Lead Marketing

Role Title

Lead – India-side Marketing, NPCI International

Function

Marketing

Reporting To

Head of Marketing, NPCI International

Location

Mumbai

Experience Required

10–12 years in the marketing function

Role Purpose

The India-side Marketing Lead will be responsible for developing and driving the India-market strategy to build awareness, consideration, and positive intent for UPI usage across countries where it is enabled.

The role has two important dimensions:

1. Consumer / Traveller marketing:

Building awareness and preference for UPI acceptance among Indian outbound travellers during their discovery, research, booking, and trip-planning journey.

2. Ecosystem Stakeholder Management:

Driving strategic engagement with Indian banks, UPI-enabled apps, and allied ecosystem partners so that they actively participate in amplifying the proposition, embedding it into their own customer communication journeys, and helping scale awareness and usage.

This role therefore requires a strong marketer who can combine digital-first consumer marketing expertise with partner-facing relationship management, alliance building, and account stewardship.

Key Responsibilities

A. India-side Consumer Marketing

• Develop and execute the India-side marketing strategy to build awareness of UPI acceptance across international markets where it is live.
  
• Identify the most relevant consumer touchpoints in the outbound travel journey and design interventions that influence travellers during destination discovery, trip research, planning, and booking stages.
  
• Create integrated campaigns across digital, content, social, influencer, and performance-led channels to drive awareness, consideration, and positive disposition toward using UPI abroad.
  
• Build a strong understanding of traveller intent pathways and use those insights to shape high-relevance marketing programs.
  
• Drive high-impact pre-departure and transit-point activations across relevant physical touchpoints such as airports and other travel-linked avenues.
  
• Ensure that campaigns communicate the proposition in a simple, credible, and compelling manner for Indian travellers.
  

B. Stakeholder and Ecosystem Engagement

• Build and manage strong working relationships with key ecosystem stakeholders including Indian banks, UPI-enabled apps, and other relevant distribution or engagement partners.
  
• Conceptualize and drive co-marketing opportunities with banks and app partners so the UPI international proposition is embedded into relevant consumer communication ecosystems.
  
• Serve as the marketing interface for key partner accounts, with the ability to align multiple stakeholders around common campaign priorities and execution plans.
  
• Ensure partner engagement is managed with rigor, responsiveness, and strategic account stewardship.
  

C. Strategy, Planning, and Execution

• Translate business priorities into actionable marketing plans with clear campaign objectives, target audiences, channel mix, and success metrics.
  
• Work closely with internal cross-functional teams including business, partnerships, product, and external agencies to deliver integrated execution.
  
• Monitor campaign and partner program effectiveness, derive insights, and continuously optimize for stronger outcomes.
  
• Maintain strong execution discipline across timelines, stakeholder coordination, budgets, and reporting.
  

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a well-rounded marketing professional with strong digital marketing capability and proven experience in managing strategic business relationships and partner-led growth programs.

The candidate should be equally comfortable:

• thinking like a consumer marketer, and
  
• operating like a relationship manager for high-value ecosystem partners.
  

They should understand how Indian consumers behave during digital discovery and decision-making journeys, while also being able to build credibility with banks, fintechs, and app ecosystem stakeholders.

Desired Experience

• 10–12 years of relevant experience in the marketing function.
  
• Proven exposure to integrated campaign planning and execution across digital and on-ground channels.
  
• Demonstrated experience in building and managing external stakeholder relationships, partner alliances, or strategic accounts.
  
• Experience in fintech, digital payments, banking, consumer internet, travel-tech, telecom, or adjacent sectors will be preferred.
  

Technical / Marketing Skills Required

• Digital marketing strategy and execution
  
• Consumer journey planning and audience mapping
  
• Performance marketing and digital media understanding
  
• Influencer and creator campaign planning
  
• Partnership marketing and alliance-led amplification
  
• Ground activation and experiential marketing
  
• Campaign analytics, reporting, and optimization
  
• Agency management
  

Soft Skills Required

• Strong communication and presentation skills
  
• Strategic thinking with execution excellence
  
• Ability to influence without authority
  
• High ownership and accountability
  
• Strong interpersonal skills and maturity in stakeholder handling
  

Preferred Industry Backgrounds

Ideal candidates may be identified from the following sectors:

1. Fintech and Digital Payments

Candidates with exposure to payment ecosystems, app marketing, and partner-led growth.
Example companies: PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, BHIM, CRED, Navi, Amazon Pay, Razorpay, Pine Labs, BharatPe, MobiKwik, PayU, Cashfree

2. Banking and Financial Services

Useful for candidates with strong understanding of bank-led distribution, customer communication, and ecosystem collaboration.

Example companies: HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, AU Small Finance Bank

3. Travel-tech / OTA / Travel Ecosystem

Useful for candidates with strong understanding of outbound traveller discovery, booking journeys, and pre-travel interventions.

Example companies: MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, ixigo, Yatra, EaseMyTrip, Cleartrip, Thomas Cook India, SOTC