Director of Customer Growth Partnerships

Overview

About the Role

Instacart is seeking a Director of Customer Growth Partnerships to lead transformative partnerships that expand our reach, accelerate customer acquisition, and unlock new revenue streams. You will partner with high-profile companies across media, travel, financial services, and other high-growth industries to drive distribution, acquisition, and category-defining customer experiences.

This is a senior leadership role: you will design partnership strategies, negotiate industry-shaping deals, and scale initiatives that deliver measurable growth. You’ll also lead and mentor a team of business development professionals – setting vision, building playbooks, and ensuring flawless execution.

At Instacart, we’re uniquely positioned at the intersection of grocery, commerce, and everyday life. This role will shape how millions of households discover and experience Instacart through our most strategic partners, including those embedded in payments, financial services, and consumer value ecosystems.

About the Team

The Strategic Partnerships team drives some of Instacart’s most impactful initiatives. We identify and scale opportunities that unlock customer growth, deliver cost efficiencies, and advance Instacart’s long-term strategy. We work cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Marketing, Finance, and Legal to bring new ideas to life. Our culture is entrepreneurial, collaborative, and impact-oriented - we thrive at the intersection of strategy and execution.

About the Job

• Source and prioritize high-impact consumer-facing partnership opportunities, with a focus on financial services, media, travel and embedded consumer value platforms.
• Develop multi-year partnership strategies aligned with Instacart’s growth objectives, product roadmap, and monetization goals.
• Use data, customer insights, and market intelligence to identify whitespace opportunities and emerging categories.

• Originate, structure, and close high-visibility partnerships with Fortune 500 companies, including consumer brands, financial institutions, fintechs, marketplaces and more.
• Navigate complex commercial models (e.g., revenue share, incentives, co-marketing, funding commitments).
• Manage senior executive relationships and represent Instacart in strategic negotiations.
• Set new benchmarks for innovation in grocery, commerce, payments-adjacent, and consumer tech partnerships.

• Drive cross-functional execution with Product, Engineering, Marketing, Finance, and Legal.
• Establish scalable playbooks and operating frameworks to launch and grow partnerships efficiently.
• Own partner portfolio performance: set targets, run business reviews, manage escalations, and optimize growth levers.
• Ensure financial rigor across partnerships, including ROI measurement, funding structures, and ongoing performance tracking.

• Build and manage a high-performing team of business development and partnerships professionals.
• Provide strategic guidance, mentorship, and operational oversight to ensure team success.

About You

You’re a bold, entrepreneurial leader who thrives at the intersection of strategy and execution, with a proven track record of building and scaling partnerships in complex, regulated, or highly competitive environments.

Minimum Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in business development, strategic partnerships, or corporate development, with meaningful experience in payments, financial services, fintech, or adjacent regulated industries.
• Proven experience leading complex, high-stakes partnerships with Fortune 500 companies.
• Demonstrated ability to take 0 to 1 initiatives from concept to scaled, measurable impact.
• Strong commercial acumen, including experience structuring and negotiating sophisticated deal economics.
• Familiarity with performance marketing metrics, CAC/LTV dynamics, and ROI measurement in partnership-driven growth models.
• Proven leadership experience managing and developing high-performing teams.
• Strong executive presence and ability to influence at the C-suite level.
• Strategic and analytical thinker with a hands-on execution mindset.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience at high-growth consumer technology or marketplace companies.
• Background in payments, fintech, banking, card networks, or financial services partnerships.
• Experience managing or influencing marketing and advertising budgets, including co-marketing investments, incentive funding, or customer acquisition spend.
• Curiosity about the future of commerce, food, payments, and consumer technology.
• MBA or advanced degree.