Head of Partner Sales

For almost 70 years, Export Finance Australia has helped Australian businesses grow and succeed internationally with finance to secure opportunities, expand into new markets and diversify their presence. We support critical minerals and defence sectors, finance projects that strengthen economic resilience and advance net zero, and back Australian investment in sustainable infrastructure. 

Working with banks, other Government agencies and international partners, we back Australia’s exporters, supply chain businesses and industries, contributing to a more stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific while advancing Australia’s trade, investment and economic security objectives.  

The Head of Partner Sales is responsible for building relationships and seeking out opportunities to partner with a range of relevant third parties including commercial banks, international development banks, non-bank lenders, alliance partners and Government agencies within existing EFA mandate and risk appetite. Oversees the growth of each partnership to embed smooth engagement and operations once an agreement has been established. 

Your new role

Location: Sydney preferred. Other locations will be considered.
Role Type: Full-time, Permanent

About you

Strategy

• Build and implement the partnership strategy and stakeholder landscape for SME to help expand the reach of EFA and grow customer numbers.
• Monitor market and economic trends, the export landscape and competitor activity in order to identify potential opportunities for new partnerships.
• Evaluate the performance of existing partnerships in order to identify opportunities for improvement. 

Business Leadership and Execution

• Identify and establish business partner opportunities, including initiating conversations to create formal arrangements between parties and EFA.
• Lead the negotiation of new partnership relationships, representing EFA interests and overseeing the coordination of all aspects of the agreement including financial, risk related and legal. 
• Oversee the delivery of existing agreements and lead and empower the team to execute responsive, risk appropriate transactions, TRA assessments, due diligence checks and other key deal activity within agreed timeframes and standards.
• Engage with appropriate Government agencies to establish working relationships and increase referrals of customers into Mid-Market and Small Business Lending channels.
• Collaborate with Credit, Legal and Product to build product solutions within existing risk tolerances, create deal documentation and build client relationships.

Qualifications & Skills

• Relevant degree in Finance, Business, Economics, or a related field. 
• 15 + years relevant experience
• Understands banking products and how EFA could develop offerings to assist alliance partners.
• SME sector experience and understanding – understands and has experience of the stakeholder environment that the Partnership channel operates within commercial banks, international development banks, non-bank lenders, alliance partners and Government agencies.
• Deep understanding of credit and how this can be applied to different environments and in different structures to produce the best outcomes for partners and EFA, within existing risk frameworks. 
• Experience of selling and closing deals within a financial services and export environment.

Even if you haven’t ticked every box but this role resonates with you, don't rule yourself out just yet, we'd love to hear from you!

Our benefits and culture

We are small enough to have an impact, BIG enough to make a world of difference and it starts with our people.

We support flexible working and pride ourselves in fostering a culture that is inclusive, diverse and collaborative. We are proud to be certified as a 2025 Great Place to Work for a fifth consecutive year, recognised on the 2023 AFR BOSS Best Places to Work list and listed as one of Australia’s Best Workplaces for Women in 2025. 

In line with our commitment to our people, we have a comprehensive array of benefits available to our employees:

• Generous leave provisions (e.g. Annual Wellbeing day) and leave purchase opportunities
• 18 weeks of paid parental leave for primary caregivers
• Thorough induction onboarding program
• Fitness Passport along with other Health & Wellbeing initiatives
• Gender affirmation leave
• Income Protection Insurance
• Community volunteering
• and many more!

Our headquarters is based in Sydney CBD, and we have a national presence across Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Eligibility

Australian Citizenship - To be eligible to apply for this position, applicants must hold Australian Citizenship at the time of application.

Security Clearance - To be eligible to apply for this position, applicants must be able to obtain and maintain a Baseline security clearance.

How to apply

Applications close: 20 April 2026.  

Interviews will occur in parallel, so please apply ASAP.
Enquiries: Careers@exportfinance.gov.au      
  
To apply, please email your CV to Careers@exportfinance.gov.au      

By choosing to apply, you agree to the recruitment privacy policy.

We invite and welcome applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from diverse cultural backgrounds, people with disability and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

If you are a candidate with a disability, let us know how we can provide you with additional support.

About us

Export Finance Australia is Australia’s export credit agency.  

We provide finance to support Australian export trade and overseas infrastructure development across the Pacific and Indo-Pacific. Through our loans, bonds and guarantees, we support businesses – from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to large corporates – foreign governments and infrastructure projects, to take on the world. 

Working with banks, other government agencies and our partners, together we are helping drive international success for Australian businesses.

The reason our people join us, stay with us and grow with us is because they wholeheartedly believe in our purpose. They can see the impact we create for our customers.

We are a highly purpose-driven organisation. We seek to create an inclusive culture that values our customers and employees. Our people are expected to champion this and play a key role in achieving those outcomes. In working towards our strategy, our people display our IMPACT leadership behaviours of Frank & Fearless, Dexterous & Agile and Careful & Diligent

For more information about us, please refer to our website. 

Applications from recruitment agencies will not be considered on this occasion.