Head of Payments

Role overview

This is a senior leadership opportunity based in Saudi Arabia for a partner company that will handle the application review and all subsequent hiring steps. The role sits at the center of a fast-scaling international business and is responsible for building, steering, and improving the global payments function across multiple markets.

You will take ownership of the full payments lifecycle, making sure the system is dependable, efficient, compliant, and tuned for growth and a smoother customer experience. The position blends strategy, operations, and product improvement, with a direct effect on conversion performance and revenue outcomes. It calls for strong analytical thinking, commercial awareness, and deep knowledge of payment ecosystems.

Working closely with Product, Engineering, Finance, Operations, and Support, you will drive payment innovation, market localisation, and provider performance improvements. The role is both strategic and hands-on, with responsibility for provider relationships, negotiations, and the continuous scaling of processes and people.

Accountabilities

• Set the direction for the global payments strategy and ensure it supports wider business growth goals.
• Take full ownership of the payments stack, including PSPs, card payments, wallets, bank transfer flows, and alternative payment methods.
• Refine payment journeys and interface experience to lower friction, lift conversion, and improve customer satisfaction.
• Tune routing rules, provider assignment, and transaction paths to raise approval performance and control costs.
• Track payment results across markets, issuers, and providers, then turn patterns into improvement actions.
• Lead commercial discussions and manage PSP partnerships so pricing, reliability, and service levels stay competitive.
• Support localisation work such as local acquiring and payment methods tailored to each market.
• Assess, integrate, and continuously monitor PSPs to ensure strong operational performance.
• Develop reporting systems that clearly show payment performance, cost efficiency, and reliability indicators.
• Maintain compliance with payment regulations, security requirements, and audit expectations.
• Partner with Product, Tech, Finance, Operations, and Support teams to strengthen the end-to-end payment experience.
• Create scalable operating processes, documentation, and internal controls.
• Lead, coach, and grow the payments team by setting goals and supporting professional development.

Requirements

• Substantial experience in payments, fintech, or financial services, ideally in a multi-market or global environment.
• Strong understanding of payment systems, PSPs, acquiring, routing optimisation, and transaction lifecycle management.
• Demonstrated success in improving approval rates, conversion, and payment cost efficiency.
• Proven experience negotiating with and managing PSPs, banks, and other payment partners.
• Excellent analytical ability with the confidence to interpret payment data and convert it into practical actions.
• Solid knowledge of payment compliance, security standards, and regulatory frameworks.
• A product-oriented mindset with awareness of payment UX and customer journey optimisation.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives with Product, Engineering, and Finance teams.
• Strong people leadership background, including building and scaling high-performing teams.
• Clear communication, stakeholder management, and decision-making skills.

Benefits

• Competitive pay package with performance-linked incentives.
• The chance to own and expand a global payments function with high business impact.
• Flexible work setup, with remote or hybrid arrangements depending on organisational structure.
• Health coverage and wellness support resources.
• Learning and development funding to encourage ongoing growth.
• Exposure to international markets and complex payment environments.
• A collaborative, high-growth culture with a strong sense of ownership.

Additional information

This job is managed through a partner hiring company, which will review applications and handle the next steps directly. A data privacy notice applies to all submissions: by applying, you consent to your personal data being used to assess your candidacy and shared with the employer as part of the recruitment process, on the basis of legitimate interest and pre-contractual measures where applicable. The process may also use artificial intelligence tools to support screening, resume review, response analysis, and consistency checks, but final hiring decisions are made by people.