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Airwallex

Head of Startups, ANZ

Posted 5 Days Ago
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In-Office
Melbourne, Victoria
Expert/Leader
In-Office
Melbourne, Victoria
Expert/Leader
Lead ANZ startup segment strategy and operating model to drive pipeline, activation and revenue. Align sales, partnerships, marketing and community; scale founder programmes, deepen VC and accelerator relationships, design lead routing and performance tracking, and represent Airwallex across the startup ecosystem.
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About Airwallex

Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 250,000 businesses worldwide – including Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more – with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, spend management and treasury, to embedded finance at a global scale.

Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 2,300 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 27 offices around the globe. Valued at US$11 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you’re ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us.

 
Attributes We Value

We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you’re motivated by our mission and operating principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor.

You're humble and collaborative; turn zero‑to‑one ideas into real products, and you “get stuff done” end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you’ll tackle complex, high‑visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let’s build what’s next.

 
About the team

As Head of Startups, ANZ, you will shape how Airwallex shows up in this market and build the commercial engine behind it — connecting ecosystem partnerships, founder programmes and segment sales into one high-performing motion that drives pipeline, adoption and revenue.

What you will do
  • Lead the ANZ startup segment strategy, with accountability for commercial outcomes including pipeline generation, activation, conversion and revenue contribution

  • Build and evolve the startup operating model across sales, partnerships, community, events and startup-focused programmes, including Latitude 37

  • Partner closely with the commercial team to strengthen the startup sales motion and ensure ecosystem activity is translated into high-quality pipeline

  • Define segment priorities, target customer profiles and focus areas to guide investment and execution

  • Establish clear operating rhythms across sales, partnerships, marketing and community teams to improve coordination and execution

  • Develop repeatable acquisition and engagement motions across founder, portfolio and ecosystem channels

  • Design effective lead routing and handoff processes into the broader commercial organisation

  • Expand and deepen relationships with leading VCs, accelerators, incubators and founder networks across ANZ

  • Represent Airwallex externally across the startup ecosystem through events, partner engagement and founder-facing activity

  • Track segment performance, programme effectiveness and ROI, and provide clear reporting to leadership

Responsibilities
  • Own the strategy and execution of the ANZ startup segment

  • Build the operating model that supports scalable growth across the segment

  • Drive alignment across sales, growth, product and marketing on startup priorities

  • Strengthen ecosystem partnerships and extend the impact of programmes such as Latitude 37

  • Improve the connection between ecosystem engagement and commercial outcomes

  • Monitor performance and continuously refine the segment approach based on data and results

Who you areMinimum qualifications
  • Experience in venture capital, a venture platform team, startup partnerships, or a commercial leadership role focused on the startup ecosystem

  • A track record of building and scaling programmes, functions or go-to-market motions with clear structure, process and performance metrics

  • Experience working closely with sales teams and contributing to pipeline and revenue outcomes

  • Strong understanding of the ANZ startup landscape, with an established network or the credibility to build one quickly

  • Commercially minded and data-driven, with experience owning or influencing growth KPIs

  • Strong cross-functional leadership skills, with the ability to align multiple stakeholders around a shared strategy and operating model

Preferred qualifications
  • Experience in fintech, payments, SaaS infrastructure or developer platforms

  • Experience as a founder, investor, or operator within a startup or accelerator environment

  • A track record of scaling an existing ecosystem, programme or segment motion

  • Comfort operating in both external and internal leadership settings, from founder engagement through to process and operating cadence design

  • Experience supporting startups with international expansion

Applicant Safety Policy: Fraud and Third-Party Recruiters

To protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for bank details, sensitive ID numbers (i.e. passport), or any form of payment during the application or interview process. All official communication will come from an @airwallex.com email address. Please apply only through careers.airwallex.com or our official LinkedIn page.

Airwallex does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms/recruiters. Airwallex will not pay any fees to search firms/recruiters if a candidate is submitted by a search firm/recruiter unless an agreement has been entered into with respect to specific open position(s). Search firms/recruiters submitting resumes to Airwallex on an unsolicited basis shall be deemed to accept this condition, regardless of any other provision to the contrary.

Equal opportunity

Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don’t regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

HQ

Airwallex San Francisco, California, USA Office

Airwallex San Francisco, US Office

188 Spear Street’s superior location is two blocks from the Embarcadero, the promenade running along the SF waterfront, and offers exceptional views and convenience through its easy access to BART, Muni, ferries, the Transbay Terminal, the Bay Bridge and all major freeways.

Sales

This isn’t just another sales role. This is your chance to build the future of global banking with a team that’s built to win. We give top performers the autonomy, the product, and the support to achieve uncapped success.

AI Engineering

Our SF AI Engineering team at Airwallex is building production-grade AI that automates the hardest parts of global finance — from payments and onboarding to reconciliation, bookkeeping, and tax. Sitting on top of our proprietary global payments infrastructure and massive real-time transaction datasets, we design and ship vertical AI systems — from LLM-powered copilots and agentic workflows to fine-tuned models — that reach customers quickly and at scale. We’re a small, senior, zero-ego group with high ownership: engineers work end to end from problem framing and experimentation through to deployment and evals, using the right tool for the job to turn deep AI work into visible, shipped impact.

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