Relationship Manager Team Lead

Position Overview 
We are seeking a proactive, customer-focused and experienced Relationship Management Team Lead to join our growing team. 

In this role, you will lead the [Region] Relationship Management team to deliver strong customer retention, customer satisfaction, and revenue growth, while continuing to manage a portfolio of the region's largest and most strategic accounts. Operating as a player-coach, you will balance direct customer ownership with responsibility for supporting, developing, and guiding the regional RM team. 

The Team Lead is accountable for driving consistent Relationship Management standards and execution across the region, ensuring team members are equipped to deliver excellent customer outcomes while maintaining strong operational discipline and commercial performance. 

You will work closely with Relationship Managers, customers, onboarding teams, and internal stakeholders to support customer success, resolve escalations, identify growth opportunities, and ensure the consistent delivery of our services. 

Reporting to the Global Head of Relationship Management, you will act as the primary leadership and escalation point for the region, helping to build team capability, improve performance, and ensure alignment with broader company objectives. 

Success in this role will be measured through a combination of customer outcomes, commercial performance, team development, and operational excellence. The ideal candidate will be an effective relationship manager with strong organisational skills, a collaborative leadership style, and the ability to balance strategic customer needs with day-to-day team leadership responsibilities. 

This position involves travel, approximately 15-20%, across [Region] 

Key Responsibilities 

• Strategic Account ownership: Own and lead relationship engagement and growth strategy for portfolio of accounts. Identify commercial growth opportunities and coordinate execution and ensure Customer satisfaction / relationship health maintained or improved across accounts at all times 

• People Leadership & Performance ManagementI: The team has a clear understanding of Team Lead’s expectations and Team members are effectively leveraged to support enrollments and other operational activities. Underperformance is addressed early with measurable progress or resolution and the region runs smoothly without requiring constant senior intervention 

• Regional Customer Outcomes & Escalation Management: Monitor Regional customer portfolio health and intervene / provide additional support to the team as needed. Act as the first escalation point for the region and support RMs on growth strategy & key stakeholder relationship building by ensuring consistent execution of account planning and strong engagement cadence 

• Commercial Growth & Forecasting: Drive structured upsell execution across the team. Maintain accurate reporting and review pipelines regularly and support to unblock stalled opportunities, coordinating with Sales where needed to progress opportunities / onboarding tasks. 

• Execution Discipline & Operational Excellence: Ensure team adherence to internal processes, reporting standards, CRM & documentation hygiene. Maintain operational leadership (regular reviews, opportunity and customer progress checks) and delegate operational tasks effectively while retaining accountability 
   
   

Qualifications 

• Experience: 10+ years of experience in sales or relationship management within the cards and payments industry, with a strong focus on fraud and dispute management. Proven track record of team leadership and managing high-risk clients in the payments ecosystem, including experience in credit/debit card solutions, transaction processing, and risk mitigation strategies. 

• Motivator & Driver: A collaborative team leader focused on collective success, dedicated to the success of your team, serving as a key motivator and driver of their growth. 

• Analytical & Structured: Strong analytical skills and a structured approach, with the ability to assess complex situations and deliver a high degree of client satisfaction. A proactive problem solver with a positive, can-do attitude, capable of tackling challenges head-on and educating those around them. 

• Client-Focused: Passionate about all aspects of Relationship Management, with a customer-centric mindset and a focus on driving client retention and revenue growth within your team and your own portfolio of customers. 

• Communication: Excellent communication skills across written, verbal, and digital platforms, capable of fostering strong relationships with clients and your team. 

• Confidence & Comfort: High level of confidence in leading strategic discussions with both your team and senior client leaders, ensuring clear communication and alignment on goals. 

Desired Qualifications 

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience. 

• Tier 1 Client Management: Proven experience managing Tier 1 clients, with a passion for delivering exceptional client outcomes. 

• High Risk Expertise: Strong understanding of high risk vertical business models within the payments flow. 

• Dispute & Fraud Management: Experience working with dispute and fraud management products, ideally from Verifi and Ethoca. 

• Execution-Driven: Strong follow-through with a results-driven mindset and excellent problem-solving skills. 

• Organizational Excellence: Exceptional organizational skills, attention to detail, and a mastery of English, with a focus on delivering customer-centric solutions.