Sr Dir, Payments, German & European Mkts

Manage a strategic partnership roadmap to expand market reach, enhance product offerings, and drive revenue growth through key payment partnerships. Manage relationships with banks, payment networks, financial institutions, and technology providers to create mutually beneficial collaborations. Lead high-impact partnership negotiations, structuring agreements that align with business objectives, regulatory requirements, and long-term growth strategies. Collaborate with internal stakeholders, including product development, marketing, sales, and legal, to ensure seamless execution of partnership initiatives. Stay ahead of industry trends, regulatory changes, and competitive dynamics, identifying new opportunities to enhance payment capabilities and market positioning. Optimize existing partnerships by continuously evaluating performance, renegotiating terms, and identifying areas for deeper collaboration. Drive innovation in payment solutions by working closely with technology partners to integrate emerging technologies such as digital wallets, real-time payments, and blockchain. Oversee key performance metrics to measure the effectiveness of partnership programs and ensure they contribute to business growth. Represent the company in industry forums, conferences, and strategic discussions, positioning the organization as a leader in the payment ecosystem. Lead and mentor a team of partnership professionals, fostering a high-performance culture focused on strategic growth, innovation, and relationship management. 1. European Payments Strategy & Product Operations Own and prioritize the European Core Payments portfolio, balancing regulatory commitments, product evolution, operational resilience, and partner readiness. Lead the roadmap for core payments in partnership with Product and Engineering, ensuring delivery sequencing and clear trade-offs. Provide leadership across the full payments lifecycle, including authorization, clearing, settlement, liquidity, reconciliation, and disputes. Build and manage senior relationships with banks, regulators, payment schemes, clearing and settlement partners, and service providers across Europe. 12+ years relevant experience and a Bachelor's degree OR Any equivalent combination of education and experience. Lead through influence across a matrixed organization, ensuring clear ownership, governance, coordinated decision-making, and escalation paths. Serve as a senior subject-matter leader on European payment processing flows, partnering closely internally on messaging standards, clearing, settlement, and liquidity considerations. Provide executive-level visibility into portfolio progress, operational performance, incidents, and risk trends with informed, strategic recommendations. 12+ years of experience in European payments, banking, payment schemes, fintech, or large-scale payment operations. Deep expertise in SEPA schemes (SCT, SDD, Instant), TARGET2, ISO 20022, and European payments infrastructure. Strong background in product leadership, payments operations, or payments partnerships, with demonstrated portfolio ownership. Proven experience influencing and leading complex, cross-functional initiatives in matrixed environment. Strong stakeholder management with regulators, banks, and/or industry groups. Exceptional communication skills and strong problem-solving; able to influence at the executive level. Experience within a major PSP, European bank, payments network, or fintech. Leadership experience in SEPA Instant or real-time payments modernization. Experience navigating regulatory reviews, audits, or significant control environments.