Senior Director, Payment Business Development, APAC

Circle (NYSE: CRCL) is one of the world's leading internet financial platform companies, building the foundation of a more open, global economy through digital assets, payment applications, and programmable blockchain infrastructure. Circle's platform includes the world's largest regulated stablecoin network anchored by USDC, Circle Payments Network for global money movement, and Arc, an enterprise-grade blockchain designed to become the Economic OS for the internet. Enterprises, financial institutions, and developers use Circle to power trusted, internet-scale financial innovation. Learn more at circle.com .
What you'll be part of:
Circle is committed to visibility and stability in everything we do. As we grow as an organization, we're expanding into some of the world's strongest jurisdictions. Speed and efficiency are motivators for our success and our employees live by our company values : High Integrity, Future Forward, Multistakeholder, Mindful, and Driven by Excellence. We have built a flexible work environment where new ideas are encouraged and everyone is a stakeholder.
What you'll be responsible for
Reporting to the regional VP, you will be responsible for developing and scaling strategic payments partnerships across Asia. You will own OKRs and build a high-impact pipeline of payment service providers, networks, and payments-native companies. You will qualify opportunities, navigate complex sales cycles, close strategic deals, and develop durable partnership models that support USDC growth and Circle's broader business objectives across the region. This role aligns with Senior Director-level scope, including regional strategy, complex stakeholder management, and ownership of division-level outcomes.
What you'll work on

• Own and scale a portfolio of strategic payments partnership opportunities across APAC, from origination through close and long-term growth.
• Develop and execute GTM plans for high-revenue payments partnerships with PSPs, networks, and payments-native companies.
• Build deep understanding of payments-native partner business models, payment flows, settlement, compliance, risk, and technology needs , mapping Circle solutions to priority use cases.
• Manage long and complex, multi-stakeholder deal cycles across executive sponsors, technical evaluators, legal, compliance, procurement, and finance teams.
• Structure and negotiate payments partnership agreements that balance commercial value, regulatory considerations, operational complexity, and long-term growth potential.
• Establish and maintain trusted relationships with C-suite and senior decision makers across payments partner organizations .
• Navigate multinational considerations, including cross-border regulatory frameworks, multi-entity structures, and regional vs. global decision-making dynamics within large organizations.
• Partner cross-functionally with legal, compliance, product, engineering, finance, and regional teams to operationalize payments partner activation and growth programs.

What you'll bring to Circle
Core Requirements

• 13+ years of experience in business development, payments partnerships, strategic partnerships, payments, fintech, banking, or financial services.
• 7+ years of experience developing or managing strategic payments partnerships in complex commercial environments.
• Deep understanding of payments products, financial infrastructure, and payments partnership models.
• Proven track record closing high-impact strategic deals with C-suite and senior executive audiences.
• Strong relationships with senior decision makers across APAC payments, fintech, banking, or payments infrastructure ecosystems.
• Experience navigating complex, multi-stakeholder organizations, including internal champions, buying committees, legal, compliance, risk, product, and technical teams.
• Demonstrable ability to work alongside technical resources and contribute meaningfully to solution development for complex, first-of-kind enterprise engagements.
• Familiarity with generative AI models (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) and prompt development.

Preferred Requirements

• Familiarity with payments infrastructure and related technology ecosystems.
• Experience working across multinational organizations, including regional mandates, cross-border compliance, and HQ-to-local decision-making dynamics.
• An appetite for building at the earliest stages - you care about improving process, moving fast, and laying a durable foundation.
• Willingness to travel 30-50%, depending on the time of year.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English; Mandarin language skills are a significant plus, as it facilitates collaboration with some APAC partners.

Circle is on a mission to create an inclusive financial future, with transparency at our core. We consider a wide variety of elements when crafting our compensation ranges and total compensation packages.
Starting pay is determined by various factors, including but not limited to: relevant experience, skill set, qualifications, and other business and organizational needs. Please note that compensation ranges may differ for candidates in other locations.
We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, or any other protected status required by the laws in the locations where we hire. Additionally, Circle participates in the E-Verify Program in certain locations, as required by law.
Should you require accommodations or assistance in our interview process because of a disability, please reach out to [email protected] for support. We respect your privacy and will connect with you separately from our interview process to accommodate your needs.
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