Payments Optimization Manager

Location: [Remote / Hybrid / City] Level: Mid-to-Senior (Hands-on Practitioner)

Remote: US / EU / Canada 

Experience in high-risk/high-volume verticals (iGaming, Adult, Nutra )

The Mission

We are looking for a Payments Manager who lives at the intersection of FinTech, Data, and Operations. You will be responsible for the "financial plumbing" of our global platforms—connecting new payment methods, managing provider relationships, and relentlessly optimizing our billing stack.

Your success is measured in basis points: improving approval rates, reducing processing fees, and maintaining a resilient MID (Merchant Identification) infrastructure in high-growth, high-scrutiny markets.

Key Responsibilities

1. Integration & Connectivity

• Provider Expansion: Identify, vet, and onboard new PSPs (Payment Service Providers), Acquirers, and alternative payment methods (APMs) to ensure global coverage.
• Technical Onboarding: Lead the end-to-end integration of new MIDs, ensuring gateways, 3DS protocols, and postback URLs are configured for maximum reliability.
• Redundancy Planning: Build a "fail-proof" ecosystem by managing cascades and smart-routing logic to ensure that if one provider drops, revenue doesn't stop.

2. Performance Optimization

• Approval Rate Mastery: Analyze decline codes daily to identify and fix friction points in the checkout funnel.
• Cost Engineering: Audit processing statements to identify hidden fees and negotiate better basis-point (bps) rates and rolling reserves with partners.
• A/B Testing: Run experiments on checkout layouts, payment order, and retry logic to lift conversion rates.

3. Risk & Health Monitoring

• Chargeback & Fraud Management: Oversee fraud-prevention tools (like MaxMind, Sift, or Ravel) to block bad actors without killing legitimate conversions.
• Scheme Compliance: Proactively manage VAMP (Visa) and other scheme monitoring programs to keep MIDs in good standing.
• Alerting: Establish real-time monitoring for approval drops or spike anomalies, acting as the "First Responder" for billing incidents.

4. Technical Project Management

• Engineering Liaison: Translate business payment needs into technical specs for the dev team. You speak "API," "Webhook," and "ISO 8583."
• Compliance Documentation: Own the PCI DSS compliance roadmap and ensure all payment flows meet current regulatory and scheme rules.

The Ideal Profile

• The Experience: 3–5+ years of hands-on experience in Payment Operations, Billing, or FinTech. Experience in high-risk/high-volume verticals (iGaming, Adult, Nutra ) is a massive advantage.
• The Analyst: You are an Excel/Google Sheets power user. You can pivot raw transaction data into actionable insights.
• The Relationship Builder: You have a "Rolodex" of contacts at major PSPs and acquiring banks and know how to push for faster onboarding and better terms.
• The Problem Solver: You don't just report a drop in success rates; you find the specific BIN or region causing the issue and solve it.