ABOUT THE TEAM

At Aspire, we are committed to empowering our customers throughout their journey with us. Our Operations Team ensures customers can operate seamlessly on our platform, and guarantee the best customer experience possible.

ABOUT THE ROLE

As the Payment Operations, EMEA Lead, your primary responsibility will be to ensure the success and accuracy of all payment flows within Aspire’s platform in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa). You will play a pivotal role in managing the operations and owning the KPIs of Aspire’s payment products in the region to drive exceptional performance and ensure compliance with regulatory frameworks in new markets.

In addition to managing day-to-day operations, you will have a critical role in supporting Aspire’s expansion into new countries. You will be instrumental in setting up and scaling treasury operations in this new market, ensuring that our infrastructure is robust and optimized for local requirements.

Key responsibilities include:

• Payment management. Oversee daily payment processing (domestic and cross-border), including successful execution, completion and safeguarding of funds. 
• Payment reliability. Track and improve payment success rates and payment processing time by enhancing payment flows, identifying system bottlenecks, and resolving payment issues..
• Payment systems. Optimize treasury and payment systems to streamline processes, improve automation, and ensure scalability as Aspire grows in new markets.
• Reconciliation. Ensure accurate reconciliation between Aspire and payment partner accounts, monitoring inflows and outflows to prevent discrepancies. Set up the reconciliation process for new payment rails. Investigate & resolve reconciliation breaks.
• Payment investigations. Manage and resolve payment escalations and incidents.
• Cross-functional collaboration. Collaborate with stakeholders from various departments such as product, commercial, and compliance to assess, analyze, and improve the payment performance
• Vendor and partner management. Be the PIC for operational relationships with payment service providers and financial institutions, ensuring they meet Aspire’s service standards.
• Launch new countries and rails. Ensure the successful launch of new payment rails in EMEA. 
• Regulatory compliance. Ensure all payment operations comply with local and international regulatory requirements as Aspire scales.
• Audit & Risk. Support the Finance team as the PIC for client money movements during external audits & treasury risk committees.
• Team management. Lead a team of payment analysts based in APAC and EMEA.
• Reporting. Provide senior stakeholders, including the CEO, COO, and regional leaders, with data-driven insights and reports on payment performance.

Qualifications:

• Payments experience: At least 8+ years work experience of which 4+ years experience in fintech managing payments processing and/or treasury operations.
• Problem-solving skills: A proactive approach to troubleshooting payment issues, identifying root causes, and implementing sustainable solutions.
• Strong analytical abilities: Experience with data analysis and performance metrics, particularly related to payment flows, payment success rates, and reconciliation.
• Operational focus: A background in scaling payment systems and processes in a fast-paced, high-growth environment, with a focus on accuracy, efficiency, and reliability.
• Vendor management: Ability to manage external relationships with payment providers and financial institutions, ensuring high levels of service.
• Regulatory knowledge: Understanding of payment-related compliance and regulations, both domestically and internationally.
• Collaboration: Strong communication and coordination skills, with a proven ability to work cross-functionally with internal teams and external partners.
• Adaptability: Ability to support the launch of payment operations in new markets, adapting processes to fit local regulations and infrastructure.