Senior Partner – Capital and Deals — Payments Portfolio

The mandate

Payments boards across the region face simultaneous capital choices: platform investment remains necessary and consolidation opportunities are emerging. Generalist transaction advice often misses the sector-specific factors that determine timing, structure and value. A privately held advisory firm sees demand for a senior partner who can connect these decisions with sector depth.

The Senior Partner – Capital and Deals will influence approximately A$3,100 million in client assets and investments and lead around 75 employees and material partners. The scope covers board origination, capital strategy, transaction theses, diligence, restructuring, execution and post-deal value capture. It reports to the Global Managing Partner and regional partner council.

Remediation changes deal logic. A sale may transfer legal exposure imperfectly, an acquisition can strain already committed control teams and a capital raise may depend on evidence that fixes will hold. The partner must help boards decide whether to transact, wait, separate, fund or partner—and state which uncertainties cannot be priced away.

Advice should continue past signing where value depends on integration or separation. The role will form mixed teams spanning sector, finance, risk and operations, while keeping conflicts and independent assurance boundaries explicit.

The regional franchise needs a point of view on capital structure as well as deals. Payments businesses may require liquidity for settlement, remediation and network guarantees even when accounting leverage appears modest. The Senior Partner will connect these operational claims on cash with equity, debt and strategic alternatives, ensuring a transaction does not leave the remaining business under-resourced.

Board access should be institutional rather than personal. Relationship plans will include chairs, chief executives, CFOs, risk leaders and investors, with clear confidentiality boundaries between competing situations. The partner will develop colleagues who can carry sector dialogue independently and will not use privileged remediation knowledge to manufacture a transaction opportunity.

Post-deal value work must begin with the signed thesis. Integration or separation teams should trace revenue, cost, capital and control outcomes to named assumptions, distinguish delay from permanent erosion and take corrective choices back to the board before the next reporting cycle.

Why this seat is open

The need was not in the hiring calendar and became urgent when remediation created immediate demand for one accountable owner. Interim coverage cannot continue through the next operating gate. The council intends to move from qualified shortlist to offer within four to six weeks.

What you will own

• Build board relationships around capital, remediation and transaction choices.
• Steward A$3,100 million of client exposure through advisory and conflict decisions.
• Frame transaction, wait, separate, fund and partnership alternatives.
• Integrate conduct liabilities and closure evidence into valuation and structure.
• Lead multidisciplinary diligence and communicate genuinely unpriceable uncertainty.
• Extend advice into separation, integration and post-deal value capture.
• Lead 75 employees and partners with explicit case and relationship ownership.
• Protect independence where the firm also supports remediation or assurance.

The first 12 months

During the first 90 days, map regional board relationships, live capital events, remediation dependencies and conflicts. Meet the 30 stakeholders most important to sector demand, including chairs, investors, regulators, executives and internal practice leaders. Qualify opportunities by decision urgency and access, assess the team and agree partner-council gates for pursuit and staffing.

Months four to nine should convert selected board discussions into mandates, demonstrate sector-specific diligence and carry at least one case into post-deal or capital implementation. Fill leadership gaps and stop low-access pursuits that consume senior time. The first benefit should appear in deal conversion, pricing, board referenceability or realised client value.

By year end, board access, deal conversion and post-deal value capture should show a repeatable trend. The value case must be within 10% of baseline, with forecasts reconciling pipeline, cash, delivery and people for three quarters. Priority quality issues must close on schedule with independent evidence, and severe escalations may not age beyond 30 days.

What the partner council will measure

• Qualified board relationships converted into capital or transaction mandates.
• Commercial performance and decision impact of sector-led deals advice.
• Treatment of remediation uncertainty in timing, valuation and structure.
• Post-deal or post-capital value captured against the original thesis.
• Critical-talent retention of 90% or better and ready-now cover for 70% of direct reports.
• A data-owned improvement in regional sector access and conversion.

The person

You are a Senior Partner, Deals Partner or Capital Advisory Leader with 22–28 years in advisory, payments or financial services. You have board access and transaction responsibility extending from thesis through implementation.

Your P&L, portfolio, book or budget has been at least A$1,800 million, and you have led no fewer than 55 people; this role influences approximately 75. You can evidence a transaction whose structure changed because of conduct or remediation and whose value outcomes held for two reporting periods.

You are comfortable advising that a transaction wait. You can distinguish diligence from independent assurance, bring specialists into the room without surrendering client ownership and state uncertainty without disguising it in valuation ranges.

Compensation and terms

Base compensation is A$380,000–500,000 plus annual incentive. This advisory appointment is based in Sydney on a hybrid pattern, supports international relocation and can accommodate notice up to six months.

Confidentiality

The firm, clients and live capital events will be identified only after confidentiality is established. Composite facts must not be reverse-engineered.