وصف الوظيفة
Role Overview
Emerging Markets Lead – MENA (Arabic speaking) at Column, based in Dubai with regular travel throughout the region and occasional travel to San Francisco headquarters.
Company Overview
Column is a bank and software company built from the ground up, offering technology-forward banking solutions to builders and developers. The company was founded by leaders from Plaid, Square, Meta, Blend, and Affirm, and aims to simplify the banking supply chain by cutting out hundreds of vendors, middleware providers, and abstraction layers.
Role Purpose
Spearhead Column's strategic international expansion into MENA markets by driving 0-to-1 growth for a new banking product, building and nurturing relationships with prospective partners and customers, and establishing Column's presence as a founding team member for a new business line with significant autonomy and direct impact on global expansion strategy.
Key Responsibilities
Market Development & Strategy
- Lead end-to-end regional market development, including identifying, evaluating, and executing high-value partnerships with banks across international markets.
- Develop market intelligence by gathering and synthesizing insights on local market conditions, regulatory developments, competitive landscape, and customer needs to inform Column's regional strategy.
- Become an expert on the correspondent banking space in key emerging markets and build extensive networks within their banking and fintech ecosystems.
Relationship & Partnership Management
- Serve as the primary relationship owner for prospective and existing customers, conducting regular in-person meetings and attending local industry events.
- Build and maintain key relationships with senior executives, market experts, and decision-makers.
- Lead complex deal processes from initial outreach through contract signature, working collaboratively with Column's Legal, Compliance, and Product teams.
- Own partnership execution and manage ongoing partnership development.
Operations & Scaling
- Drive operational excellence by building scalable processes for onboarding, relationship management, and ongoing support that can be replicated as the company expands.
- Implement hyper-organized project management practices, coordinating efforts across multiple teams and managing multiple projects and priorities.
Qualifications & Experience
- 6+ years of experience in partnerships, business development, growth, operations, or strategy in a high-caliber environment.
- 4+ years of business experience specifically in MENA.
- Native fluency in Arabic and experience managing business relationships with Arabic-speaking clients and stakeholders.
- Track record of successfully managing complex partnerships and high-value deals with executive stakeholders.
Skills & Competencies
- Strategic thinking with ability to assess market opportunities, evaluate potential partners, and provide strategic recommendations to senior leadership.
- Natural networker who thrives on building trust and long-term relationships.
- Hyper-organized approach to project management with comfort juggling multiple projects and priorities.
- Scrappy, roll-up-your-sleeves attitude with willingness to work harder, be more creative, and get hands dirty to build a business.
- Zero ego and collaborative mindset when working across teams.
Additional Information
- Position based in Dubai with regular travel throughout the region and occasional travel to San Francisco.
- Column is committed to working with the best and brightest people from the broadest talent pool possible and values diverse perspectives, educational backgrounds, and life experiences.
- Column participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations as required by law.
- For assistance or reasonable accommodation during the application and recruiting process, contact accommodations@column.com.