Payment Processor Operations Manager

Summary:

Responsible for the overall direction of the Payment Process Operations team. The PPO manager will be the subject matter expert for the data scope of the Processing Partners relationship with Sutton Bank and support the proper handling of those relationships and data. Responsible for the ownership of the Bank's required raw data file specification for processors and products across the product road map and portfolio.

Qualifications:

Education: Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field.

Experience: Five or more years of experience in payment processing operations, fintech, card processor, or a related environment. Prior experience in a senior or management role, with a history of mentoring staff and building high-performing teams and team scaling. Demonstrated experience managing or leading operations teams within a card or wallet payments context. High-level familiarity with regulatory frameworks governing payments products, including Reg E, CFPB guidelines, and AML/BSA compliance. Experience collaborating with third-party processors, issuing banks, and technology partners to drive operational efficiency. Background in developing and enforcing operational policies, procedures, and SLAs within a payment processing environment. Or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Essential Functions:

A: Job Specific:

• Owns the overall Payment Processor integration efforts and solutions to improve Payment Processor data driven/based relationships, enhance Programs and optimize the utilization of the Bank's Payments data.
• Manages, trains, and develops Payments Processor Operations Specialist team.
• Assigns Payment Processor Operations Specialists to Processing Partners to ensure coverage of operational and data related items/issues.
• Approves all Payment Processor integrations and mappings as proposed by Specialists prior to beginning ingestion development.
• Owns the Sutton Bank raw data requirements and associated specification documentation and codes making changes as needed with the assistance from stakeholder department team leads. Keeps specifications up to date and relevant.
• Creates new data file specification requirements as necessary to support the Bank's product road map. May require networking in the industry, internal requirement gathering from downstream departments and research into the new product category's critical and priority data points.
• Identifies as the SME across the Bank in regards to Processor data and related processes, enhancements and otherwise relative to the ingestion to the Bank's data lake. Will be leveraged for research and investigations across stakeholder departments as well as special projects.
• Assists in vendor selection process as it relates to processor data and its management.
• Identifies and assists in developing enhanced internal processes to uncover and solve data validation issues as the files are introduced into the system.
• Defines and enforces rigorous automated Data Quality validation checks to identify missing, corrupt, or anomalous data in daily processor transmission.
• Works with the Data Quality team as the escalation point for data integrity failures, spearheads root-cause analysis sessions with processor technical teams to resolve failures within the established Processor Health reports metrics.
• Responsible for reporting to upper management processor health status and other identified KPIs.
• Establishes and assists with monitoring rigorous Service Level Agreements for file delivery, data quality and overall Processor Health rating.
• Performs problem management and resolution, escalation of issues as necessary.
• Creates, reviews and maintains department playbooks and procedures.
• Ensures that procedures are followed when it comes to processes that related to data management and change management.
• Partners with HR to recruit, assess, initiate corrective action and/or development plans, evaluate performance and develop staff members.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

• The ability to communicate effectively and clearly, both in verbal and written communications.
• Experience using data and reporting tools to monitor KPIs, identify trends, and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
• Strong knowledge of the Payments Industry and/or card processing.
• A demonstrated understanding of the financial services industry.
• Proven people management skills with experience leading small, high-performing teams
• Exceptional ability to analyze and interpret vendor data, translate complex data structures, and define how that data integrates into internal databases and systems.
• Familiarity with regulatory requirements governing prepaid products, including Reg E, AML/BSA, and CFPB guidelines.
• Deep understanding of payment processing workflows, including settlement, reconciliation, dispute management, and error resolution.
• Strong vendor management and relationship-building skills, with the ability to hold external partners accountable to performance standards.
• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.
• Self-directed and motivated.
• Proven ability to support multiple projects simultaneously in a deadline-driven environment.
• Excellent problem-solving skills.
• Ability to read, analyze and comprehend general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, audit reports, or governmental regulations.
• Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from employees, vendors and management staff.
• Ability to effectively present information to individuals one-on-one or a small group setting.
• Ability to learn new languages and technologies.
• Ability to work with database technologies like Snowflake.
• Ability to manipulate data for meaningful reporting.
• Must be a self-starter with the ability to work effectively, both independently and in team settings.
• Experience with large file management.
• Demonstrated experience managing or leading operational teams within a payments or prepaid banking context.

Sutton Bank is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, disability or protected veteran status.