Head of Growth, Scheme Compliance

Socket.dev; New York (NY); On-site; USD 195,000 - 263,000; Full time

Job summary

Adyen is seeking a senior leader to head Growth for Scheme Compliance in a globally distributed team. You will shape growth strategy, align product, partnerships, and commercial efforts, and translate complex regulatory requirements into scalable payment solutions.

You will collaborate with Product and Engineering to embed compliance into product design, drive cross-functional programs, and balance speed with risk across regions.

Qualifications

• Strong product mindset translating regulatory and scheme requirements into system behavior, data structures, and configuration rules with Product & Engineering.
• Proven experience leading global, cross-functional initiatives involving multiple stakeholders (Product, Legal, Commercial, Partnerships).
• Deep understanding of payments ecosystems including card networks, alternative methods, and acquiring models.
• Ability to design platform-level guardrails for new payment flows or business models and decide launch, constraint, or decline based on risk/reward.
• Strong commercial judgment balancing growth objectives against regulatory, partner, and operational risk.
• Experience evaluating new business models or payment flows and defining guardrails for launch.

Responsibilities

• Lead, develop, and scale a globally distributed team focused on growth initiatives across products, geographies, and payment methods.
• Define the growth strategy for Scheme Compliance, prioritizing new product launches, market expansion, and onboarding of payment methods and partners.
• Partner with Commercial and Sales to identify merchant needs and translate demand into growth priorities and build decisions for Product and Engineering.
• Collaborate with Product and Engineering to define payment flows, data models, and configuration standards embedding compliance into systems.
• Define and standardize operating models for new business lines with clear control points, monitoring, and regulator/partner documentation.
• Drive cross-functional programs across Commercial, Partnerships, Legal, Risk, and Product to accelerate time-to-market for strategic initiatives.
• Act as escalation point for complex growth opportunities, balancing speed, risk, and commercial impact.
• Identify friction in payments compliance or partner requirements and design solutions or push for changes to unlock growth.
• Establish frameworks for decision-making about what to launch, constrain, or decline across regions and teams.
• Build playbooks, tooling requirements, and training to raise organizational fluency in growth-related compliance topics.
• Design scalable solutions for merchants with edge-case models and partner with Product to build repeatable operating models.

Skills

Product mindset

Cross-functional leadership

Payments ecosystems

Guardrails design

Commercial judgment

Business model evaluation

Stakeholder management

Ambiguity tolerance

Team leadership

Merchant use cases

Job description

This is Adyen

Adyen provides payments, data, and financial products in a single solution for customers like Meta, Uber, H&M, and Microsoft - making us the financial technology platform of choice. At Adyen, everything we do is engineered for ambition.

For our teams, we create an environment with opportunities for our people to succeed, backed by the culture and support to ensure they are enabled to truly own their careers. We are motivated individuals who tackle unique technical challenges at scale and solve them as a team. Together, we deliver innovative and ethical solutions that help businesses achieve their ambitions faster.

Head of Growth, Scheme Compliance

We are looking for a senior, strategic, and product-minded leader to head the Global Growth pillar within Schemes Compliance. This role sits at the intersection of compliance, product, partnerships, and commercial strategy enabling business growth while ensuring scalable, well-controlled solutions.

You will lead a globally distributed team who unlock new products, markets, local payment methods, and partner models by designing compliant operating models, accelerating launches, and building scalable solutions in close collaboration with Product and Engineering. You will work closely with Commercial and Sales to identify merchant needs and revenue opportunities, ensuring merchant demand directly shapes our growth priorities and builds a roadmap. Many of our growth initiatives are driven by strategic merchants whose needs influence where we invest.

As Head of Growth for Scheme Compliance, you will act as a key bridge between compliance and product, translating regulatory, scheme, and partner requirements into systems, frameworks, and tooling that enable speed without compromising control, and help shape how Adyen approaches new and emerging payment models globally.

