Head of Payment Operations

📋 Description

• • Own the end-to-end payments strategy for a profitable, luxury-focused fintech that already moves more than $3 billion a year. You will be the single point of accountability for every dollar that enters or exits Taekus—credit, debit, ACH, wires, disputes, settlements, and sponsor-bank reconciliations—while designing the next-generation infrastructure that will carry us to $10 billion and beyond.
• • Deepen and expand our sponsor-bank partnerships. You will serve as the primary relationship owner for each issuing bank, negotiating program economics, driving quarterly business reviews, and ensuring that contractual SLAs, capital reserve requirements, and network rules are met or exceeded. When new products launch, you will quarterback the technical integration, BIN sponsorship, and go-live checklist with each partner.
• • Architect scalable, repeatable processes that feel premium. From dispute intake to final credit, from ACH return reason codes to ledgering exceptions, you will design playbooks that are both bullet-proof and brand-right. Every workflow will be documented, monitored, and continuously improved so that our lean team can punch far above its weight.
• • Build and lead a high-impact payments operations pod. Initially you will be an individual contributor who can roll up your sleeves on daily settlement files; within 12 months you will hire and mentor 2-3 specialists covering card processing, ACH operations, and dispute management. You will set KPIs, run weekly stand-ups, and foster a culture of ownership, curiosity, and zero-defect execution.
• • Own the risk and compliance surface area. You will partner with our General Counsel and Compliance Officer to ensure Reg E, Reg Z, NACHA, and network operating rules are embedded in every process. You will also design early-warning dashboards for fraud spikes, settlement anomalies, and sponsor-bank capital triggers so that surprises never reach our customers.
• • Serve as the internal escalation point for complex payment issues. When a VIP cardholder’s wire is stuck in FedLine or a batch ACH return threatens our daily settlement, CX, Product, and Engineering will look to you for rapid diagnosis and resolution. Your calm, data-driven communication style will turn moments of stress into moments of trust.
• • Drive product strategy through an operations lens. You will translate network mandates, bank requirements, and settlement realities into clear product specs—whether we are launching real-time payments, cross-border remittances, or a new credit product. Your voice will be the reality check that keeps roadmap ambition aligned with operational excellence.
• • Instrument everything. You will stand up Looker dashboards that track authorization rates, interchange yield, ACH return rates, dispute win rates, settlement timing, and cost per transaction. These metrics will feed board decks, sponsor-bank QBRs, and daily stand-ups alike.
• • Champion a culture of continuous improvement. Every quarter you will run a post-mortem on the largest incidents, identify root causes, and ship process or tooling fixes. You will also benchmark Taekus against best-in-class fintechs and banks, ensuring we stay ahead of network rules, fraud vectors, and customer expectations.
• • Thrive in a remote-first, travel-loving culture. While you can work from anywhere in the United States, you will travel quarterly to sponsor-bank summits, industry conferences, and team off-sites in destinations chosen by our cardholders. Your passport will be as busy as your Slack.