Payments Systems Manager

We are looking for a Card Payments Specialist to manage the strategic direction, operational performance, security, and ongoing development of the organization's payment ecosystem across two retail brands and approximately 800 locations. The role owns the end-to-end payment card infrastructure, including payment terminals, switching services, payment applications, loyalty integrations, mobile payment solutions, and associated vendor relationships. The successful candidate will act as the organization's subject matter expert for payment technologies and fintech solutions, ensuring secure, resilient, compliant, and commercially effective payment services while leading a small technical team and delivering key business initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Payment Platform Ownership
• Own the end-to-end payment card processing environment across two brands and approximately 800 locations.
• Ensure high availability, resilience, performance, and security of payment services.
• Maintain responsibility for payment acceptance technologies including: Payment terminals, Payment switching hosts, Payment gateways, Acquiring integrations, Loyalty integrations, Mobile payment applications.
• Manage strategic relationships with third-party suppliers responsible for Network services, Payment terminal provision and maintenance, Payment switching services, Service desk and support functions.
• Define, monitor, and govern service level agreements (SLAs), KPIs, and contractual obligations.
• Lead supplier performance reviews and service improvement initiatives.
• Manage escalations and ensure timely resolution of critical incidents.
• Technical Leadership and Support
• Provide third-line technical support and expert-level troubleshooting for payment and loyalty systems.
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex incidents and service issues.
• Maintain operational procedures, technical documentation, and support models.
• Ensure compliance with industry standards, including PCI DSS and P2PE requirements.
• Project and Change Management
• Lead the delivery of payment-related projects and strategic initiatives.
• Coordinate internal stakeholders, suppliers, and business teams to deliver successful outcomes.
• Manage project plans, risks, budgets, dependencies, and implementation activities.
• Support the introduction of new payment methods, technologies, and customer experiences.
• Requirements Definition and Solution Design
• Translate business requirements into detailed technical and functional specifications.
• Work closely with business, technology, security, and supplier teams to define solution architectures.
• Evaluate and recommend technology solutions that align with business strategy.
• Ensure solutions meet operational, security, compliance, and scalability requirements.
• Mobile and Loyalty Platform Management
• Own and manage two customer-facing mobile applications from a payment and technology perspective.
• Manage technical requirements and integrations for two loyalty platforms.
• Ensure seamless interaction between payment, loyalty, and customer engagement solutions.
• Drive enhancements to improve customer experience and business value.
• Security and Compliance
• Lead the implementation and ongoing management of Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE) across the estate.
• Ensure compliance with PCI DSS and other applicable payment industry standards.
• Support security audits, assessments, and remediation activities.
• Maintain awareness of emerging threats and regulatory developments.
• Serve as the organization's subject matter expert for payment processing, card schemes, acquiring, terminal technologies, fintech solutions, and payment innovation.

Required Experience

• Significant experience managing enterprise-scale payment processing environments.
• Strong understanding of card payment ecosystems, including: Acquirers, Payment gateways, Card schemes, Switching platforms and POS and payment terminal technologies.
• Experience managing third-party service providers and technology vendors.
• Proven leadership experience managing technical teams.
• Demonstrated success delivering technology and business change projects.
• Experience translating business requirements into technical solutions.
• Experience managing mobile applications and customer-facing digital platforms.
• Strong incident management and problem-solving capabilities.
• Experience operating within PCI DSS-regulated environments.

Desirable Experience

• P2PE implementation experience.
• Knowledge of loyalty platforms and customer engagement technologies.
• Experience in large-scale retail, hospitality, fuel retail, or multi-site environments.
• Exposure to cloud-based payment platforms and API integrations.
• Project management certification (PRINCE2, PMP, Agile, Scrum).
• ITIL certification.
• PCI Professional (PCIP) or related payment industry qualifications.