Partnerships Manager

Overview

You own relationships with partners who refer small business clients to Relay—think accounting firms, bookkeepers, business coaches (especially Profit First coaches), and potentially SaaS platforms. Your job is to activate dormant partners, grow revenue from existing ones, and enable them to confidently recommend Relay's banking platform to their SMB clients. You're measured on partner-sourced signups and revenue.

Role Snapshot

Company Context

Stage: Series B (estimated based on 330 employees and market presence)

Size: 330 employees

Growth: Actively hiring post-layoff week, suggests they're selectively adding headcount

Market Position: Challenger in SMB banking competing against traditional banks, Brex, Mercury, Novo. Their hook is being the "official banking platform of Profit First"—a popular cash management methodology for small businesses.

GTM Reality

Pipeline Sources:

• 40% Partner referrals (core motion—accountants, bookkeepers, Profit First coaches who recommend Relay to clients)
• 30% Direct inbound (content marketing, SEO for SMB banking searches)
• 20% Outbound to SMBs (likely limited given partner-first strategy)
• 10% Product-led (free account signups that convert to paid features)

SDR/AE Structure: Partners feed leads to an AE team who closes signups. You're enabling the partner to make the recommendation, not closing deals yourself.

SE Support: Likely minimal—product is fairly self-explanatory (checking accounts and cards), but you may need to demo for larger partner firms.

Competitive Landscape

Main Competitors: Mercury (startup-focused), Brex (tech/high-growth companies), Novo (freelancers/solopreneurs), traditional banks (Chase, BoA business accounts)

How They Differentiate: 20 checking accounts + 50 debit cards designed for Profit First methodology (envelope budgeting for businesses). No fees or minimums. They're positioned for "real" small businesses (contractors, agencies, retail) vs. tech startups.

Common Objections: "My clients already have a bank," "Switching banks is a pain," "Is Relay FDIC insured?" (yes, through partner banks), "What if Relay goes out of business?"

Win Themes: Solves specific pain around cash flow management that traditional banks don't address. Strong Profit First community endorsement. Easy to set up multiple accounts for different purposes.

What You'll Actually Do

Time Breakdown

Partner Enablement (40%) | Partner QBRs/Growth (30%) | Admin/Reporting (20%) | Internal Alignment (10%)

Key Activities

• Onboard new partners: Walk accounting firms or coaches through how to talk about Relay with their clients. Create co-marketing materials, run webinars, build referral tracking links. Most partners sign on but then don't actually refer anyone—your job is to fix that.
• Activate dormant partners: You'll inherit a bunch of partners who signed partnership agreements 6-12 months ago and haven't sent a single referral. You dig into why (don't understand the product, forgot about it, client pushback) and try to get them sending leads.
• Grow active partners: Quarterly business reviews with your top partners—how many clients have they referred, what's the conversion rate, what blockers are they hearing. You're problem-solving: "Three of your referrals didn't convert because they have international payments needs—let me show you how we handle that."
• Enable partner teams: If you land a 50-person accounting firm, you're not just talking to the partner—you need to train their staff accountants and bookkeepers who actually talk to SMB clients daily. Lunch-and-learns, Slack channels, office hours.

The Honest Reality

What's Hard

• Partners are not employees: You can't make them prioritize Relay. They have 10 other partnerships and are busy serving their own clients. You're competing for mindshare with their other referral relationships.
• Attribution is messy: Partner sends a referral, client signs up 2 months later through a Google ad—who gets credit? You'll spend time arguing about this internally and with partners.
• Long sales cycles on the partner side: It takes months to go from "partnership signed" to "partner actually sending quality referrals regularly." You need patience and a long runway to show results.
• Churn happens: Small businesses fail. Partners leave firms or stop coaching. A partner who sent 15 referrals last quarter might send zero this quarter because they changed jobs.

What Success Looks Like

• You have 15-20 "active" partners (sending 2+ referrals per month) that you can count on for consistent pipeline
• Partner-sourced signups convert at 30-40% (vs. 15-20% for cold outbound) because the accountant's recommendation carries weight
• You activate 3-5 previously dormant partnerships per quarter by solving their specific blockers

Who You're Selling To

Primary Partners:

• Accounting firm partners and practice managers (10-100 person firms serving SMBs)
• Profit First coaches and consultants (solo or small teams)
• Bookkeeping firms (fractional CFO/controller practices)
• Potentially: SaaS platforms (accounting software, invoicing tools) that could integrate or co-market

What They Care About:

• "Will this make my clients' lives easier or am I creating work for myself?" (switching banks is friction)
• "Do I get paid for referrals?" (likely a referral fee structure—clarify early)
• "Will Relay's support team make me look bad if something goes wrong with a client's account?"
• "Is this just another partnership that will distract me from serving clients?"

Requirements

• 2-4 years in partnerships, channel sales, or account management (ideally in fintech, SaaS, or financial services)
• Experience managing a book of 20-40 partner accounts with recurring revenue or lead generation goals
• Comfortable running webinars, creating enablement materials, and presenting to small groups
• Understanding of SMB financials (you need to talk credibly to accountants about cash flow management)
• Self-starter who can operate without a ton of structure—partnership playbooks are often less mature than direct sales playbooks
• Willingness to travel occasionally for partner events, conferences, or in-person QBRs