Responsibilities:

Merchant Acquisition & Onboarding (~35%) -Source, evaluate, and onboard new merchant partners across retail, dining, travel, e-commerce, and lifestyle sectors, ensuring alignment with the client's card portfolio strategy and customer segmentation. 

Relationship Management (~25%) -Serve as the primary point of contact for existing merchant partners; conduct regular business reviews, resolve issues proactively, and identify upsell and cross-sell opportunities to deepen partnerships. 

Offer Design & Commercial Negotiation (~20%) -Design, negotiate, and optimise merchant-funded offers, cashback structures, and loyalty rewards that drive cardholder engagement and measurable spend uplift. 

Market Intelligence & Competitive Benchmarking (~10%) -Monitor competitor loyalty programmes, emerging merchant categories, and regional consumer trends across the Qatar and broader GCC to inform partnership strategy.     Cross-Functional Coordination (~10%) -Collaborate with product, marketing, digital, risk, and compliance teams to ensure seamless offer execution, regulatory alignment, and go-to-market delivery.

Identify, negotiate, and onboard new merchant partners across diverse sectors (retail, F&B, travel, entertainment, e-commerce), ensuring each partnership aligns with the client's strategic objectives and target cardholder segments.  Build and maintain strong, long-term relationships with existing merchant partners -acting as their trusted point of contact, driving satisfaction, retention, and incremental commercial value through regular performance reviews.  Design, implement, and optimise loyalty offers and merchant-funded promotions, leveraging data driven insights to create compelling value propositions that increase cardholder engagement, activation, and spend. 

Lead commercial negotiations with merchants to secure favourable terms (revenue-share, exclusivity, co-funding), ensuring compliance with QatarCentral Bank regulations, card scheme rules, and internal risk policies. 

Track and analyse the performance of merchant partnerships and loyalty initiatives against defined KPIs, producing regular reporting with actionable recommendations to refine strategy and maximise ROI. 

Conduct market research to identify emerging trends, new merchant categories, and competitive offerings within the Qatar and broader GCC -translating insights into a prioritised partnership pipeline. 

Collaborate cross-functionally with product, marketing, digital channels, CRM, and compliance teams to ensure end-to-end execution of partnership initiatives, from offer design through campaign delivery and post-campaign analysis. 

Required Skills:

Merchant acquisition, partnership management, or business development within card issuing, acquiring, or payments

Loyalty programme design, management, and optimisation (points-based, cashback, merchant-funded offers, coalition models)

Understanding of interchange economics, scheme rules (Mastercard/Visa), and merchant-funded offer mechanics

Banking, payments, fintech, or card scheme environment

CRM platforms (Salesforce, HubSpot, or equivalent) for pipeline and relationship tracking

Loyalty management platforms (e.g., Comarch, Collinson, Giift, Novus Loyalty, or similar)

Campaign management and offer publishing tools

Data analytics and reporting tools (Excel advanced, Tableau, Power BI, or equivalent)

Familiarity with digital channels (mobile banking apps, e-wallets) for offer distribution

Excellent negotiation, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills

Strong analytical and data-driven decision-making capabilities   

Ability to manage multiple partner relationships and competing priorities simultaneously

Stakeholder management across senior internal and external contacts

Commercially minded with an ability to balance strategic vision and tactical execution Preferred (Not Mandatory)

Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Marketing, Finance, or related field; MBA is a plus 

Arabic language skills (preferred, not required -broadens merchant engagement reach in Qatar/GCC)

Certifications: Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional (CLMP) or equivalent (nice to have)

Experience with A/B testing or Test & Learn methodologies for offer optimisation   

Previous experience within banking, cards & payments, or fintech -non-negotiable for understanding scheme dynamics, interchange, and cardholder value proposition design 

Proven merchant acquisition and partnership management track record -must demonstrate experience sourcing, negotiating, and managing commercial partnerships

Strong analytical capability -ability to interpret performance data, identify trends, and translate into actionable partnership strategies 

Professional English fluency -required for all internal and external stakeholder communication