Founding Head of Strategic Partnerships

Founding Head of Strategic Partnerships

Agentic Payments | United States (Bay Area preferred, not required)

Engagement: Full-time preferred; fractional / advisory considered separately

Reports to: Founder & CEO, Spencer Xu

About Snaplii

Snaplii is a fintech company focused on the next generation of Agentic Payments. We are developing an agent-ready wallet and payment capabilities that enable AI agents to make purchases on behalf of users, subject to appropriate authorization and spending controls.

Building on our consumer wallet and payments business, we have demonstrated an end-to-end AI-agent purchasing and payment flow using the Muse environment. We are now expanding our work across the Agentic Payments and Agentic Commerce ecosystem.

The Opportunity

We are seeking a founding strategic partnerships leader to establish and grow Snaplii's most important ecosystem relationships. Working directly with our founder and CEO, this person will connect AI-agent platforms, payment companies, wallets, and other relevant ecosystem participants - and turn those relationships into commercially meaningful partnerships.

This is a hands-on business development leadership role, not a conventional sales position or a role limited to managing existing accounts. Success requires originating opportunities, engaging decision-makers, negotiating partnerships, and driving measurable execution.

What You Will Do

Build high-value ecosystem relationships

• Identify priority companies and partnership opportunities across Agentic Payments and Agentic Commerce.
• Develop trusted relationships with AI-agent platforms, payment providers, wallets, relevant startups, and their key decision-makers.

Originate and execute strategic deals

• Lead partnership development from first conversation through commercial structuring, negotiation, pilot planning, and agreement.
• Translate industry connections into concrete commercial partnerships, integrations, and business outcomes.

Shape partnership strategy with the CEO

• Prioritize promising agent use cases, ecosystem players, and collaboration models.
• Represent Snaplii in relevant industry events and senior-level partnership discussions.

Build a disciplined BD engine

• Own a transparent pipeline of priority partners, next steps, deal risks, and measurable progress.
• Coordinate with internal stakeholders to support real-world partnership execution and report outcomes to the CEO.

What matters most: authentic Agentic Payments ecosystem access, commercial judgment, and proven execution.

Required Qualifications

• Substantial experience in strategic partnerships, business development, ecosystem partnerships, or a closely related commercial function, with verifiable partnership outcomes.
• Strong familiarity with the Agentic Payments, Agentic Commerce, or closely related AI-agent commercial ecosystem, including key participants, business models, and opportunities.
• Genuine, relevant professional relationships across the AI-agent, payments, or adjacent ecosystem, with the ability to engage decision-makers directly.
• Demonstrated ownership of important partnerships from origination and relationship-building through negotiation and execution.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, relationship management, and commercial judgment.
• A proactive, entrepreneurial approach and willingness to execute personally rather than relying entirely on an established team.
• Ability to work closely with the CEO and take accountability for partnership results and commercial impact.

Nice to Have

• Experience at Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Adyen, Airwallex, Google, Meta, Anthropic, OpenAI, Coinbase, Shopify, or relevant AI/fintech companies.
• Experience commercializing products or establishing partnerships in Agentic Payments, Agentic Commerce, or the AI-agent ecosystem.
• An active presence on X (formerly Twitter) and strong familiarity with AI, fintech, and founder communities.
• Ability to develop and operate an effective X presence, including content strategy, conversation-led community engagement, and industry visibility.
• PR and communications experience, including media relationships, thought leadership, or building credibility for an emerging company or category.
• A record of generating valuable partnerships through industry events, social platforms, founder communities, or other nontraditional channels.
• Experience building a partnerships function or commercial ecosystem from zero; Mandarin proficiency is a plus, not a requirement.

What Success Looks Like

• First 30 days: Understand Snaplii's strategic position; map the Agentic Payments ecosystem; prioritize partners and establish an actionable pipeline.
• Days 31-60: Open substantive conversations with relevant decision-makers; identify concrete commercial opportunities; progress high-potential prospects.
• Days 61-90: Advance selected deals into negotiation or pilot scoping; establish execution milestones; deliver a practical 6-12 month partnership roadmap.
• Long-term performance: Signed and activated partnerships, commercially meaningful opportunities, and growth in actual AI-agent payment adoption.

Compensation & Benefits

• Base salary: USD $180,000 - $230,000, depending on experience and location
• Annual performance bonus of 20-30% of base salary, tied to signed and activated partnerships
• Equity as a founding member of the partnerships team
• Visa sponsorship available for qualified candidates (e.g. H-1B)

Why Snaplii

Help shape an emerging payments category, work directly with the CEO, and own strategic partnerships from first conversation through commercial impact. Visa sponsorship is available, so candidates who need it are welcome to apply.