Head of Business Development
The Head of Business Development is responsible for finding and launching partnerships, new markets and integrations in high-risk verticals, along with the revenue they generate.
What a Head of Business Development does
The Head of Business Development leads business development: they look for new partners, platforms, payment and banking providers, liquidity, markets and cooperation formats that expand the product or the company's revenue. In high-risk verticals such as crypto, dating and fintech, this role is especially important, because access to providers and markets is often limited by licensing, bank refusals and regulatory requirements. A good BD head knows which partners will actually connect and which will spend months in correspondence.
The role usually reports to the CEO or the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). Direct reports typically include BD managers or leads, sometimes partnership managers and an analyst. The Head of BD works closely with Product, Compliance, Finance and Legal, because almost any deal in a high-risk vertical requires alignment on risks, terms and legal structure.
It is important to understand that the role is about building long-term relationships, not just sales. A deal with a bank, PSP or a large affiliate partner can take months of negotiation, due diligence and test launches. The Head of BD therefore needs to see the strategy, the legal constraints and the operational execution all at once.
Responsibilities
- Shape the business development strategy: choose markets, verticals, partner types and priority directions for the quarter and the year
- Search for and qualify potential partners: PSPs, banks, issuers, crypto exchanges, liquidity providers, marketing and affiliate networks
- Negotiate key deals, including terms, rates, limits, SLAs and exclusivity
- Coordinate partner due diligence together with Compliance, Risk and Legal
- Align the launch of integrations and test periods with Product and Tech
- Manage the partnership pipeline and report to leadership on deal status and revenue forecasts
- Build and maintain relationships with key partners, including regular reviews of terms
- Lead the BD team: set goals, distribute the pipeline, and run training and review of negotiations
- Evaluate the economics of new directions: margins, acquisition cost, and the risk of refunds and chargebacks
- Form the BD budget and choose events, exhibitions and channels for finding partners
Skills
- Strategic thinking and the ability to choose priorities among many opportunities
- Executive-level negotiation, including legally complex and multi-stage deals
- Understanding of payment and financial infrastructure: acquiring, liquidity, settlements, fees
- Basic understanding of regulatory constraints in high-risk verticals and the ability to work with Compliance
- Financial modeling: deal unit economics, scenarios, sensitivity to terms
- Building and managing a sales and partnerships team
- Presenting strategy and results to leadership and investors
- Working with documents: term sheets, contracts, SLAs, confidentiality agreements
- Building cross-functional collaboration without formal authority over other departments
Tools
- CRM for B2B deals (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive)
- Spreadsheets and financial models (Google Sheets, Excel)
- Analytics and BI for measuring partner revenue (Looker Studio, Tableau, Power BI)
- Document management and e-signature (DocuSign, Google Drive)
- Communication tools with partners and within the team (Slack, Telegram, Zoom)
- Pipeline and task planning (Notion, Jira, Asana)
How performance is measured
- Revenue and gross profit from new partnerships over the period
- Number of signed key deals and their share of the plan
- Time from first contact to integration launch
- Conversion of the partnership funnel at each stage
- Share of partners that pass due diligence without refusals
- Retention and revenue growth from existing partners
- Accuracy of the revenue forecast for the BD area
By vertical
Crypto
In crypto, the Head of BD most often works with crypto exchanges, liquidity providers, OTC desks and on/off-ramp services. The key task here is to secure legal settlement routes and access to banks willing to work with crypto businesses, while accounting for AML and sanctions screening requirements.
Dating
In dating, the role is usually tied to payment providers that process subscriptions, marketing and traffic partners, and platforms for launching in new geos. The main difficulty is that many banks and payment systems restrict such products, so BD spends a lot of time looking for alternative PSPs and terms.
FinTech
In fintech, the Head of BD is responsible for banking partnerships, card issuing, acquiring, lending and integrations with payment systems. The company's licensing structure and how the partner covers regulatory requirements matter greatly here, so negotiations often involve Legal and Compliance from day one.
Levels
Head of / Director
The Head of or Director level carries responsibility for the entire BD strategy: choosing directions, the budget, the partner portfolio and the revenue from it. The role manages the team, agrees on major deals with leadership and is accountable for results to the CEO or board of directors, not just for closing individual negotiations.
How to get there
People often enter BD from B2B sales, partner sales, the banking or payments sector, consulting where they negotiated with financial companies, or affiliate management. For high-risk verticals, experience in the payments industry, with PSPs, acquiring or crypto platforms is valuable, because it builds an understanding of constraints and typical deal structures.
To prepare for the role, it helps to study the basics of the payments ecosystem: how acquiring, settlements, liquidity, fees and chargebacks work; how AML and KYC operate at the process level; and how crypto and fintech products are regulated in general. It is also useful to practice negotiating, learn to read contracts and model partnership economics in spreadsheets. Experience leading a small team or project usually matters more than a formal title.
Growth happens gradually: from partnership manager to lead manager, then to head of a BD area or regional head, and only after that to Head level. The transition comes through independently running major deals, managing a team and taking part in the company's strategic decisions, not just through accumulating years in the role.
Next steps: CCO (Chief Commercial Officer), CEO of a small company in payments or fintech, Partnerships Director, Head of Sales, Managing Director of a business line or region
FAQ
How is a Head of Business Development different from a sales manager?
A sales manager usually works with an existing product and closes clients through a clear funnel. The Head of BD looks for new directions, partners and markets, builds strategy and leads complex multi-stage deals, often with Legal, Compliance and Product involved. The role is broader in scope and closer to running the business.
Is a technical background needed for this role?
Technical skills are not mandatory, but understanding how payments, integrations and APIs work is a big advantage. The Head of BD needs to know what is technically feasible, how long an integration takes and what risks it carries, otherwise it is hard to conduct realistic negotiations.
What determines income in this role?
Income usually consists of a base salary plus bonuses tied to revenue or profit from partnerships. It is influenced by company size, vertical, geography, market complexity and how much the role is accountable for strategic results. Exact terms depend on the specific employer.
What are the most common risks for a Head of BD in high-risk verticals?
The main risks are that a partner may suddenly cut off access, a bank may refuse service or a regulator may change requirements. For this reason, BD should plan backup options in advance, diversify partners and agree on deals with Compliance before signing.
How can someone work in high-risk verticals without experience in them?
You can start in adjacent areas such as banking products, payment services, high-chargeback e-commerce or affiliate partnerships. It is important to show the ability to run complex negotiations and an understanding of compliance. From there, it is logical to move into a more specialized vertical.
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