Commercial Lead (f/m/d)

At Upvest, we are on a mission to make investing as easy as spending money. Upvest empowers businesses to offer a wide range of investment products and the best experience in the field of capital market investment and retirement planning. Upvest’s Investment API is easy to integrate so that fintechs and financial institutions can save resources and fully focus on their core business.

We are proud to partner with Europe’s leading Fintechs and financial institutions such as DKB, Revolut, N26 and Raisin. Founded in 2017 by Martin Kassing, Upvest now brings together over 270 talented professionals from more than 70 nationalities. Upvest is backed by €280M in total funding from world-class investors, including BlackRock, Tencent, Sapphire Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners, Earlybird, Notion Capital, and Motive. Our latest €105M funding round in March 2026 - led by Sapphire and Tencent - serves as a massive catalyst for our growth, allowing us to offer premier investment experience.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Upvest is growing fast – and as we onboard more clients, expand into new asset classes, and scale our transaction and custody volumes, so does our commercial footprint. We work with a broad set of vendors –custody providers, market data vendors, cloud infrastructure, software licences, and other professional services – and today, no single function owns the strategic commercial view across these relationships or leads our highest-stakes commercial negotiations.

As our Commercial Lead, you will own the strategy and lead the negotiation table for the vendor relationships with the greatest commercial impact across Upvest. You will prepare and drive these negotiations end-to-end, working closely with the teams who own each relationship day to day, and make sure our commercial and contractual setup is built to hold up as Upvest grows.

Reporting to the Head of Network, you will partner closely with Finance, the Procurement Manager, the Data Governance Manager (on market data provider negotiations), and Engineering and Product (who often lead technical vendor relationships), as well as Finance and Legal.

This role is a rare opportunity to build the commercial negotiation playbook for one of Europe’s fastest-growing fintechs from the ground up.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

• Take ownership of preparing and leading commercial negotiations for the vendor relationships with the greatest commercial impact.
• Build negotiation strategy well ahead of the table – understanding market rates, competitive alternatives, and the true value of a deal to Upvest before a single term is discussed.
• Continuously assess whether Upvest’s existing and prospective contracts will hold up as we grow, and proactively renegotiate terms.
• Work in close collaboration with the Procurement Manager on process and RfPs, the Data Governance Manager on market data specifics, and Engineering and Product on technical vendor relationships.
• Build and maintain a reusable playbook for how Upvest approaches vendor negotiations.
• Proactively identify the vendor relationships with the highest potential for renegotiation or consolidation, and build the business case and plan to go after them.
• Advise on and help structure commercial terms that protect Upvest’s interests as scale changes the economics.
• Prepare clear recommendations and materials for leadership sign-off.
• Stay closely connected to vendor and market developments – pricing trends, new entrants, competitive dynamics.

WHAT YOU BRING:

• 5+ years of experience leading and closing significant commercial negotiations, with a demonstrable track record of favourable outcomes.
• Ability to run a negotiation from opening position to signature, hold your ground with vendor counterparts, and know when to push and when to compromise.
• Experience negotiating with providers relevant to Upvest’s business – ideally spanning some combination of financial data partners, cloud and infrastructure providers (e.g. Google Cloud, AWS, Azure), and software or professional services vendors. Deep expertise in every category isn’t required, but you understand how pricing and leverage work in each.
• Structured, strategic thinking.
• Cross-functional collaboration.
• Fluency in English, German is a strong plus.

IT’S GREAT IF YOU HAVE:

• A CIPS (Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply) or equivalent negotiation/procurement qualification is a plus, but not required.

HOW WE UPVEST IN YOU:

• Best-in-class AI tools: Every Upvenger has €20,000 per year to spend on the best AI tools available — so you're always working with the most powerful models and tooling on the market.
• Impact-driven work: We’re building the infrastructure that will power the future of investing in Europe. It’s complex, ambitious, and meaningful. You’ll work with modern technologies and create something entirely new. No legacy systems, no limits.
• Wellbeing: Recharge with 30 days of annual leave and maintain a healthy lifestyle with sports benefits. Access confidential professional coaching and enjoy the flexibility to work remotely abroad for up to 183 days a year. Recharge with UpRest, a one-month fully paid sabbatical after every 4 years of working at Upvest.
• Development: Growth is in our DNA. Each Upvenger has access to a personal development budget and the freedom to decide how to use it.
• Flexible work environment: Work from any of our hubs in Berlin, London or Tallinn hybrid or remotely across Europe, depending on the role. We give you the choice and budget to work where you’re most comfortable and productive, either at home or in the office. You choose.
• Compensation and equity: We believe that all Upvengers contribute to our success and deserve a competitive, above-market salary and a participation in our employee equity program.
• Team celebrations: Participate in company-wide events, such as UpFest, dinners, offsites and our Holiday party, to connect with colleagues and celebrate our achievements.
• Inclusion: We’re committed to a culture where everyone belongs and thrives. Our Employee Resources Groups foster inclusion and connection, like Upfem for our female Upvengers, or UpVergent supporting neurodivergent Upvengers and allies.

OUR VALUES:

• Make it easy for others. We simplify the complex and act with the best intentions.
• Own the outcome. We are proactive, fast and confident to get the job done, valuing progress over perfection.
• Rise to the challenge. We aim high and push the boundaries. We stay curious, learn and celebrate our wins together.
• Tell the story. We start with the Why to align on purpose. We are transparent and share knowledge to empower and inspire others.

Upvest is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.