Lemonade Finance (YC S21) is building a neobank for immigrants in North America & Europe. We provide our users with multi-currency accounts that allow them to hold, send, and receive money from Africa in any currency for their business and personal banking needs. There are over 10 million Africans living in North America & Europe who go through hoops and have to pay exorbitant fees to send money to their loved ones. We are constantly fighting for everyday Africans to be able to move their money freely around the world at no cost and with the best exchange rate they can find out there. We launched the first version of the app at the beginning of October 2020 with just the ability to send money. Now, we enable our users to send and receive as well as pay bills for services across the ocean for loved ones. We have also grown to a team of more than 25 people working remotely and living on different continents
Role Overview
We are looking for a Senior Business Development Manager – Anglophone Africa to build and scale strategic partnerships across key markets. This role will focus on financial institutions, regulators, aggregators, and mobile money operators, playing a critical role in expanding corridors, improving unit economics, and ensuring regulatory alignment.
You will work closely with Treasury, Compliance, Product, and Growth teams to enable sustainable expansion.
Key Responsibilities
Partnerships & Market Expansion
Build and manage strategic partnerships with banks, financial institutions, aggregators, and mobile money operators
Identify and evaluate new partners to support corridor launches and volume growth
Own partner onboarding from initial discussions through go-live
Commercial Negotiation
Lead commercial negotiations, including pricing, FX margins, settlement terms, SLAs, and volumes
Renegotiate existing contracts to improve fees, limits, liquidity, and reliability
Structure win-win partnerships aligned with LemFi’s growth objectives
Regulatory & Stakeholder Engagement
Engage with regulators and regulatory bodies in collaboration with Compliance and Legal teams
Support licensing discussions, regulatory submissions, and partner due diligence
Act as a trusted external representative of LemFi in strategic regulatory conversations
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Work closely with Treasury on funding models, liquidity planning, and settlement cycles
Partner with Product & Engineering teams during integrations and technical rollouts
Align with Growth and Operations to ensure partnerships support commercial goals
Performance & Optimization
Monitor partner performance (success rates, downtime, settlement delays)
Identify risks and proactively manage escalation and resolution
Continuously optimize partner mix for reliability, cost efficiency, and scalability
Experience
What We’re Looking For
5+ years of experience in Business Development, Partnerships, or Commercial roles
Fluent French Speaker
Strong background in fintech, payments, remittances, mobile money, or banking
Proven experience negotiating with aggregators, MNOs, or financial institutions
Exposure to regulatory environments across multiple markets is a strong plus
Skills
Excellent commercial and negotiation skills
Strong understanding of cross-border payments, FX, and settlement flows
Ability to manage complex, multi-stakeholder relationships
Comfortable working in fast-paced, high-growth environments
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Traits
Strategic but execution-focused
Comfortable with ambiguity and rapid change
Relationship-driven with strong ownership mindset
Detail-oriented with a strong sense of accountability