Payment Operations Lead

Macildowie Recruitment and Retention; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 27,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Macildowie Recruitment and Retention in Leicestershire is seeking a Payment Operations Lead to own and shape a high‑volume, global payments function. The role oversees a UK team with offshore support, ensuring secure, accurate payments of over £4 billion annually in a large international retail environment.

The role drives an ERP transformation, collaborating across Treasury, AP, Payroll and IT to design, test, cutover and stabilise new payment processes.

Qualifications

• Experience in high-volume payment operations.
• Experience in large international organisations.
• End-to-end payment processes and controls knowledge.
• Experience with ERP implementations or migrations.
• Experience with AML, sanctions and treasury controls.
• Experience dealing with banking partners/PSPs.

Responsibilities

• Lead a UK-based payments team and collaborate with offshore resources.
• Ensure accurate, secure and timely processing of payments.
• Take end-to-end ownership of the payment cycle.
• Play a hands-on role in ERP transformation activities.
• Support requirements, process design, UAT, cutover, go-live and stabilisation.
• Collaborate with Treasury, Accounts Payable, Payroll and IT teams.
• Maintain strong relationships with banks and PSPs.
• Drive controls and compliance with financial regulations.
• Identify opportunities for automation and process improvement.
• Encourage stakeholder adoption of new processes and systems.

Skills

High-volume payments experience

People leadership

Change management

Stakeholder management

AML and payment compliance

Banking partner relationships

Education

ACT

CIMA

ACCA

ACA

Tools

SAP

Oracle

Job description

Payment Operations Lead
Leicester
Up to £45,000
Office Based - 5 Days Per Week

Macildowie are working with this client based in Leicester to recruit a Payment Operations Lead, offering a salary of up to £45,000.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a large international retail environment and take ownership of a complex, high-volume global payments operation.

With responsibility for the accurate, secure and timely processing of more than £4 billion in annual payments, you'll lead a UK-based team alongside offshore resources and become a key point of expertise for payment operations across the organisation.

What makes this opportunity particularly interesting is the level of transformation ahead.

Alongside leading day-to-day payment operations, you'll play an important role in a major ERP transformation, helping shape how payment processes operate in the future and supporting the programme through requirements, process design, UAT, cutover, go-live and stabilisation.

What will you be doing?

You’ll take end-to-end ownership of payment operations across supplier payments, payroll, tax disbursements and intercompany transfers.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Leading, supporting and developing a UK-based team while working closely with offshore resources.
• Ensuring global payments are processed accurately, securely and on time.
• Taking ownership of the end-to-end payment cycle.
• Playing a hands-on role in a significant ERP transformation.
• Supporting requirements gathering, process design, UAT, cutover, go-live and post-launch stabilisation.
• Working closely with Treasury, Accounts Payable, Payroll, IT and transformation teams.
• Building strong relationships with banking partners and Payment Service Providers.
• Maintaining robust internal controls and ensuring compliance with relevant financial regulations.
• Supporting AML, sanctions and treasury control requirements.
• Identifying opportunities for automation, process improvement and increased efficiency.
• Challenging existing ways of working and helping stakeholders successfully adopt new processes and systems.

What are we looking for?

This role would suit an experienced payments professional who combines strong operational knowledge with people leadership and an appetite for change.

Ideally, you’ll bring:

• Strong experience within high-volume payment operations.
• Experience working within a large, complex or international organisation.
• Strong knowledge of end-to-end payment processes and controls.
• Previous team leadership or people management experience.
• Experience working with UK and/or offshore teams.
• Exposure to ERP systems such as SAP or Oracle.
• Experience of an ERP implementation, systems migration or wider transformation programme.
• Strong knowledge of AML, sanctions, financial controls and payment compliance.
• Experience dealing with banking partners and/or Payment Service Providers.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• A proactive approach to continuous improvement, automation and process change.

Experience with RPA, payment factories or other payment automation tools would be advantageous.

Professional qualifications such as ACT, CIMA, ACCA or ACA would also be desirable, but aren't essential where somebody can demonstrate the right practical experience.

Why consider this role?

This is an opportunity to do considerably more than simply manage BAU payment processing.

You’ll be joining at a point of significant change, with the opportunity to influence future payment processes, contribute to a major systems transformation and lead a team responsible for a substantial global payment operation.

If you’re an experienced payments professional who enjoys leading people, improving processes and delivering change, this could be an excellent next step.

Salary: Up to £45,000
Location: Leicester
Working pattern: Office based, 5 days per week