Lead Partnerships Manager, Data & Risk

Dave vs. Goliath. We’re Dave.

Dave is a financial app on a mission to build products that level the financial playing field. It is redefining the financial landscape by leveraging technology to create an affordable, transparent, and user-centric access to liquidity for millions of Americans. As a leading innovator in the U.S. financial services sector, Dave’s digital financial platform offers products designed to meet the credit needs of those underserved by traditional financial institutions. Dave’s offerings include its flagship ExtraCash product, providing members up to $500 within minutes. The company is on track to launch several new product offerings in 2026, including a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) option.

Dave is focused on serving Americans who are financially vulnerable or living paycheck to paycheck. Dave is leading the charge in creating a new era of credit products that prioritizes speed, affordability, and accessibility, making it the go-to financial partner for those who need it most.

What you'll do

As the Strategic Partnerships Lead for Data & Risk, you will own and scale a portfolio of high-impact partnerships that support Dave’s risk, data, and financial infrastructure roadmap. You will work closely with Product, Risk, Data Science, Engineering, Legal, Compliance, Finance, Operations, and executive leadership to identify partnership opportunities, lead evaluations, negotiate commercial terms, and manage partners through implementation and ongoing performance.

You will be expected to deeply understand Dave’s products, member needs, unit economics, risk models, and regulatory environment, then translate that understanding into a clear partnerships strategy. The best person for this role is commercially sharp, analytically rigorous, operationally strong, and comfortable quarterbacking complex initiatives across many stakeholders.

• Own Dave's portfolio of data and risk partners across fraud, identity, open banking, bank connectivity, and credit bureaus
• Turn Dave's product, risk, and business objectives into a clear partner roadmap, sequencing renewals, evaluations, and new capabilities so the portfolio supports responsible growth and better member outcomes.
• Evaluate new partners against commercial fit, data quality, risk impact, compliance, cost, and resiliency, and own the call on what to bring in.
• Build the scorecards that hold partners accountable: service levels, cost, approval and conversion impact, fraud and risk outcomes, data reliability, and contractual obligations.
• Find the openings to sharpen Dave's underwriting, fraud controls, member eligibility, and repayment performance through better partner capabilities.
• Run each partnership end to end: sourcing, diligence, business case, financial modeling, negotiation, contracting, implementation, and post-launch performance.
• Lead partner governance, renewal strategy, issue escalation, and risk mitigation across our most critical third-party relationships.
• Build real relationships with senior leaders at the data providers, infrastructure companies, risk platforms, and banks we depend on.

Who you are

You are a strategic operator who can move between big-picture thinking and detailed execution. You understand how partnerships can create product advantage, improve risk performance, and drive business outcomes. You are comfortable with ambiguity, but you do not operate loosely. You bring structure, judgment, and urgency.

You are equally effective in a vendor negotiation, a product requirements discussion, a risk review, and an executive update. You can simplify complex tradeoffs, build a clear business case, and push work forward across teams.

You’ll be a great fit if

• You have 8+ years in fintech partnerships or product strategy (digital banking/lending)
• You have strong product sense, and you can point to partner or vendor choices that moved real product outcomes: approval rates, conversion, member experience, or roadmap speed.
• You have sharp commercial and analytical instincts, and you are at home in business cases, financial models, and the unit economics behind a partnership.
• You have negotiated and managed complex partner relationships from diligence through launch and into ongoing performance.
• You lead well across Product, Engineering, Risk, Data Science, Legal, Compliance, Finance, and Operations.
• You write and speak clearly enough to move senior stakeholders and make hard tradeoffs simple.
• You have good judgment around member experience, regulatory sensitivity, and operational risk.
• You bring a bias toward action and high ownership, and you can run several complex initiatives at once.

Don’t let imposter syndrome get in the way of an incredible opportunity. We’re looking for people who can help us achieve our mission and vision, not just check off the boxes. If you’re excited about this role, we encourage you to apply. You may just be the right candidate for this or other roles.

Why you’ll love working here

At Dave, our people are just as important as our product. Our culture reflects the values that guide who we are, how we work, and what we aspire to be. Daves are member-centric, helpful, transparent, persistent, and better together. We strive to create an environment where all Daves feel valued, heard, and empowered to do their best work. As a virtual-first company, team members can live and work anywhere in the United States, except Hawaii. 

A few of our benefits & perks:

💚 Opportunity to tackle tough challenges, learn and grow from fellow top talent, and help millions of people reach their personal financial goals

💻 Flexible hours and virtual-first work culture with a home office stipend

🏥 Premium Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance plans

👶 Generous paid parental and caregiver leave

💰 401(k) savings plan with matching contributions

📈 Financial advisor and financial wellness support

🏖️ Flexible PTO and generous company holidays, including Juneteenth and Winter Break

🎉 All-company in-person events once or twice a year and virtual events throughout to connect with your team members and leadership team

Dave Operating LLC is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and is dedicated to cultivating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We will consider for employment all qualified applicants and do not discriminate on any basis protected by federal, state, or local law, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance relating to an applicant's criminal history.