Director of Payments Intelligence

Merchant Card Payments | Payment Optimisation | Financial Consulting Location: Irving, Dallas, Texas (Hybrid) Salary: $150,000–$200,000 USD base per annum (proposed range) We are recruiting a Director of Payments Intelligence for an established international payments technology business specialising in payment orchestration for the airline, travel and hospitality sectors. This is an opportunity for an experienced payments professional who understands not just how card payments are processed, but how merchants can improve payment acceptance, reduce processing costs and increase profitability . Our client is looking for someone with deep practical experience in merchant card payments, acquiring economics and payment optimisation. You will analyse real transaction data, identify opportunities for financial improvement and develop recommendations supported by robust financial modelling. This is a hands-on, client-facing consulting position requiring both detailed payments knowledge and strong commercial judgement. The Role Working with enterprise clients, you will examine their existing payment arrangements, identify inefficiencies and demonstrate how improvements could deliver measurable financial benefits. Your responsibilities will include: Card processing costs: Analyse merchant acquiring arrangements, interchange fees, card scheme charges and processing costs to identify opportunities for savings. Authorisation optimisation: Investigate payment approval rates, declined transactions, soft declines and recovery opportunities to identify ways to increase successful payments. 3DS and authentication: Evaluate 3DS, Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) and their effect on fraud, payment acceptance and checkout conversion. Foreign exchange and international payments: Analyse FX costs, currency arrangements and international payment performance to identify unnecessary costs and revenue leakage. Payment routing: Assess opportunities to improve payment performance and costs across multiple acquirers, payment service providers and payment methods. Financial modelling: Build detailed ROI models using actual transaction volumes, payment costs and performance data to quantify potential savings and additional revenue. Client consulting: Present findings, financial business cases and recommendations to senior stakeholders, including CFOs, CTOs, finance directors and treasury teams. Benchmarking: Compare payment performance against relevant merchant and industry benchmarks, particularly within aviation, travel and other high-volume payment environments. Payment intelligence: Contribute findings and insights to the development of the organisation's payments intelligence and benchmarking methodology. We are particularly interested in candidates with at least six years of relevant experience in merchant card payments, acquiring, payment strategy, payment optimisation or specialist payments consulting. You should be able to demonstrate: A detailed understanding of card interchange, scheme fees, acquiring costs and payment processing economics . Practical experience analysing merchant transaction data to identify financial savings or revenue opportunities. Experience investigating card authorisation rates, declines and payment recovery. Knowledge of 3DS, SCA and their commercial impact on payment performance. Understanding of FX costs and the challenges of international, multi-currency card payments. Experience building financial models and ROI calculations, including explaining and defending the underlying assumptions. The ability to communicate complex payments findings clearly and confidently to senior commercial and financial stakeholders. Strong analytical thinking, commercial judgement and the ability to turn detailed analysis into actionable recommendations. Crucially, we need someone who has personally carried out this type of payments analysis , rather than someone whose experience is limited to managing payment technology projects, selling payment products or overseeing general banking operations. Particularly Relevant Experience Experience working with airlines, online travel agencies (OTAs), hotels or other high-volume international ecommerce merchants would be especially attractive. Familiarity with airline payment environments, BSP/ARC/GDS settlement or complex card-not-present transactions would be advantageous. However, direct aviation experience is not essential if you can demonstrate substantial expertise in merchant payment economics and optimisation. Why Consider This Opportunity? Our client is developing its payments consulting and intelligence capabilities, creating an opportunity to apply your expertise to complex, high-value payment challenges faced by major international merchants. You will have the opportunity to work across technical, financial and commercial aspects of payments, helping clients understand where performance can be improved and how those improvements translate into real financial value. This position will appeal to someone who enjoys detailed analytical work but is equally comfortable discussing findings and recommendations with senior business leaders. #J-18808-Ljbffr Liberty Towers