Head of Business Development - Syria

Our Company NymCard is a full-stack payments infrastructure company. Founded in 2018, we give banks and financial institutions one platform, nCore, to issue cards, move money, lend, settle, and manage financial crime as a single system, not separate vendors stitched together. nCore is AI-native and built on a real-time data core, so every product runs on one shared view of the customer.

We're a team of 180+ with a high bar. AI isn't a department here, it's how every team works, and we back decisions with data, not opinion. The way we work has a name, BOLD: we build trust through transparency, we own outcomes rather than tasks, we lead with speed because in payments a delay is a real cost, and we deliver excellence as a habit. If you want real ownership and room to move fast, this is the team for you.

The Role We are seeking a commercially focused Head of Business Development to establish NymCard’s footprint in Syria. As our first in-market commercial lead, you will engage the Central Bank, commercial lenders, telcos, and digital banking startups as they modernize the country’s financial core.

This is a pure hunter and market-entry role; you will build the pipeline from zero. You will be responsible for crafting the GTM strategy in an evolving regulatory environment that demands sharp commercial judgment and a high bar for excellence.

Your success will be measured by new ARR and booked vs realized gross revenue . Beyond the numbers, you will provide critical market intelligence as infrastructure and correspondent networks mature. Partnering with our Product, Compliance, and Risk teams, you will structure deals that deliver speed while maintaining rigorous institutional diligence.

What You Will Do

• Own the full sales cycle in a greenfield market - from prospecting and C-suite engagement to commercial negotiation and contract close
• Build NymCard's go-to-market strategy for Syria from the ground up, including sequencing which institutions to approach first
• Build and maintain a qualified pipeline across Syria's commercial banks, the Central Bank of Syria, MFIs, payment companies, telcos, and digital banks
• Establish executive relationships with decision-makers across Syria's reforming banking sector, including newly reconnected commercial banks and Central Bank of Syria stakeholders
• Partner with Compliance, Risk, and Legal to navigate residual sanctions-adjacent complexity, correspondent banking constraints, and evolving AML/CFT expectations (Syria remains on the FATF grey list)
• Represent NymCard at Syria- and Levant-focused reconstruction, banking, and investment forums
• Provide structured, on-the-ground market intelligence on regulatory shifts, correspondent banking access, competitor activity, and client needs as the market develops
• Report into NymCard's Chief Business Officer with full pipeline transparency via CRM
• Own proposals, commercials, and negotiation. Coordinate with Legal and Finance on MSAs, SLAs, risk allocation, and pricing schedules suited to a higher-risk, higher-opportunity market
• Maintain accurate CRM hygiene: stage, next steps, close dates, probabilities, and risks
• Track booked vs. realized gross revenue by deal, and escalate launch risks tied to correspondent banking, licensing, or infrastructure gaps that could delay go-live
• Coordinate handover to Solutions and Delivery with scope, risks, and success metrics; convert early wins into references and case studies for the broader Levant expansion

What You’ll Bring

• 10–15 years of enterprise B2B sales or business development experience in payments, fintech, card schemes, or financial infrastructure
• An existing network within Syria's banking sector, the Syrian diaspora financial/business community, or the broader Levant banking ecosystem
• Comfort operating in frontier and reconstruction markets — experience in similarly complex, sanctions-adjacent, or post-conflict markets is a strong advantage
• Working knowledge of correspondent banking, SWIFT reconnection dynamics, and AML/CFT frameworks relevant to a FATF grey-listed jurisdiction
• Strong command of payments value chains — card schemes, issuer processing, and core banking integrations
• Fluency in Arabic and English required
• Experience navigating long, multi-stakeholder enterprise sales cycles under regulatory uncertainty
• Comfortable operating as the first commercial hire in a lean, high-ownership environment with direct executive exposure
• Commercial fluency on pricing, contracts, and deal structuring - with sound judgment on when to escalate compliance risk
• Confident communicator with executive presence; calm under pressure, with strong follow-through
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, or related field. MBA is a plus

Bonus Points

• First-mover advantage: Build a market essentially from zero, with direct access to decision-makers and full organizational backing, as Syria's financial sector reconnects to the global system.
• Regional and historic exposure: Play a front-line role in one of the region's most closely watched financial reconstruction stories, working directly with banks, regulators, and international partners as Syria re-enters global finance.