Credit Card Operations & Settlement Manager

Credit Card Operations & Settlement Manager Powering the next generation of global finance About Us Founded in 2018, Bakkt, Inc. is a regulated financial technology company building infrastructure for the future of finance. Bakkt's platform serves financial institutions, fintechs, and consumer finance products — providing the compliance, security, and scale required to deliver trusted financial services at a global level. Through its core business pillars, Bakkt powers institutional-grade trading capabilities, AI-enabled programmable finance, and cross-border payment infrastructure. We are seeking an experienced Credit Card Operations & Settlement Manager (Back-office) to lead operational excellence, settlement, audit oversight, and strategic vendor management for our U.S. de novo credit card program. This role is critical for ensuring regulatory compliance, maintaining high operational efficiency, ensuring strict Sponsor bank program compliance, and managing critical third-party relationships, including core card processor, card fulfillment vendors, and outsourced support. Reporting Structure Direct Report to: Head of Credit Card Primary Responsibility Own and drive operational excellence, settlement, and strategic vendor management with key vendors including sponsor banks, processors, and customer support, focusing on core back-office functions like payments processing, dispute resolution, network settlement, and card fulfillment, while defining and tracking key performance indicators and ensuring strict program compliance. Key Responsibilities & Essential Functions Settlement: Facilitate the design and implementation of the daily settlement function for credit card reconciliation ensuring strict Flow of Funds compliance Own the daily function of settlement in partnership with Treasury teams to ensure adherence to settlement timing, proper flow of funds movement, and final reconciliation Ensure settlement is performed daily in a timely fashion before network cutoff Operational Workflow & Compliance: Build and manage the Credit Card back office operations function from the ground up using industry best practices and agentic automations where possible Own the administration of internal and external audits for the credit card program, ensuring timely reporting and preparation of exam responses Design, implement, and maintain the end-to-end Dispute & Chargeback workflow, ensuring strict compliance with Regulation Z. Act as the final escalation point for complex, high-risk customer issues that cannot be resolved by the front line. Own the timely completion and submission of all Quarterly Network reporting. Payment Processing & Regulatory Compliance (Reg Z) Payment Lifecycle Management: Oversee daily payment processing to ensure all credits post in accordance with Regulation Z requirements, including the management of ACH returns, failed payments, and payment reversals. Network Resolution: Conduct deep-dive research to resolve complex ACH Network issues, ensuring seamless fund movement and system integrity. Regulatory Reporting: Guarantee the accuracy and timely delivery of billing statements and mandatory disclosures to maintain strict compliance with federal lending laws. Billing Error Resolution: Ensure cases are investigated and resolved including billing errors and disputes; draft and deliver formal resolution notices (letters or emails) within the specific timeframes mandated by Reg Z. Incentive & Fee Auditing: Research and rectify rewards posting errors and complex interest/fee disputes (including trailing interest) while ensuring all communications adhere to UDAAP and Reg Z standards. Technical Troubleshooting: Analyze complex account anomalies, such as authorization declines and duplicate transaction postings, ensuring final resolutions comply with Regulation Z. Onboarding Oversight: Monitor API booking failure logs to identify and fix new account errors, ensuring successful onboarding and strict adherence to the Military Lending Act (MLA). Risk & Maintenance: Execute account-level maintenance and process risk-based closures to protect the portfolio’s health and security. Legal Processing including MLA & SCRA Administration: Manage SCRA requests by adjusting interest rates to 6% and monitoring accounts for continued compliance; process subpoenas and legal documents, including account freezes and statement production. Quality Assurance & Systems Testing Operational Control: Perform monthly QA/QC audits on 10% of total booked card volume, documenting successful bookings and reporting systemic errors to the Product team for remediation. UAT & Production Readiness: Lead rigorous End-to-End (E2E) and User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for production changes, providing formal sign-off for new features and system updates. Pricing Integrity: Execute and document \"First Occurrence\" testing for index pricing changes on the front book and manage APR updates for the back book while maintaining comprehensive, auditable change logs. Manage the day-to-day and strategic relationship with the card fulfillment vendor, overseeing card printing, shipping, and inventory management. Vendor Relations: Oversee the relationship with plastics vendors, including inventory monitoring, issuance report auditing, and the \"Pull & Destroy\" process for compromised or expired cards. Digital Wallet Operations: Manage the digital card lifecycle, resolving complex tokenization errors and provisioning issues. Define and oversee the strategy for outsourced back-office support for functions like fraud and disputes & customer service. Ensure all BPO partners adhere to strict US credit card and banking regulatory requirements. Define the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the operations department, including Turnaround Time and error rates, and drive continuous improvement. Team Support: Serve as the backup and escalation resource for the Head of Credit Card, and support other operations team members as needed. Provide additional duties not explicitly referenced as required by the Head of Credit Card Qualifications 5+ years of proven experience in credit card back-office operations, including a deep understanding of credit card settlement, Dispute and Chargeback processes, and all applicable credit card regulations. Knowledge of stablecoin money movement is a plus. Demonstrated success in managing critical third-party vendors (Processors, Sponsor Banks, BPOs, card fulfillment partners) and ensuring their strict program compliance. Strong analytical skills for defining and monitoring operational KPIs (Turnaround time, error rates). Proven track record of managing successful internal and external audits, with a keen ability to resolve MRA’s in a timely manner Excellent problem-solving and communication skills for handling complex escalations and leading partner relationships. Ability to work across multiple departments including Compliance, Legal, Marketing, Treasury, Analytics, etc. in a fast paced highly matrixed organization Bakkt is devoted to having diversity in its workforce and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Bakkt does not make any employment decisions based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, veteran status, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other characteristic protected by law. Must successfully pass a post-offer background check and drug screen. California Candidate Privacy Notice Before submitting your application, review Bakkt's California Candidate Privacy Notice and Notice at Collection, which explains how Bakkt collects, uses, retains, and discloses applicant and candidate personal information during the recruiting process. The notice is available here: #J-18808-Ljbffr Bakkt