Payment Operations Analyst

About Astra

Astra is building mission-critical infrastructure for moving money at scale. Our platform processes billions in annual transaction volume with 99.9%+ uptime, powering real-time transfers, bank debits, card disbursements, and complex financial compliance systems. We provide APIs and automation tools that enable businesses to move money programmatically while maintaining strict regulatory requirements.

The Role

We're looking for a Payments Operations Analyst to keep our money movement rails - ACH, RTP, FedNow, and card networks (Visa and Mastercard) - running smoothly and to be the operational glue between Astra, our sponsor banks, and our clients. You'll work at the intersection of banking operations, product, and client support, monitoring transaction flows, resolving exceptions, and helping scale our sponsor bank relationship as volume grows.

What You'll Do

• Monitor daily transaction activity across ACH, RTP/FedNow, and card rails (AFT/OCT) for anomalies, failures, and settlement issues
• Triage and resolve payment exceptions, including ACH returns, AFT/OCT decline codes, and failed settlements
• Draft and send day-to-day operational emails to sponsor banks - following up on open items, flagging discrepancies, and pushing issues to resolution
• Maintain a running log of open items across bank partners (settlement timing, rate limit requests, network enablement, reconciliation gaps) and drive them toward closure
• Investigate and respond to chargebacks and disputes, assembling evidence and tracking cases through to resolution within card network reason codes and timelines
• Reconcile network settlement files (Visa/Mastercard/ACH) against internal records to identify and resolve discrepancies
• Run SQL queries against production transaction data to support limit increase requests, exception analysis, and ad hoc operational questions
• Build projection models (e.g., month-over-month volume growth, peak-day analysis) to support rail-specific limit increase requests with sponsor banks
• Support client-facing escalations related to payment failures, delays, or fraud disputes, translating technical rail issues into clear client communication
• Document processes and help identify opportunities to automate manual reconciliation and dispute workflows

What We're Looking For

Required Experience

• 0-2 years of experience in payments operations, banking operations, or a related fintech/financial services role
• Comfortable learning payment rails (ACH, RTP/FedNow, card networks) quickly on the job; no prior deep expertise required
• Willingness to write and own external-facing communication with banking partners - this role involves regular, direct written correspondence with bank contacts
• Comfortable writing basic SQL queries, or eager to learn quickly (this role runs recurring data pulls against production data)
• Strong attention to detail - this role involves reconciling financial data across systems where small discrepancies matter
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent open items/threads without letting things fall through the cracks
• Comfortable working in a fast-moving startup environment with evolving processes
• Ability and willingness to travel up to ~15% annually

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business, Economics, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• No specific certifications required, though familiarity with NACHA rules or card network operating regulations is a plus

Technical Skills

• Comfortable with SQL for querying transaction data (BigQuery experience a plus)
• Proficiency with spreadsheets for reconciliation and reporting
• Exposure to payment processing systems, core banking platforms, or similar operational tooling

Preferred Experience

• Direct experience with sponsor bank or BaaS (Banking-as-a-Service) relationships
• Familiarity with ISO 8583 messaging, NACHA ACH rules, or card network chargeback/dispute processes
• Experience working with a bank partner on limit increases, network onboarding, or reconciliation projects
• Exposure to fraud or dispute management (e.g., Reg E, chargeback reason codes)

Why This Role Matters

• Every dollar that moves through Astra's platform touches this role at some point - whether it's a client's payout succeeding on time, a dispute getting resolved fairly, or a settlement discrepancy getting caught before it becomes a bigger problem. As we expand partners and payment rails, this role is critical to keeping operations reliable, our banking relationships healthy, and our clients confident in the platform.

What We Offer

• Competitive compensation with equity in a growing fintech company.
• Remote-first culture with flexible working arrangements
• Small team, big impact - your work directly supports Astra's ability to scale responsibly
• Professional growth opportunities in compliance and risk management
• Mission-driven - build infrastructure that powers financial innovation while meeting the highest regulatory standards

Remote Work and Culture

Astra is a remote-first company hiring only within the U.S. We value thoughtful collaboration, clarity, and initiative. We're proud to be an equal opportunity employer and are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team.