Senior Manager - Operations

Paytm; Sector 10; On-site; INR 1,800,000 - 3,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Paytm is seeking an experienced Senior Manager to lead the merchant operations function, owning the end-to-end merchant lifecycle from onboarding to KYC compliance, activation, and ongoing account operations. The role requires a payments veteran who can scale onboarding from small vendors to large corporates and build high-performance teams.

You will collaborate with Sales, Product, Compliance, and Banking teams to ensure seamless, compliant, and commercially impactful merchant journeys across

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive experience in payments operations or fintech with leadership experience.
• Hands-on experience owning merchant onboarding, KYC/KYB operations, and lifecycle management at scale.
• Strong knowledge of payment acquiring, cross-border payment corridors, and compliance (RBI, FEMA, SWIFT).
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, or related field; MBA strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Oversee full merchant lifecycle from application to activation and ongoing management.
• Ensure onboarding stages are accurate, complete, and compliant with regulatory standards.
• Design and govern onboarding workflows across tiers and channels for varying risk profiles.
• Serve as senior escalation point for complex merchant cases and onboarding exceptions.
• Align onboarding and lifecycle operations with KYC/KYB frameworks and applicable laws.
• Oversee periodic merchant reviews, risk reassessments, and audits to maintain compliance.
• Manage domestic and international acquiring, settlement, reconciliation, and exceptions.
• Collaborate with Banking and Product teams for new corridors and payment products.
• Monitor gateway performance metrics and drive resolution with tech and banking partners.
• Document and own SOPs across end-to-end lifecycle and review regularly.
• Lead RCA on onboarding failures and SLA breaches; implement corrective actions.

Skills

Merchant onboarding

KYC/KYB operations

Regulatory compliance

Leadership

Data analysis

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's in Business/Finance

MBA or related postgraduate

Tools

Excel/Sheets

Tableau/Power BI

SQL

Job description

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced and commercially minded Senior Manager to lead the merchant operations function. This is a leadership role with end-to-end ownership of the merchant lifecycle from acquisition and onboarding to KYC compliance, merchant activation, and ongoing account operations.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned payments professional who understands the nuances of merchant onboarding at scale (from tea stalls to large corporates), brings strong regulatory and compliance awareness, and has a proven track record of building and developing high-performance operational teams. You will serve as the operational backbone of the merchant operations, partnering closely with Sales, Product, Compliance, and Banking teams ensuring merchants journey as seamless, compliant, and commercially impactful.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the full merchant lifecycle at Paytm scale from merchant application, KYC Due diligence, and KYC/KYB processing through to activation, configuration, ongoing account management
• Ensure accuracy, completeness, and timeliness across all merchant onboarding stages, maintaining the highest standards of compliance and quality control.
• Design and govern onboarding workflows across merchant tiers and channels, adapting processes to accommodate varying risk profiles, business models, and payment corridors.
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex merchant cases, disputes, and onboarding exceptions requiring cross-functional resolution.
• Ensure all merchant onboarding and lifecycle operations are conducted in strict alignment with KYC/KYB frameworks, RBI guidelines, FEMA regulations, and applicable laws of land.
• Oversee periodic merchant reviews, risk-triggered reassessments, and self-initiated documentation audits to maintain a clean and compliant merchant portfolio.
• Oversee operational workflows supporting domestic and International acquiring and payment flows, including settlement, reconciliation, and exceptions.
• Partner with Banking and Product teams to ensure operational readiness for new corridors, payment products, and acquiring partnerships.
• Monitor gateway and acquiring performance metrics, flagging issues and driving resolution in coordination with technology and banking partners.
• Design, document, and own SOPs across the end-to-end merchant lifecycle covering all use cases (from tea stall to large enterprise across India and abroad), ensuring they are consistently followed and regularly reviewed.
• Lead root-cause analysis (RCA) on onboarding failures, escalations, and SLA breaches; implement robust corrective actions and track resolution effectiveness.
• Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement across all levels of the team.
• Build and maintain operational dashboards tracking merchant onboarding health, TAT, exception rates, and SLA performance
• Serve as the primary operational interface between Merchant Operations and internal teams including Sales, MHD, Product, Compliance, Finance, and Tech
• Manage banking partner and third-party vendor relationships relevant to merchant onboarding, ensuring quality, compliance, and cost-effectiveness.
• Oversee operational budgets and forecasts for the merchant operations function; identify and implement cost efficiency opportunities.

Experience & Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive experience in payments operations or fintech, with at least 5 years in a leadership role managing multi-functional operations teams.
• Demonstrated, hands‑on experience owning merchant onboarding, KYC/KYB operations, and merchant lifecycle management at scale.
• Strong working knowledge of payment acquiring, cross-border payment corridors, and associated compliance frameworks (RBI, FEMA, SWIFT).
• Bachelors degree in Business, Finance, or a related field; MBA or equivalent postgraduate qualification strongly preferred.

Skills & Competencies

• Deep domain expertise in merchant operations Onboarding workflows, KYC/KYB regulatory compliance, Risk tiering, AML KYC framework and lifecycle governance.
• Strong analytical capability with the ability to interpret operational data, identify trends, and translate insights into actionable decisions.
• Excellent leadership, coaching, and people development skills—experienced in managing large, diverse operational teams.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with confidence engaging across senior leadership, banking partners, and regulatory interfaces.
• Proficiency in Excel / Google Sheets and Data Visualization tools, Intelligence tools (Tableau, Power BI, or equivalent); SQL is an advantage.
• Six Sigma / Lean certification or equivalent process excellence credentials preferred.