The Lead - Partnerships role will own and scale Airtel Finance's strategic partner ecosystem across NBFCs, credit issuers, card and network partners, bureaus, and other high-impact external partners. The role is designed for a business builder who can unlock growth opportunities, drive strategic initiatives, improve commercials, and act as a strong extension of the business leadership team.
Key Responsibilities
- Own and grow existing NBFC and lending partner relationships for Airtel Finance's LSP business.
- Manage strategic partnerships across credit issuers, card networks, bureaus, and other ecosystem partners.
- Identify and drive scale-up opportunities across partners through new programs, policy changes, product interventions, and joint business plans.
- Lead commercial negotiations, partnership renewals, and cost optimization initiatives to improve business economics.
- Drive partner governance including operating cadences, business reviews, issue resolution, and audit / compliance coordination.
- Bring external market intelligence, competitor insights, and partnership trends into the team to shape strategy.
- Track and influence partner-wise funnel, approval, disbursal, portfolio, and profitability metrics.
- Own partner-level P&L thinking and support business planning, performance reviews, and leadership decision-making.
- Act as a shadow Business Head by connecting partner strategy, execution, economics, and risk considerations.
- Work closely with product, risk, analytics, finance, operations, and collections teams to deliver partner goals end to end.
Candidate Profile
- 6+ years of experience in fintech, digital lending, cards, payments, banking, NBFCs, or strategic partnerships.
- MBA or postgraduate degree from a reputed institution.
- Strong experience in managing and scaling external partnerships in a fast-paced business environment.
- Good understanding of lending, economics, partner constructs, and fintech operating models.
Core Skills
- Strong stakeholder management across internal and external senior leadership.
- Data-backed thinking with the ability to convert insights into strategic actions.
- Strong commercial negotiation and business case building skills.
- Market awareness with an active external network and ability to build industry connects.
- Strong ownership, execution rigor, and ability to manage ambiguity.
- Ability to influence cross-functional teams without direct authority.
- Strong communication, review management, and problem-solving capability.
Why Join Airtel Finance
Airtel Finance combines the strength of a trusted and established Airtel brand with a digital-first financial services platform that offers loans, credit cards, fixed deposits, and other products through a secure and largely digital customer journey.
The broader Airtel ecosystem brings meaningful growth potential through large customer reach, strong digital distribution, and deep partnership-led expansion in financial services. Airtel's strategy in financial services is positioned as a long-term growth engine, supported by established brand trust, scale advantages, and continued investment in digital lending capabilities