What you’ll do

• Lead, develop, and scale a globally distributed team focused on enabling growth initiatives across products, geographies, and payment methods.
• Define the growth strategy for Scheme Compliance, working with cross-functional leaders to prioritize new product launches, market expansion, and onboarding of payment methods and financial partners.
• Partner with Commercial and Sales to identify high-value merchant needs and revenue opportunities, translating merchant demand into clear growth priorities, requirements, and build decisions for Product and Engineering.
• Partner closely with Product and Engineering to define payment flows, data models, and configuration standards that embed compliance requirements into systems rather than manual processes.
• Define and standardize operating models for new business lines, including clear control points, monitoring requirements, and defensible documentation for regulators and partners.
• Drive cross-functional programs across Commercial, Partnerships, Legal, Risk, and Product to accelerate time-to-market for strategic initiatives.
• Act as an escalation point for complex or ambiguous growth opportunities, balancing speed, risk, and commercial impact.
• Identify friction in existing payments compliance or partner requirements and proactively design solutions or influence changes to unlock growth.
• Establish clear frameworks for decision-making (e.g., what to launch, constrain, or decline), ensuring consistency across regions and teams.
• Build playbooks, tooling requirements, and training programs to increase organizational fluency in growth-related compliance topics.
• Design scalable solutions for merchants whose business models do not fit neatly within network mandates, creatively problem-solving to support merchants, challenge network interpretations where appropriate, and partner with Product to build repeatable operating models that unlock revenue opportunities for other merchants.

Who you are

• Strong product mindset, with experience translating regulatory and scheme requirements into system behavior, data structures, and configuration rules in partnership with Product and Engineering.
• Proven experience leading global, cross-functional initiatives that involve multiple stakeholders (e.g., Product, Legal, Commercial, Partnerships).
• Deep understanding of payments ecosystems, including card networks, alternative payment methods, and/or acquiring models.
• Demonstrated ability to design platform-level guardrails for new payment flows or business models and to decide when to launch, constrain, or decline based on risk/reward.
• Strong commercial judgment, with the ability to balance growth objectives against regulatory, partner, and operational risk.
• Experience evaluating new business models or payment flows and defining clear guardrails for launch.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence senior leaders and drive alignment across functions.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and making decisions in fast-moving, high-growth environments.
• Experience building and coaching high-performing teams, particularly in roles that require both strategic thinking and execution.
• Demonstrated ability to think creatively about merchant use cases that sit outside standard network constructs, and to turn those edge cases into scalable, product-enabled solutions.

Total rewards & compensation

The annual base salary range for this role in New York City and San Francisco is $195,000 - $263,000.

Compensation is based on factors including qualifications, experience, and location. Total compensation package includes equity (RSUs), 401(k), health, dental, vision, and more.

In-office expectations

This role is based in our San Francisco or New York City office. We're an office-first company and expect employees to work in-office at least 3 days a week on average. This approach helps strike a balance between bringing people together for in-person collaboration and learning from each other, while also supporting flexibility.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Adyen

We actively seek different perspectives to sharpen our ideas. Our unique culture is a product of our diverse backgrounds and experiences. No matter who you are or where you’re from, you’re welcome to be your true self at Adyen.

If you need accommodations or support during the recruitment process to perform at your best, you’ll have the opportunity to let our team know in your application. We encourage people from all backgrounds and abilities to apply.

What’s next?

Ensuring a smooth and enjoyable candidate experience is critical for us. We aim to get back to you regarding your application within 5 business days. Our interview process tends to take about 4 weeks to complete, but may fluctuate depending on the role. If you have specific time constraints, please communicate them with your recruiter, and we’ll do our best to accommodate them where possible.

EEO statement

Adyen is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, marital status or any legally protected status. All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Work Eligibility

You must be work authorized in the United States without the need for new visa sponsorship. The company can support visa transfers but will not sponsor individuals for H-1B CAP applications.