Sales Director - High Risk Payments

Sales Director - High Risk Payments

Location: Malta (HQ) | Candidates based remotely in the UK or Europe welcome (regular travel to Malta is essential, or fully funded relocation)

Salary: circa €120,000 base + substantial bonus & commission

The Opportunity:

We’re working with a fast‐growing, licensed payments scale‐up headquartered in Malta. The business is currently at 35 people and on track to grow to 50 FTE this year, with ambitious commercial targets and a clear need for senior commercial leadership that is both strategic and hands‐on.

This is a blended Sales Director role: you will personally originate, negotiate and close revenue‐generating deals, while also shaping the wider commercial strategy, building partnerships across the payment’s ecosystem, and leading a small commercial team.

If you’re someone who can open doors, get a seat at the table with senior decision‐makers, and still roll up your sleeves to close complex payments deals end‐to‐end, this role is built for you.

Role Overview:

As Sales Director, you will own revenue growth across multiple channels, with a particular focus on:

• Driving payments volume from merchants in higher‐risk sectors (e.g. gaming, gambling, travel and adjacent verticals)
• Building and closing strategic partnerships with PSPs, acquirers, banks, FI’s and other payments organisations
• Establishing scalable commercial processes while remaining directly involved in closing key deals
• You must be senior enough to operate at board and partner level, yet practical enough to manage details, contracts, pricing models and onboarding processes yourself when required.

Key Responsibilities:

Hands‐on Sales & Revenue Generation:

• Originate, qualify and close new merchant relationships, particularly within higher‐risk verticals
• Own the full sales lifecycle end‐to‐end: prospecting, pitching, negotiation, contracting, pricing, onboarding and go‐live
• Drive payments volume and long‐term revenue growth through well‐structured commercial agreements

Partnerships & Ecosystem Development:

• Build and close strategic partnerships with PSPs, acquirers, issuing banks, FI’s and other payments players
• Leverage your network to open doors with tier‐one and tier‐two partners
• Secure senior‐level conversations and successfully pitch commercial partnerships
• Structure partnership models that are commercially robust, scalable and compliant

Commercial Strategy & Leadership:

• Define and execute the commercial strategy aligned to company growth plans
• Balance short‐term revenue delivery with long‐term strategic partnerships
• Manage and develop a small commercial/sales team, setting clear targets, processes and expectations
• Lead by example: coaching through live deals and negotiations

Commercial Governance & Detail:

• Own pricing strategy, commercial terms and margin management
• Lead complex negotiations covering pricing, risk, SLAs, contracts and legal frameworks
• Work closely with legal, compliance and risk teams to ensure deals are structured correctly
• Build repeatable sales and onboarding processes; details matter!

What We’re Looking For - Experience & Track Record:

• Proven experience in senior commercial or sales leadership roles within payments or fintech
• Demonstrable track record of closing complex merchant and/or partnership deals in the payments space
• Experience operating in higher‐risk verticals (gaming, gambling, travel, or similar)
• History of successfully building and managing partnerships with PSPs, acquirers, banks or FI’s
• Evidence that you can open doors: who have you closed deals with, how, and at what level?

Commercial Skillset:

• Strong commercial nous: pricing, negotiation, contract structuring and margin optimisation
• Comfortable handling legal and contractual detail
• Highly process‐driven with attention to detail
• Strategic thinker who can translate strategy into executable deals

Leadership & Style:

• Experience managing and motivating a small sales or commercial team
• Hands‐on, lead‐from‐the‐front mentality
• Credible at C‐suite and board level, internally and externally
• Entrepreneurial mindset suited to a scaling business

Why Join?

• Senior, high‐impact role in a licensed, scaling payments business
• Genuine influence over commercial direction and growth
• Competitive package: €120k base + significant bonus & commission upside
• Flexible location (UK/Europe) with travel or relocation fully supported
• Opportunity to build something meaningful and be recognised & rewarded for it

If you’ve done this before - opened the doors, secured the meetings, negotiated the deals and delivered the revenue, and you want the autonomy to do it again in a high‐growth environment, this is a standout opportunity.