Head of Payments (Europe)

Purpose of the Role

Europe is one of the most regulation-heavy and operationally demanding payment regions in the world.
PSD2, SCA, constant changes in bank and EMI requirements, fragmented country logic — all of this directly impacts approval rates, coverage, and revenue.

This role is about results, not formal compliance.
Coverage. Approval rate. Stability.

If users across Europe cannot deposit and withdraw funds reliably and at scale, this is not a regulatory issue.
It is a payments failure.

1. European Payment Ecosystem

• Cards (VISA / Mastercard) with full SCA considerations.

• SEPA Instant and SEPA Credit Transfer.

• Open Banking / A2A payments.

• E-wallets and local country-specific methods.

• Alternative and backup payment schemes.

2. PSPs, Banks, and EMIs

• Onboard and manage PSPs, EMIs, and banks across the EU.

• Build and maintain multi-PSP architectures.

• Rotate providers in case of degradation or regulatory risk.

• Control SLAs, caps, limits, and cut-off times.

3. Payment Performance

• Deposit approval and success rates.

• Conversion to deposit.

• Stability and uptime of payment channels.

• Reduction of declines caused by SCA and antifraud.

4. Regulation and Risk

• Operate within PSD2, SCA, and AML frameworks.

• Close collaboration with Compliance, Risk, and Fraud teams.

• Balance revenue growth with long-term payment stability.

5. Cross-Functional Leadership

• Product — payment UX and user flows.

• Tech — integrations, routing, fallback logic.

• Support — incidents and user-level cases.

• Management — reporting and strategic decisions.

• Approval Rate (cards / SEPA / A2A).

• Deposit Coverage across EU countries.

• Uptime of payment channels.

• Time-to-Recovery after incidents.

• GGR / Turnover uplift driven by payments.

Must-Have:

• Proven experience managing payments across Europe.

• Deep understanding of PSD2 and SCA.

• Hands-on experience with cards and SEPA.

• Practical work with PSPs, banks, and EMIs.

• Experience in high-risk industries (gambling, betting, crypto, etc.).

• Strong data-driven and results-oriented mindset.

Strong Plus:

• Experience with Open Banking / A2A payments.

• Existing relationships with European PSPs and EMIs.

• Proven cases of scaling or restoring payments in the EU.

• Understanding of country-specific differences (Tier-1 vs Tier-2 Europe).

• International product with significant transaction volumes.

• A key leadership role for one of the most complex regions.

• Full ownership of payments across Europe.

• Direct impact on company revenue.

• Competitive compensation + performance-based bonuses.

• Minimal bureaucracy.

• You rely strictly on templates and standard playbooks.

• You are not ready to own numbers and outcomes.

• You avoid high-risk markets and complexity.