Manager of Specialist Solutions Architecture, Payments

Stripe, Inc. • Chicago, IL

60d • Hybrid

About The Position

Specialist Solutions Architects (SSA) are domain experts aligned to specific Stripe solutions and customer buying centers. We have in-depth knowledge of the solution offerings and understanding of customer's challenges. We partner with the core account team on opportunities, support revenue attainment, provide critical insights to our product and engineering teams to shape the roadmap, and enable and empower the broader GTM team. We work with C-level executives, finance leaders, product design and engineering teams at global brands and platforms who are building financial services solutions with Stripe. Our users view us as domain experts and trust our recommendations as they redesign their existing offerings and infrastructure to build with Stripe. These SSAs typically bring years of industry experience in the domain of the product they specialize in. Our team works closely with Product Account Executives and Solutions Architects to develop and execute on the opportunity strategy for Stripe's largest users including Enterprises, Digital Natives, and SaaS Platforms. At Stripe, managers grow teams and inspire them to do outstanding work. As the Manager for the Payments Specialist Solutions Architecture team, you will lead, build, and mentor a world-class pre-sales engineering team dedicated to Stripe's core payment products including Adaptive Acceptance, Adaptive Pricing, Authorization Boost, Connections, Disputes Prevention, Multi Currency Payouts, Radar, and Terminal. You will be a hands-on leader who loves coaching a team, diving deep into complex customer challenges, and has a strong product-focused mindset. This role requires excellent interpersonal skills to work cross-functionally as a trusted advisor to our product sales, account executives, partner, and professional services teams. Reporting to the Head of Specialist Solutions Architecture for Payments, you will lead your team from the front, drive revenue outcomes for our users, and act as a critical voice of the customer to our Payments product and engineering organizations.

Requirements

• Leadership Experience: 4+ years of demonstrated success leading and scaling high-performing Solutions Architecture, pre-sales, or other technical customer-facing teams.
• Domain Expertise: 8+ years of experience in a technical, customer-facing role (e.g., Solutions Architect, Technical Consultant) with deep, hands-on expertise in the payments ecosystem.
• Deep Payments Knowledge: A strong understanding of the entire payment lifecycle. You should have expertise in several of the following areas:
• Payment processing, authorization, and settlement.
• Card network rules and optimization strategies (e.g., authorization rate improvement).
• Risk, fraud, and dispute management (familiarity with tools like Radar is a plus).
• In-person payments, including EMV, POS hardware, and logistics (familiarity with Terminal is a plus).
• Global payment methods and multi-currency management.
• Technical Acumen: Strong technical background with a solid understanding of APIs, distributed systems, and modern software development practices. You are comfortable guiding a team that works directly with user engineering and product teams.
• Strategic & Commercial Mindset: A proven track record of partnering with sales teams to navigate complex sales cycles and drive revenue growth in a B2B technology environment.
• Excellent Communication: Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical and financial concepts to diverse audiences, from engineers to C-level executives.
• Customer Focus: A passion for customer success and a dedication to championing the voice of the customer to influence product direction.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent
• Willingness to travel approximately 25% of the time to engage with customers and collaborate with internal teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and grow a high-performing team of Payments Specialist Solutions Architects, fostering a culture of excellence, curiosity, and a relentless focus on the user.
• Attract, recruit, and retain top talent with deep payments industry expertise, building a diverse and impactful team.
• Develop and implement metrics-driven processes to assess team performance and proactively identify opportunities for improvement.
• Act as a coach and technical escalation point, guiding your team through complex customer evaluations and competitive situations.
• Partner with sales leadership to strategize and execute on initiatives to drive and close high-value, complex opportunities related to Stripe's Payments solutions.
• Serve as a key advisor representing SA org point of view with the Payments Product leadership, sharing technical insights and market trends to influence business decisions.
• Build strong relationships with Product and Engineering teams to channel the "voice of the user," helping shape the strategic roadmap for Stripe's Payments products.
• Develop and scale enablement programs to empower the broader Solutions Architecture and GTM organization on Stripe's Payments offerings.
• Continuously monitor industry trends in the payments space-from authorization optimization and fraud prevention to point-of-sale innovation-and translate insights into impactful user engagement strategies.
• Serve as a company ambassador and payments expert at industry events, conferences, and in strategic customer meetings.
• Travel approximately 25% of the time to build meaningful relationships with customers and foster internal collaboration.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Industry: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees