Merchant operations manager

Primary Purpose:

Responsible for leading Merchant Services operations and overseeing the end-to-end merchant experience, from onboarding through ongoing support. This role is focused on delivering exceptional member service, optimizing operational processes, and ensuring a seamless merchant journey. Requires deep knowledge of merchant services, payment processing, merchant technology solutions, team leadership, and customer relationship management.

The good-faith compensation range for this role is expected to be $85,000 to $105,000, based on the role, market, internal equity, and candidate qualifications.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Leads and manages the day-to-day operations of the Merchant Services Support team.
• Provides leadership, coaching, and performance management for Merchant Service Representatives and Merchant Implementation Representatives across in-office and remote environments to include technical support, pricing, onboarding, client activation, retention, and service delivery.
• Provides support and subject matter expertise to bank partners and merchant members, acting as the escalation point of contact for both.
• Assists Director of Merchant Services in generating revenue, managing expenses, reconciling general ledger accounts, processing monthly reports and meeting income margin goals set by Senior Leadership.
• Supports merchant members across small business, middle market, and third-party sales channels, including Value-Added Resellers (VARs) and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs).
• Maintains and continuously develops customer support roadmap aligned with Merchant Services strategy and organizational growth objectives.
• Monitors, analyzes, and reports on key performance metrics to ensure service levels, customer activations, and support functions meet established Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
• Partners with Product Management, Sales, and Marketing to identify and define current and future customer support requirements.
• Maintains expertise in payment processing technologies, including point-of-sale hardware and software, payment gateways, connectivity solutions, and third-party applications.
• Continuously evaluates team performance, customer experience trends, and operational processes to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Partners with Product Team to manage vendor relationships, including oversight of Statements of Work (SOWs), performance expectations, SOC reports and SLA compliance.
• Supports product launches by ensuring required training, documentation, communication materials, and support resources are in place.
• Oversees support tools and technologies utilized by the Merchant Services team.
• Identifies, prioritizes, and drives resolution of operational issues, process gaps, and customer service challenges.
• Maintains working knowledge of payment network rules, industry regulations, and compliance requirements.
• Manages equipment inventory and operational workflows.
• Acts as a liaison between merchant members and vendor partners to facilitate the resolution of complex technical and operational issues.
• Supports vendor management, audit activities, and compliance reviews.
• Serves as a subject matter expert on merchant services products, operations, and industry best practices.
• Ensures compliance with all applicable policies, regulations, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements, and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) obligations.

Minimum Required Skills & Competencies:

• Bachelor's degree preferred or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Five (5) or more years of experience in Merchant Services, banking, financial services, or payment processing.
• Three (3) or more years of leadership experience managing customer support, operations, or merchant services teams.
• Demonstrated success in customer relationship management and client satisfaction.
• Strong analytical, reporting, and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate data into actionable insights.
• Excellent verbal, written, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and build collaborative relationships.
• Strong operational, technical, and systems knowledge within the payments industry.
• Ability to prioritize competing demands and perform effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated commitment to continuous learning and industry knowledge.

Desired Skills & Competencies:

• Knowledge of Visa and Mastercard interchange programs.
• Knowledge of Visa and Mastercard network rules and operating regulations.
• Experience supporting integrated payments, payment gateways, VARs, and ISVs.
• Advanced knowledge of merchant acquiring, payment technologies, and industry trends.

Physical Requirements:

• Express or exchange ideas by means of the spoken word via email and verbally.
• Exert up to 10 pounds of force occasionally, use your arms and legs, and sit most of the time.
• Have close visual acuity to perform activities such as analyzing data, viewing a computer terminal, reading, and preparing documentation.
• Not substantially exposed to adverse environmental conditions.
• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential responsibilities of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential responsibilities.