Job Purpose
Responsible for expanding CIMB's digital footprint through the acquisition and management of high-value merchant partnerships. This role focuses on identifying market opportunities, negotiating complex commercial frameworks, and leading cross-functional project teams to integrate merchant solutions that drive sustainable revenue growth and enhance the bank's balance sheet. This role acts as the partnership/merchant business owner, responsible for translating collaborative goals into execution, orchestrating cross-functional teams to ensure project milestones are met, and delivering measurable impact on both the revenue and the bank's strategic balance sheet.
Key Responsibilities
Merchant Strategy & Planning
- Market Mapping: Identify and prioritize high-potential merchant segments (e.g., E-commerce, Ride-hailing, Retail, F&B, travel etc.) that align with CIMB's lending and acquisition goals.
- Commercial Structuring: Define and develop value propositions for different merchant tiers, ensuring a balance between competitive pricing and bank profitability.
- Eco-system Integration: Align merchant acquisition plans with the broader CIMB partnership strategy to ensure synergy with existing partners (e.g., integrating merchant offers into the Octo app).
- Annual Roadmap: Develop a rolling 12-month merchant onboarding roadmap with clear volume and revenue targets.
Merchant Growth and Onboarding
- End-to-End Acquisition: Manage the full sales cycle from initial prospecting and pitching to the final execution of commercial contracts.
- Negotiation: Lead commercial negotiations, including MDR (Merchant Discount Rate), transaction fees, escrow requirements, and credit loss-sharing arrangements where applicable.
- Project PMO: Act as the primary Project Management Office (PMO) lead for onboarding, ensuring that Product, Tech, Risk, and Legal teams meet integration milestones for a Go-Live on schedule.
- Scale-up Initiatives: Design and execute joint marketing campaigns with merchants to drive user activation, transaction volume, and app downloads.
Performance Management and Optimization
- P&L Ownership: Monitor and report on the financial performance of the merchant portfolio (e.g., # of new credit cards or customers acquisition, ENR growth).
- Data-Driven Insights: Analyze transaction data to identify trends, drop-offs, or growth opportunities within the merchant's customer base.
- Portfolio Health: Monitor performance vs. targets; proactively identify any gaps & risks, growth opportunities
- Continuous Improvement: Regularly review and renegotiate terms with existing merchants to optimize the bank's wallet share and ensure long-term commercial viability.
Governance and Stakeholder Management
- Internal Alignment: Navigate internal approval processes by building strong business cases for new partnerships and obtaining buy-in from Senior Management.
- Compliance & Risk: Ensure all merchant activities comply with SBV (State Bank of Vietnam) regulations, AML/KYC standards, and internal risk frameworks.
- Relationship Management: Serve as the primary point of escalation for high-value merchants, maintaining professional long-term relationships at the C-suite or Management level.
- Cross-functional Collaboration: Coordinate across Product, Marketing, Risk, Compliance Finance, Operations and IT to ensure smooth and timely execution
- Support governance processes including:
- Business case approvals
- Product/program reviews
- Post-implementation evaluations
Job Specification
Banking / Finance / Business degree and equivalent functional experience
Minimum 5 years experience in business development, partnership management, or merchant acquisition within the financial service, fintech or e-commerce sectors.
Proven track record of managing a portfolio of B2B partners or merchants with measurable impact on top-line revenue.
Technical/Functional skills
- Strong track record in driving revenue and commercial outcomes
- Experience working with external partners / ecosystems
- Solid understanding of customer lifecycle & personalization strategies
- Data-driven mindset with ability to translate insights into actions
- Strong stakeholder management and execution capability
Personal skills
- Multi-task handling skill
- Communication skill
- Time management skill
- Motivated and energetic
- Strong written and verbal critical reasoning
- Result oriented
- Able to focus attention on detail
