Head of Payments
You know payments operations don’t have to mean constant firefighting. As Head of Payments, you’ll take a mission-critical function that’s been under-resourced and reactive, stabilise it, and then lead the strategic transformation the business has been waiting for. Our client is a fast-growing, FCA-regulated EMI with global reach; this role exists now because volumes are increasing, the current team is stretched, and they need a calm, technically strong leader to build an automated, scalable payments operation. You’ll join at a pivotal moment, with the mandate to fix what’s fragile today while designing what payments should look like for the next stage of growth.
What You'll Do
- Take end-to-end ownership of the payments function, ensuring reliable daily execution across Faster Payments, SEPA, ACH, Fedwire and international schemes.
- Lead the transition from manual, high-touch processing to automated, API-driven workflows that scale as transaction volumes grow.
- Build, mentor and support a settled, high-performing team, developing managers and analysts and raising engagement after a period of instability.
- In this Head of Payments role, you’ll balance hands-on operational leadership with strategic transformation, prioritising improvements while keeping service levels and controls rock solid.
- Partner closely with Product, Technology, Finance, Risk and Compliance to define future payment capabilities and deliver change without disruption.
- Act as senior escalation point for complex, high-value or time-critical transactions, using your calm approach to maintain client confidence.
- Shape the future operating model, performance metrics and culture of payments, with direct visibility to the senior leadership tea,.
What You'll Bring
- Experience as a Head of Payments or a Senior Payments Manager in an EMI, bank or payment institution, ready to step up.
- Deep operational knowledge of multiple payment rails, including Faster Payments, SEPA and other domestic and international schemes.
- A strong technical mindset with proven success driving automation, working with APIs and improving systems to reduce manual work.
- Track record of leading and nurturing operational teams through change, creating collaborative, accountable and supportive cultures.
- Comfort operating both strategically and hands-on, especially in environments where processes, people and structures are still maturing.
- A calm, relationship-focused leadership style: you listen, build trust and focus on sustainable improvement rather than blame.
What's On Offer
- The chance to stabilise a mission-critical function and then lead the automation and transformation agenda with strong executive backing.
- Significant autonomy to design the operating model, build the team and embed modern payment technologies and processes.
- Hybrid working with around three days per week in a central London office.
- Benefits package, details on application.
If you’re a Head of Payments who wants to turn a stretched, reactive operation into a scalable, automated and high-performing payments function, this is the moment to step in.
Key Information
Job Title: Head of Payments
Location: London
Work Policy: Hybrid (around three days per week in the office)
Salary: £90,000–£100,000
Benefits: Benefits package, details on application
Consortia is a specialist recruitment agency with consultants focused on global roles within UX, Product, Data, and Engineering markets. If this Head of Payments job in London doesn't align with your preferences, but you are open to exploring other opportunities, please still register by applying to this role so we can match you to other requirements.
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