Senior Vertical Strategy Manager, F&B

About the role

You will spearhead the commercial growth and long-term strategic direction for the Food and Beverage vertical, encompassing restaurants, coffee shops, bars, catering operations, and delivery services. This role is embedded within the Commercial Strategy and GTM team, where your insights will directly shape our market approach across North America and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. You will act as the primary architect of our F&B narrative, translating complex market dynamics into clear, actionable strategies for both internal teams and external stakeholders. The position demands a balance of analytical rigor and commercial intuition to uncover hidden opportunities in a rapidly evolving dining landscape. You will own the end-to-end commercial narrative for this vertical, ensuring alignment between our product capabilities and customer realities. Success in this role will be defined by your ability to drive measurable expansion in core F&B segments while reinforcing Adyen's position as an indispensable partner. You will challenge the status quo, using data and market feedback to refine our approach and unlock new avenues for value creation.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Oversee the health and performance metrics of the F&B vertical to catalyze commercial success and sustainable growth.
• Architect and own comprehensive go-to-market playbooks, competitive intelligence reports, and robust business cases that guide our commercial teams.
• Function as the definitive internal and external subject matter expert on point-of-sale systems, loyalty ecosystems, and omnichannel sales initiatives, including kiosks, drive-thrus, and online ordering platforms.
• Conduct deep analysis of customer behavior to pinpoint opportunities for product innovation and strategic ecosystem partnerships.
• Collaborate closely with the Product Offering team to shape pricing models, package structures, and product prioritization based on evolving market trends and acute customer pain points.
• Design, refine, and maintain sophisticated customer segmentation models to pinpoint and pursue high-priority growth and expansion opportunities.
• Translate ambiguous market signals into clear strategic pathways, enabling the commercial team to act with speed and confidence.
• Serve as a critical thought partner for cross-functional stakeholders, aligning F&B initiatives with broader corporate objectives.
• Leverage data visualization and narrative techniques to communicate complex insights to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Champion a test-and-learn mentality, using experimentation to validate hypotheses and de-risk major strategic bets.
• Monitor the competitive landscape continuously, identifying threats and white-space opportunities before they become mainstream.
• Build and nurture relationships with key external partners to ensure our F&B solutions remain at the forefront of industry innovation.

Requirements

• Bring a minimum of 7 years of professional experience to the table, with a demonstrated background in the F&B sector or managing payments and financial technology portfolios.
• Show a proven capacity to construct data-backed strategies and skillfully navigate multifaceted, complex business challenges.
• Demonstrate mastery in go-to-market strategy development and execution across diverse market contexts.
• Exhibit strong communication skills capable of influencing internal stakeholders and representing the company with poise to external partners.
• Thrive and remain composed in a fast-paced, dynamic environment where ambiguity is a constant companion.
• Confirm availability to travel up to 25% of the time, including international trips, to support key initiatives and relationships.
• Possess a deep, contextual understanding of the F&B industry, including nuances across restaurants, coffee culture, and SaaS-enabled services.
• Have a solid grasp of payments infrastructure and financial technology ecosystems relevant to the hospitality sector.
• Apply expertise in go-to-market strategy to design and implement effective commercial programs.
• Excel at data-driven business case development, using quantitative analysis to support every recommendation.
• Show advanced proficiency in market segmentation and analysis to uncover growth levers.
• Commit to operating within Adyen's framework of equal opportunity, ensuring diverse perspectives are valued and included.

Practical notes

• Adyen operates as an office-first company; remote-only arrangements are not available.
• The typical hiring process spans approximately 4 weeks from application to final decision.
• The company aims to respond to all applications within 5 business days of submission.
• Adyen is an equal opportunity employer, actively encouraging applications from underrepresented groups, even if candidates do not meet every listed criterion.