Associate Director, Operations Strategy

Airwallex•San Francisco, CA

1d•$180,000 - $220,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Operations Strategy function drives process optimization, strategic initiatives, and cross-functional program delivery across Airwallex's global operations. We partner closely with Engineering, Product, Legal, Security, and Data teams to solve complex problems at scale, ensuring that our operational infrastructure keeps pace with Airwallex's rapid growth. This is a team where you will have direct exposure to senior leadership, work on high-impact programs that shape how the company operates, and grow through ownership of ambiguous, cross-domain challenges. As the Associate Director, Operations Strategy, you will own and scale the operational backbone of Airwallex's Americas business, spanning financial operations, client enablement, enterprise customer readiness, and process improvement. You will lead a team responsible for resolving complex payment and settlement exceptions, enabling commercial teams to configure and launch customers at speed, and ensuring enterprise clients move from signed contract to live-in-production with minimal friction. The work is cross-functional by nature: you will partner daily with Solution Engineers, Commercial teams, Financial Partnerships, Product, and Engineering to remove operational bottlenecks and build scalable processes that support Airwallex's rapid growth across the region. This role reports to the Head of Operations, US and offers significant scope to shape how operations scales in the Americas. This role is based in San Francisco.

Requirements

8+ years of experience in operations, strategy, or program management within a fast-growing technology, fintech, or payments company, or at a top-tier strategy/management consulting firm.
2+ years of people management experience, with a demonstrated ability to build, lead, and develop high-performing teams.
Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to align cross-functional partners (Engineering, Product, Commercial, Partnerships) around shared outcomes.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a data-driven approach to identifying root causes, measuring operational performance, and prioritizing improvements.
Excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills, including the ability to synthesize complex operational issues and communicate them clearly to both technical and executive audiences.
Self-starter who can identify and prioritize opportunities in ambiguous environments, drive clarity where none exists, and deliver results independently.

Nice To Haves

Experience in payments, financial services, or financial infrastructure, with familiarity navigating payment rails, settlement flows, banking-partner relationships, and regulatory requirements.
Track record of building scalable operational processes from the ground up, including designing SOPs, automation workflows, and operational controls that reduce manual effort and improve quality at scale.
Comfort operating in environments with high standards, fast iteration cycles, and evolving priorities, with a bias toward action and continuous improvement.
Curiosity to learn quickly, adapt fast, and grow through stretch opportunities, with genuine interest in how global financial infrastructure works end to end.

Responsibilities

Lead and oversee financial operations workstreams including payment and deposit investigations, settlement exceptions, banking-partner escalations, recalls, wallet adjustments, and transaction exception handling across Americas platforms.
Drive client enablement by partnering with commercial teams to configure customer accounts, enable products and capabilities, manage non-standard pricing, and resolve operational onboarding issues that block revenue activation.
Own enterprise customer readiness by coordinating go-live checklists, operational readiness reviews, support model design, payment configuration, billing, pricing, and post-sale handoffs to ensure seamless launches for strategic accounts.
Improve operational processes and service quality by redesigning SOPs, increasing straight-through processing rates, enhancing customer experience, strengthening incident handling and escalation frameworks, managing partner migrations, and building operational controls across Americas platforms.
Work across functions (Product, Engineering, Financial Partnerships, Commercial, Customer Support) to ensure stakeholder alignment, map dependencies, and deliver desired outcomes on strategic initiatives.
Lead, coach, and develop a team of operations professionals, setting clear objectives, running performance calibrations, and building a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.