PSP Payments Operations Consultant / Client Services Manager

Contract: 12 months (Inside IR35)
Location: London – Hybrid (ideally 2 days onsite, flexibility for distance)

Overview

We are seeking an experienced PSP Payments Operations Consultant / Client Services Manager to own and manage operational and technical relationships across a portfolio of Payment Service Providers (PSPs) within international markets.

This role sits at the intersection of payments operations, technical consulting, partner management, data analysis and light project delivery. You will act as a subject-matter expert across the payment ecosystem (merchant → PSP → acquirer → networks), supporting operational stability, acceptance optimisation, remediation initiatives and continuous improvement.

The ideal contractor brings a strong technical mindset, excellent stakeholder management capability, and deep operational exposure to modern payment ecosystems.

What You’ll Do

• Own and support operational relationships with key PSP partners across international markets.

• Develop deep understanding of the end-to-end payments ecosystem across priority verticals (e.g. travel, hospitality, F&B, marketplaces).

• Act as a trusted operational and technical escalation point for complex payment issues impacting merchants and partners.

• Manage and continuously maintain ecosystem mapping across PSPs, acquirers, gateways and vendors.

• Support the adoption and evolution of network policies and operational standards aligned to business strategy.

• Work closely with internal stakeholders including product, engineering, operations, risk and senior leadership.

• Proactively identify, manage and escalate operational risks and customer-impacting issues.

• Lead acceptance remediation initiatives and continuous improvement opportunities.

• Support technical discussions with partner engineering and product teams, translating technical detail into business impact.

• Produce reporting, dashboards and insight to highlight trends, gaps and performance metrics.

• Ensure documentation of processes, remediation activity and operational learnings.

How You’ll Deliver

• Build and strengthen strategic operational relationships with PSP partners.

• Provide structured input into portal development, policy updates and tooling optimisation.

• Apply disciplined operational, stakeholder and delivery management across multiple initiatives.

• Take ownership of problem solving through structured investigation, root cause analysis and remediation planning.

• Collaborate with vendors and external partners to ensure service quality and delivery standards.

• Analyse payment data to identify acceptance gaps, performance issues and optimisation opportunities.

• Manage technical communications across internal teams, client stakeholders and senior leadership.

• Deliver clear written and verbal updates on incidents, risks and mitigation strategies.

• Operate independently with high ownership and accountability.

Experience & Skills Required

Essential

• Proven experience within payments operations, PSPs, gateways, acquiring, processing or complex payment ecosystems.

• Strong understanding of authorization, clearing, settlement and network flows.

• Experience supporting or managing client / partner operational relationships.

• Technical aptitude – able to interpret specifications, participate in technical discussions and translate to business language.

• Strong problem-solving mindset with experience conducting deep dives into operational issues.

• Data analysis and reporting experience (dashboards, insights, performance tracking).

• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.

• Comfortable operating across cross-functional teams and senior stakeholders.

• Strong documentation and process discipline.

Desirable

• Project coordination or implementation experience (not a pure PM role).

• Exposure to global / international payment ecosystems.

• Experience supporting regulated or high-volume transaction environments.

• Awareness of ground transportation, leisure, attractions or marketplace payments.

Backgrounds That Fit Well

Candidates will ideally come from:

• Payment Service Providers / Payment Gateways / Aggregators / Marketplaces

• Acquirers / Processors / Issuers / Network Operations

• POS manufacturers / payment technology vendors

• Payments consulting / technical operations teams

Candidates currently working within a PSP environment must demonstrate the ability to operate at ecosystem level rather than purely merchant delivery.