Governance Lead, Scheme Compliance

Adyen•San Francisco, CA

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Adyen is seeking a strategic, structured, and collaborative leader to lead the Governance pillar within its global Scheme Compliance team. The role manages a small globally distributed team and sets the direction for demonstrating compliance with card scheme and local payment method requirements through governance, control assurance, and coordinated external engagement. The Governance Lead is accountable for the global governance framework, audit and assessment coordination, internal control mapping and testing, and relationships with scheme Risk and Compliance counterparts. The role owns committee and board reporting across regional management levels, oversees the global scheme bulletin intake and update process, and leads scheme communications, requests for information, and recurring governance engagements. It works closely with the Brand, Financial, and Data Integrity pillars, Internal Audit, Internal Controls, and operational teams to ensure requirements, findings, and commitments have clear ownership, timely action, and transparent management oversight. This role is based in Adyen’s San Francisco office. Adyen is an office-first company and expects employees to work in the office at least three days per week on average. International travel may be required as needed. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without requiring new visa sponsorship; visa transfers may be supported, but H-1B CAP sponsorship is not available.

Requirements

Experience as a people leader, including developing a small, globally distributed team while remaining engaged in complex work and stakeholder decisions.
Experience in governance, compliance, risk, or controls, ideally within payments, acquiring, financial services, or a similarly complex environment.
Skills in audit and assessment management, requirements-to-control mapping, control testing, evidence evaluation, and remediation oversight.
Familiarity with card scheme and payment method requirements, or experience translating complex external obligations into practical governance and control frameworks.
Ability to manage sensitive discussions, coordinate cross-functional responses, and communicate credibly with senior stakeholders.
Comfort operating across lines of defense and understanding the distinction between operational ownership, compliance oversight, and independent assurance.
Structured and pragmatic decision-making, including prioritizing competing demands, constructively challenging others, and maintaining accountability without unnecessary process.
Effective written and verbal communication skills, including turning detailed findings and requirements into concise reporting, actionable recommendations, and clear decisions.
Experience translating complex compliance matters into clear committee and board reporting and leading global change-governance processes with clear ownership, traceability, and escalation.
Willingness to travel internationally as needed.
Authorization to work in the United States without requiring new visa sponsorship. Visa transfers may be supported, but the company will not sponsor H-1B CAP applications.

Nice To Haves

Experience in payments, acquiring, financial services, or a similarly complex environment.
Familiarity with card scheme and payment method requirements.

Responsibilities

Lead, coach, and develop a small global team, establishing clear responsibilities, priorities, and development opportunities while balancing planned assurance work with incoming requests and emerging priorities.
Define and maintain consistent governance standards for compliance documentation, control mapping, evidence management, issue tracking, and reporting across scheme, debit network, and alternative payment method program pillars.
Oversee Scheme Compliance participation in scheme and local payment method audits, assessments, and due diligence reviews, coordinating scope, subject-matter contributions, evidence, responses, and follow-up.
Lead the mapping of scheme and payment method requirements to internal policies and controls, and establish a risk-based testing plan with Internal Controls and pillar leads.
Ensure control gaps are documented, assessed, and escalated.
Serve as the global governance point of contact for scheme Risk and Compliance counterparts, connecting regional and subject-matter owners and maintaining a consistent global approach.
Oversee intake, routing, coordination, and quality review of scheme and local payment method communications and requests for information, ensuring responses are accurate, appropriately reviewed, and timely.
Lead weekly business reviews, quarterly business reviews, and annual scheme governance meetings, including agendas, reporting, stakeholder preparation, and tracking decisions and commitments.
Partner with Internal Audit and Internal Controls to align assurance activities, support independent reviews, and reduce unnecessary duplication.
Challenge remediation plans, monitor progress, and escalate overdue actions or unresolved risks.
Lead preparation, consolidation, and delivery of Scheme Compliance reporting to committees, boards, and management forums across regions and management levels.
Ensure reporting clearly covers compliance risks, control effectiveness, audit findings, remediation progress, and scheme commitments, and escalates matters requiring attention or decisions.
Oversee global intake, tracking, distribution, and status reporting of scheme bulletins and rule updates.
Ensure relevant owners assess bulletin applicability and impact, establish actions and deadlines, and provide completion evidence; maintain consolidated progress visibility and escalate gaps, delays, or unclear ownership.