The Partnerships Associate (Business Development) role is crucial for Numida, a leading mobile platform offering digital financial services to traditionally overlooked and underserved micro and small businesses (MSBs) in emerging markets. Numida is the first and largest mobile platform in Africa focused on providing convenient and responsible financial services specifically to semiformal African MSBs.
Key Responsibilities
Partner Lead Generation & Pipeline Management
- Proactively source and qualify partnership leads across Numida’s priority sectors.
- Build and maintain a structured partnership pipeline, tracking leads from introduction through launch.
- Continuously align with the Partnerships Manager on target partner profiles, product fit, and prioritization.
- Maintain accurate CRM and pipeline reporting to support decision-making and forecasting.
Partner Discovery & Early Engagement
- Lead first discovery and qualification calls with prospective partners.
- Assess partner business models, customer base, data availability, and strategic fit with Numida’s lending products.
- Document discovery insights clearly and work alongside the Partnerships Manager during deal structuring and negotiation, ensuring discovery learnings are accurately reflected in the commercial and operational design.
Partnership Execution Support
- Support the Partnerships Manager in ongoing partner conversations through structured follow-ups and action tracking.
- Monitor project timelines, pilots, and agreed milestones to ensure partnerships move forward as planned.
- Review performance and operational reports to ensure partnership goals and KPIs are being met.
Market Research & Strategy Support
- Conduct ongoing market research on industry trends, competitor partnerships, and emerging business models.
- Analyze customer and partner feedback to identify gaps, risks, and new partnership opportunities.
- Share structured insights to inform partnership strategy, product design, and go-to-market approaches.
Pitching, Proposals & RFP Support
- Prepare partnership pitches, proposals, presentations, and Requests for Proposal (RFP) responses for prospective partners.
- Customize materials to reflect partner context, customer base, and value proposition.
- Support commercial and operational alignment internally before proposals are shared externally.
Events & Network Management
- Identify relevant industry events, conferences, and networking forums aligned with Numida’s partnership strategy.
- Represent Numida professionally at events to build a pipeline and relationships.
- Track and follow up on leads generated from events and industry engagements.
Issue Resolution & Internal Coordination
- Troubleshoot operational or service-related issues affecting partner workflows in real time.
- Coordinate cross-functionally with internal teams (Credit Operations, Tech, Finance, and Collections) to resolve issues promptly.
- Escalate complex or high-risk matters to the Partnerships Manager or relevant team leads when necessary.
Candidate Profile and Requirements
The ideal candidate is commercially driven, organized, and proactive, with the ability to balance outbound business development with internal coordination and execution. They are comfortable initiating conversations, qualifying opportunities, and ensuring nothing stalls due to poor follow-through.
Qualifications and Experience:
- 3+ years of experience in business development, partnerships, sales, or account management—preferably in fintech, lending, or financial services.
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Economics, or a related field (BA/BSc/HND).
- Experience managing pipelines, discovery calls, and early-stage partnership conversations.
- Strong exposure to cross-functional collaboration (credit, operations, product, relationship teams).
- Understanding of lending products and customer acquisition funnels is a strong advantage.
- Tech-savvy and comfortable working with CRMs, reporting tools, and internal systems.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Self-starter with high accountability and execution discipline.
