Global Incentives & Payments Program Lead in London

Company Description: A Japanese global leader in the provision of ground-breaking and innovative technological and research solutions to the healthcare industry. The M3 Group operates in the US, Asia, and Europe with over 5.8 million physician members globally via its physician websites which include mdlinx.com, m3.com, research.m3.com, Doctors.net.uk, medigate.net, and medlive.cn. M3 Inc. is a publicly traded company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (jp:2413, NIKKEI 225) with subsidiaries in major markets including the US, UK, Japan, South Korea, and China, and in 2020 was ranked in Forbes' Global 2000 list. The M3 Group provides services to healthcare and the life science industry. In addition to market research, these services include medical education, ethical drug promotion, clinical development, job recruitment, and clinic appointment services. M3 has offices in Japan, UK, France, Germany, Brazil, Sweden, China, USA, and South Korea, as well as India.

About the Business Unit: M3 Global Research, part of M3 Inc., provides the most comprehensive and highest quality market research recruitment and support services available to the industry with relationships reaching respondents in more than 70 countries worldwide. M3 Global Research maintains ISO 26362 and ISO 27001 certifications with the highest quality data collection and project management capabilities that cover the spectrum of quantitative and qualitative techniques utilized today. M3 services incorporate all of the most advanced statistical and attitudinal methodologies allowing clients to provide world-class offerings and support services to their end-client customers throughout multiple industry sectors.

Role Mission: Own and lead panel incentive management operations across M3MR Group divisions, providing strategic oversight of incentive program design, governance, and performance. Act as the first escalation point for complex payment issues, with accountability for controls, compliance, and audit readiness, and oversight of vendor relationships and delivery. Set standards and drive continuous improvement of technology payment tooling, processes, and reporting, coaching stakeholders across divisions to ensure consistent execution.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Incentives Operations: Design, develop, and implement new incentive processes and optimise existing workflows across divisions to improve payment turnaround times, reduce processing cost and error rates, and increase panellist satisfaction. Ensure end-to-end accuracy and timeliness of standard and non-standard across all divisions of the M3 GR Group. Prepare/approve complex orders per supplier requirements and internal controls; clear on-hold items and high-value/edge cases with root-cause fixes. Maintain structured, secure data storage and correct permissions; keep Wallet/MR status current for internal/external users. Own allocated incentives compliance SOP: User interface reporting requirements by payment methods, data protection policies and rules, and documentation standards.
• Participant-Payment Compliance: Own the participant-payment compliance playbook: tax thresholds/reporting requirements by country, identity/anonymity rules, documentation and evidence standards. Partner with Finance on report accuracy, error resolution and local rules; implement gating controls and maintain complete audit trails. Prepare audit-ready evidence packs and assist responses to internal/external auditors.
• Payment-Ops Governance & Controls: Enforce pre-allocation safeguards: transactions/balance checks, value caps, reason codes, and dual approvals for exceptions; run high-value reviews. Publish a monthly KPI pack (turnaround times, failure/return rates, on-hold backlog, stakeholder SLA fulfilment) and drive remediation plans. Perform QA sampling and spot checks; document corrective/preventive actions.
• Vendor Management: Own commercial management of incentive/payment vendors: negotiate pricing, fees, rebates and service credits; improve contract terms (SLA, liability, data protection, settlement timelines) to reduce cost, mitigate risk, and deliver measurable financial benefit to M3MR Group. Act as day-to-day owner for incentive/payment vendors. Support RFPs/renewals with requirements, volumes, controls, and performance history.
• Tooling, UAT & Integrations: Serve as business owner for technology payment capabilities: define requirements, validate designs, write/maintain SOPs and runbooks. Manage UAT, data reconciliation, and go-live readiness; sign off on releases and ensure complete system logging (who/what/when).
• Stakeholder Management & Communication: Collaborate with other departments to lead and drive improvements on incentive design, risk management, and compliance constraints. Improve the panellist payment experience to drive retention: ensure fast, friction-free payouts, rapid correction of issues, and proactive respondent communication on status and resolution; use root-cause analysis and controls to prevent recurring incentive-payment issues. Coordinate respondent communications and escalations; ensure clear, timely updates and consistent templates across divisions.
• Knowledge, Coaching & Backup: Update SOPs, checklists, and quick guides; deliver refresher training to other departments. Coach coordinators on complex cases and quality standards; act as day-to-day backup to the Incentives manager when needed. Manage, mentor, appraise and develop allocated staff, ensuring they are working effectively.

Qualifications:

• Education and Training Required: Bachelor's degree or equivalency.
• Minimum Experience: Minimum of 3 years managing a staff of 3+ employees; 3-5+ years in incentive/payments operations or adjacent finance ops across multiple rails (bank, vouchers, PayPal, prepaid); Advanced spreadsheet skills (pivots, complex formulas, basic Power Query); confident with data validation/reconciliation; Proven vendor management and professional external communication; Demonstrated ownership of complex cases and continuous improvement.
• Knowledge, Skill, Ability: Ability to lead a team made up of both junior and senior team members; Self-motivated and able to (re)prioritise tasks throughout the workday; Exceptional time management, organizational skills, and attention to detail; Well-developed analytical and creative problem-solving skills; The ability to work autonomously and in a team environment to successfully meet goals; The candidate must have exceptional written and verbal communication skills; The candidate must have very strong Microsoft Office skills including Excel, Outlook and Word, and be a quick learner of new technologies/software.

Employee Benefits:

• 25 days annual leave
• Participation in a company bonus scheme linked to personal and company performance
• Group Life Cover 4x salary
• Pension 4%/4% employee/employer contributions
• Vitality health
• Staff discount scheme
• Discounted gym membership