principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor. You're humble and collaborative; turn zero‑to‑one ideas into real products, and you “get stuff done” end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you’ll tackle complex, high‑visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let’s build what’s next. ABOUT THE TEAM Airwallex’s SME & Growth team partners with ambitious SMB and mid‑market businesses operating across borders, helping them get paid, manage FX, pay suppliers and issue cards from a single platform. In France, we’re in build mode: a lean, high‑calibre commercial team in a large greenfield market. You’ll work at the intersection of Sales, Partnerships and Marketing, building an ecosystem with VCs, accelerators and the startup community to fuel our SME & Growth franchise in France (and selectively across EMEA). ABOUT THE ROLE Reporting to the Head of Sales, SME & Growth France and working closely with EMEA Partnerships, you will be Partnerships Manager – VC & Startup Ecosystem, building and scaling a new growth vector for Airwallex in France. You will design and execute our strategy with VCs, accelerators, incubators and startup platforms in France, fully aligned with our EMEA vision – om end‑to‑end – from sourcing and signing partners, to enabling their teams, to turning relationships into qualified pipeline and revenue. You’ll own partner‑sourced targets, be the primary contact for priority partners, and coordinate with Sales, Marketing, SDRs and Product. The role is based in Paris in a hybrid model (min. 3 days/week in office). WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING - Build and own the VC & startup ecosystem strategy in France: define objectives, target partner archetypes and prioritisation, and segment partners by fit and revenue potential. - Originate, negotiate and sign high‑value partnerships with leading VCs, accelerators and startup programmes in core Airwallex verticals; structure win‑win commercial and marketing agreements and coordinate internal approvals. - Activate partners and generate pipeline via webinars, office hours, clinics, demo days and joint events; work with Marketing, SDRs and Sales to run repeatable motions and optimise partner‑sourced funnel from reach to revenue. - Act as an ecosystem ambassador, representing Airwallex at key events, building deep relationships with GPs, platform teams and founders, and translating ecosystem trends into opportunities. - Partner internally with Sales, Marketing and Product on target segments, rules of engagement and feedback loops (product gaps, pricing