We started in 2012, when we noticed a problem: on average, it was taking eight weeks (and a lot of paperwork) for small businesses to apply for a loan. Worse still, more often than not, that process was ending in a ‘no’.

We knew that bakeries, building firms, salons and solicitors deserved better. They deserve to be able to grow – hire more hands, invest in stock, market themselves – without all the hold music and absurdly rigid criteria.

We’ve now been around for a decade and in that time, we’ve:

• grown to a team of 290 iwocans
• worked with over 50,000 small businesses across the UK and Germany
• redesigned the whole business loan process from start to finish – our record is three minutes, 26 seconds.

It’s a good start, but it’s just the beginning. Our mission is help one million businesses who need us, so we still have a long way to go.

Here’s what we’ve learned about lending along the way:

• Technology is the way to change this space

From automated decisions to API integrations, tech has the potential to create the changes small businesses have been waiting for – so we can’t stop innovating.

• Embedded finance is the future

More and more, we’re reaching customers by embedding our loans within the apps and systems they use everyday. Our partners are people like neobanks, online marketplaces and accountancy software companies.

• Payments and credit are converging

Lots of small businesses struggle with cash flow; often getting invoices paid from their customers months after paying their own bills. Loans can help them pay these bills, but we also want to tackle the problem at its root by improving payment terms.

• New products are always possible

We’re working to create new loans of all shapes and sizes, and we’ve recently launched iwocaPay to help with these cash flow conundrums. So what’s next?

We work hard to make iwoca a place where everyone feels welcome – we want everyone to confidently be themselves. For us, diversity isn’t an optional add-on. It’s the thing that makes us great.

Now we’re looking for a Head of Strategic Partnerships who can help us to accelerate growth by building an ecosystem where small businesses can access the finance they need through the services they use everyday.

The role

Due to the continued growth and success of iwoca, the business is looking for a senior individual to take ownership of the strategic partnerships function.

The Head of Strategic Partnerships will be responsible for defining, developing and evolving the strategic partnerships strategy and leading its execution, to achieve revenue targets and to build long term and scalable partnerships.

The Head of Strategic Partnerships will collaborate with the Commercial Growth Director and the executive team to drive results and influence the direction of the business. They will need to be comfortable and capable of influencing senior stakeholders, such as the company founders. They will also coach, manage and develop the wider partnerships team.

Responsibilities will include:

• Leading the development of iwoca’s strategic partnerships strategy to achieve revenue targets
• Initiating new partnership discussions and overseeing the process of agreeing commercial terms
• Creating commercial proposals and defining a value proposition that will deliver a significant ROI for iwoca and the partner
• Overseeing development of the business case for each partnership and making the case to key stakeholders within iwoca
• Negotiating and agreeing contracts with new partners
• Ensuring the partnerships team successfully implements and optimises all partnerships, including tracking and management of the performance of all partnerships
• Taking responsibility for the commercial success of all partnerships, including successful relationship management of all partners
• Representing iwoca at industry/networking events and conferences
• Providing coaching and support to team members in order to aid their development