Head of Payment Operations (m/f/d)

The role

You will lead and scale payment operations across markets. You will own operational performance, strengthen controls and partner relationships, and build processes for card issuing and payments.

What you will do

• Own the Payment Operations strategy, operating model, annual plans, objectives and performance reporting
• Lead day-to-day operations across card issuing, processing, payment flows, settlement, reconciliation and treasury interfaces
• Define and monitor service levels, authorisation performance, payment costs, exception management and operational quality
• Drive process standardisation, automation and improvements to tooling, controls and reporting
• Build, coach and develop a geographically distributed team
• Manage senior relationships with card schemes, processors, banking partners and other critical providers
• Partner with Risk, Compliance, Data and Legal on scheme obligations, regulatory requirements, audits and incident response
• Work with Product, Engineering, Finance, Data and Commercial teams to launch and improve products
• Oversee major operational incidents, root-cause analysis and corrective actions
• Act as an FCA-registered EMD Individual for Pliant Payments Ltd

Required qualifications

• Approximately 8–10 years of relevant experience in payments, issuing, acquiring, banking or fintech operations
• At least three years of people leadership experience, ideally including managing managers or multi-location teams
• Strong understanding of card schemes, issuer processing, payment lifecycle, settlement and reconciliation
• Experience designing scalable controls, operational metrics and service-management processes in a regulated environment
• Confidence working with external banking and scheme partners and influencing cross-functional stakeholders
• Analytical and commercially minded approach
• Clear written and verbal communication
• Sound judgement and a hands-on approach to solving complex problems
• Practical understanding of regulatory requirements applicable to payment operations across relevant markets, including UK EMI requirements under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011, Payment Services

Nice to have

• International card-issuing programmes, BIN sponsorship or principal scheme membership
• Tokenisation, 3-D Secure, alternative payment methods or related payments infrastructure
• Data analysis using SQL, Python or comparable tools

Benefits

• Opportunity to work in a growing team with big responsibilities
• Attractive remuneration
• Flat hierarchy and transparent communication in a relaxed, professional atmosphere
• Opportunity to develop your talent in a dynamic team with ambitious goals
• Flexibility and possibility to work remotely
• Pliant Card with monthly credit to explore the product and enjoy food with colleagues

About the company

Pliant is a modular B2B payments platform combining commercial card issuing, payment accounts, FX and spend management for businesses and AI agents. Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Berlin, Pliant serves businesses and partners across Europe and North America.