Lead – Operations

ITHR Technologies Consulting LLC; Uttar Pradesh; On-site; INR 3,500,000 - 5,200,000; Full time

Job summary

ITHR Technologies Consulting LLC is seeking a Lead - Operations to drive the core operational engine of a fintech business, spanning Payment, Merchant, Escrow, and Customer Operations. You will oversee a 5-6 member team across multiple functions in a fast-paced startup environment.

The role requires 6-9 years in fintech/payments operations, with hands-on RBI PA/PPI experience, KYC/KYB proficiency, and a strong bias for process optimization.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business Administration, Finance, or a related field; MBA or professional certifications are a plus.
• 6-9 years of fintech/payments/banking ops, with 2-3 years in team leadership.
• Hands-on experience at a payment aggregator, gateway, wallet, or RBI-regulated fintech is strongly preferred.
• Working knowledge of RBI PA/PPI frameworks, KYC/KYB requirements, and NPCI products.
• Proven experience managing escrow accounts, nodal banks, and end-to-end payment settlements.
• Strong process orientation to design SOPs, dashboards, and operational metrics.
• Excellent problem-solving and stakeholder management skills; strong communication across teams.
• Experience building operations from scratch at early-stage fintech startups.

Responsibilities

• Oversee Payment & Merchant Operations, including lifecycle monitoring, settlements, reconciliations, refunds, and disputes.
• Lead Escrow & Banking Operations with RBI compliance, bank relations, and daily reconciliation.
• Own Customer Operations & Support with SOPs, escalations, and RBI-compliant grievance handling.
• Coordinate Business Operations & cross-functional teams for product launches and regulatory changes.
• Lead and develop a 5-6 person operations team, setting KRAs, OKRs, and performance benchmarks.

Skills

Fintech operations

Team leadership

Stakeholder management

Process improvement

KYC/KYB knowledge

Regulatory compliance

Education

Bachelor's/Master's in Business Administration/Finance

MBA

Tools

Freshdesk

Zendesk

BI dashboards

Job description

We are looking for a dynamic and execution-focused Lead - Operations to drive the core operational engine of our fintech business as we scale and pursue Payment Aggregator (PA) and Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI). This is a high-impact leadership role where you will oversee a team of 5-6 professionals spanning Payment Operations, Merchant Operations, Customer Operations & Support (L2), Escrow & Banking Operations, and Business Operations Support. The ideal candidate combines deep fintech operations expertise with the ability to build scalable processes, manage cross-functional teams, and ensure seamless day-to-day operations in a fast-moving startup environment.

What you'll do

Payment & Merchant Operations

• Oversee the payment processing lifecycle-lifecycle-transaction monitoring, settlements, reconciliation, refunds, chargebacks, and dispute resolution - ensuring accuracy and SLA adherence.
• Manage the merchant onboarding process including due diligence, KYC/KYB checks, risk profiling, and activation, ensuring compliance with RBI PA guidelines.
• Drive operational efficiency across payment flows by identifying bottlenecks, implementing process improvements, and leveraging automation wherever possible.
• Maintain robust monitoring dashboards for transaction success rates, failure analysis, and settlement cycles; elevate anomalies proactively.

Escrow & Banking Operations

• Oversee the management of escrow accounts as mandated by RBI for PA operations, ensuring funds are held, reconciled, and released in strict compliance with regulatory timelines.
• Manage relationships with nodal and escrow banks, coordinate for account setups, limit enhancements, and resolve banking escalations.
• Ensure daily reconciliation of escrow positions, settlement payouts, and float management with zero tolerance for discrepancies.
• Regulatory financial reporting

Customer Operations & Support

• Own the customer support function (L2 and above), establishing SOPs, escalation matrices, and quality benchmarks for efficient grievance redressal.
• Ensure the customer grievance redressal mechanism complies with RBI's requirements, including turnaround times and escalation to the RBI Ombudsman where applicable.
• Track and analyse support trends, CSAT scores, and dispute rates to feed insights back into product and operations teams.

Business Operations Support & Cross-Functional Coordination

• Act as the central coordinator between technology, product, finance, legal, and business teams to ensure operational readiness for new product launches, integrations, and regulatory changes.
• Define and maintain operational playbooks, process documentation, and standard operating procedures across all functions under purview.
• Support internal and external audits by preparing required operational documentation and coordinating cross-team responses.

Team Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of 5-6 professionals across all operational sub-functions, setting clear KRAs, OKRs, and performance benchmarks.
• Build a culture of operational excellence, continuous improvement, and accountability within the team.
• Recruit and onboard talent as the team scales in line with business growth and regulatory requirements.

What we're looking for

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business Administration, Finance, or a related field; MBA or professional certifications are a plus.
• 6-9 years of progressive experience in fintech, payments, or banking operations, with at least 2-3 years managing a team.
• Hands-on experience at a payment aggregator, payment gateway, wallet company, or RBI-regulated fintech is strongly preferred.
• Working knowledge of RBI PA/PPI frameworks, KYC/KYB requirements, and NPCI products (UPI, IMPS, NACH) sufficient to run compliant operations -without needing to own the compliance function.
• Proven experience managing escrow accounts, nodal bank relationships, and end-to-end payment settlement operations.
• Strong process orientation with the ability to design SOPs, build dashboards, and drive operational metrics.
• Excellent problem-solving and stakeholder management skills; comfortable working across technology, product, finance, and business teams.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for internal reporting and external partner management.
• High ownership mindset, attention to detail, and the resilience to operate in a fast-paced startup environment.

Nice to have

• Prior experience at a payment aggregator or payment gateway that was live and processing transactions at scale.
• Familiarity with payment reconciliation tools, CRM platforms, and helpdesk software (e.g. Freshdesk, Zendesk).
• Exposure to merchant risk management, fraud monitoring tools, or chargeback management processes.
• Experience building operations from scratch at an early-stage or Series A fintech startup.
• Understanding of NACH mandates, e-NACH, and recurring payment operations.