Vice President, Strategic Partnerships

Upgrade helps customers move in the right direction with affordable and responsible financial products. Since 2017, we’ve helped over 7.5 million customers access over $42 billion in consumer credit. With a relentless focus on improving our customers' financial well-being, we build products that put more money in their pocket and support their journey toward a better financial future. We’re backed by some of the most prominent technology investors and were most recently valued at $7.3B.

We’re consistently recognized for our collaborative and inclusive culture. Most recently, we were named one of the World’s Top Fintech Companies by CNBC, Best Places to Work by Built In, Best Places to Work by the San Francisco Business Times, America’s Greatest Workplaces by Newsweek, Best Startup Employer by Forbes, and Healthiest Employers by Phoenix Business Journal. 

We’re looking for new team members who get excited about designing and delivering new and better products. Come join us and help build a better financial future for millions of people.

About the Role:

We are looking for a strategic, commercially driven leader to join Upgrade as our VP, Strategic Partnerships, playing a pivotal role in expanding our personal lending business through high-impact enterprise partnerships.

In this role, you will lead the development of strategic white-label partnerships with financial institutions, fintechs, and major consumer-facing brands, enabling them to offer personal loans under their own brand, powered by Upgrade's lending platform. You will be responsible for identifying and engaging high-value partners, building relationships with senior decision-makers, and independently structuring and negotiating complex commercial agreements. With a strong understanding of partnership economics and P&L impact, you'll evaluate opportunities that drive meaningful revenue growth and long-term profitability for Upgrade's personal lending business.

Working closely with executive leadership and cross-functional teams across Finance, Product, Engineering, Legal, Compliance, and Risk, you'll help shape partnership strategies, navigate technical integrations, and bring new opportunities to market. This is a highly visible, hands-on leadership opportunity for someone who thrives on building executive relationships, negotiating strategic deals, and turning commercial opportunities into scalable businesses. You'll have significant autonomy to shape a growing partnership channel, with opportunities to collaborate directly with senior leadership and contribute to emerging AI-driven products and initiatives.

Sourcing & Pipeline

• →Build and manage a pipeline of prospective white-label partners. 
• →Develop and prioritize a target list based on strategic fit, reach, and revenue potential.
• →Represent Upgrade at industry events and in outbound outreach to build a network of decision-makers at prospective partners.
• →Source potential partnerships to support Upgrade's emerging AI-driven product initiatives beyond personal loans

Deal Structuring & Negotiation

• →Lead commercial negotiations for partnership agreements, including economics, exclusivity, SLAs, and branding terms.
• →Partner with Legal, Finance, and Risk to structure deals that meet Upgrade's compliance and margin requirements.
• →Own the business case and internal approval process for each partnership, from term sheet through signed contract.

Onboarding & Launch

• →Own the end-to-end onboarding of signed partners — project-managing integration, compliance review, branding/marketing/UX approvals, and go-live.
• →Serve as the primary point of contact for partners during implementation, coordinating Engineering, Product, Compliance, and Ops to hit launch dates.
• →Build repeatable onboarding playbooks and SLAs to shorten time-to-launch as the partner roster grows.

• 10+ years in strategic partnerships, business development, or a related deal-making role, with a track record of sourcing and closing complex commercial agreements.
• Experience in fintech, consumer lending, or financial services — comfortable with regulatory, compliance, and risk considerations 
• Demonstrated ability to manage a deal from first outreach through signed contract and through live launch.
• Strong cross-functional leadership: proven ability to align Legal, Compliance, Risk, Product, and Engineering around a partner launch timeline.
• Excellent negotiation and executive presence; comfortable representing Upgrade large enterprise partner leadership.

Nice to Have:

• Direct experience structuring white-label or embedded finance partnerships (co-branded cards, private-label lending, BaaS-style programs).
• An existing network of relationships at financial services companies or consumer-facing brands that could become Upgrade partners.
• Experience at a high-growth fintech or consumer lending company.