Associate Director, Payments Economics & Cost Governance

Airwallex; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Airwallex is seeking an Associate Director, Payments/Scheme Economics to own the integrity, visibility and management of our payment costs, starting with card scheme fees and interchange across Visa and Mastercard. Reporting to the Head of Strategic Finance, you will be the subject matter expert translating complex network rules into accurate system configurations and financial outcomes.

You will shape pricing, drive cost optimization, and build scalable cost engines with Product, Engineering,

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in payments, card networks, or fintech environments.
• Deep knowledge of card payment economics and interchange rules.
• Ability to translate complex network rules into system logic and controls.
• Strong analytical capabilities with transaction-level data; economic modeling.
• Proven cross-functional leadership across product, engineering, finance and commercial teams.

Responsibilities

• Own scheme economics and rule interpretation across Visa, Mastercard and other networks.
• Ensure accurate payment cost configuration and customer billing alignment with current rules.
• Protect payment cost integrity through governance, testing and anomaly detection.
• Build granular visibility into payment economics with analytics across markets and products.
• Drive cost and margin optimization via pricing, BIN routing and configuration levers.
• Shape pricing and commercial decisions to support sustainable unit economics.
• Build scalable cost engines and automation with product, engineering and data teams.

Skills

Payments expertise

Pricing & cost modeling

Rule interpretation

Data analytics

Cross-functional leadership

Vendor relationships

Attention to detail

Strategic thinking

Job description

Airwallex is seeking an Associate Director, Payments/Scheme Economics to own the integrity, visibility and management of our payment costs, starting with card scheme fees and interchange across Visa and Mastercard. Reporting to the Head of Strategic Finance, you will be the subject matter expert translating complex network rules into accurate system configurations and financial outcomes.

You will shape pricing, drive cost optimization, and build scalable cost engines with Product, Engineering,