Director of Payments & Innovation

MSD; Rahway (NJ); On-site; USD 79,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision care

Retirement plan

Paid holidays

Vacation days

Sick days

Job summary

Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ is seeking a Director of Payments to lead the payments strategy and operations for the credit union. The role focuses on member satisfaction, regulatory compliance, and efficiency across card, ACH, wires, digital payments, and RTP.

The position requires 5+ years in financial services payments with leadership experience and strong vendor management, with a mix of strategic and hands-on execution. A competitive benefits package is offered.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in business, Finance, Information Systems, or related field; MBA or other advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum five years of experience in financial services with a focus on payments; at least two years in a leadership role.
• Deep understanding of the U.S. payments landscape, including card networks, ACH, RTP, Zelle, FedNow, and digital wallets.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the payments strategy aligned with business goals and member needs.
• Monitor industry trends, technologies, and regulatory changes affecting payments.
• Champion innovation by evaluating new payment platforms, partners, and products.
• Oversee operations for debit/credit/prepaid cards, ACH, wires, bill pay, mobile/digital, P2P, and merchant services.
• Ensure secure, efficient end-to-end payment processing and servicing.
• Establish and track KPIs for performance, member experience, and efficiency.
• Maintain strong controls to comply with laws and regulations (NACHA, Reg E, Reg Z, PCI DSS, FFIEC).
• Lead and develop the payments team; manage vendor and partner relationships.

Skills

Bank Fraud

Client Service Excellence

Credit Card Services

Credit Unions

CRM

Fraud Detection

Supervisory Management

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in business/finance/information systems

MBA or advanced degree (preferred)

Job description

Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ is seeking a Director of Payments to lead the payments strategy and operations for the credit union. The role focuses on member satisfaction, regulatory compliance, and efficiency across card, ACH, wires, digital payments, and RTP.

The position requires 5+ years in financial services payments with leadership experience and strong vendor management, with a mix of strategic and hands-on execution. A competitive benefits package is offered.