VP, Head of PayFac

Fiserv•Alpharetta, GA

About The Position

The Vice President, Head of PayFac-as-a-Service leads the strategy, product, and commercialization of Fiserv’s Payment Facilitator-as-a-Service offering within Merchant Solutions. The offering gives clients a modular path to payment facilitation, enabling embedded payments and participation in the flow of funds without requiring them to build a full Payment Facilitator operating model. The role defines how capabilities are delivered across the acquiring value chain while preserving registered-party accountability, network obligations, and Fiserv’s risk appetite. Reporting to the SVP, Global Product Strategy, the Vice President owns the product vision, operating-model spectrum (Full-Service, Managed, and Fiserv-led PayFac), delegation and risk framework, and commercial packaging and pricing. The role works closely with Risk, Compliance, Legal, Technology, Sales, and Product Marketing to bring configurable, network-compliant propositions to market. Operational activities may be shared or delegated, but accountability remains with the registered parties throughout the value chain. The leader builds and manages a global organization spanning product, delegation and risk design, onboarding and underwriting, and commercial enablement. The role also establishes governance and contracting models, monitors performance and risk, and leads go-to-market execution and cross-functional alignment.

Requirements

14 or more years of experience in payments, merchant acquiring, payment facilitation, fintech, financial services, or related fields.
8 or more years of progressive leadership experience managing global teams and enterprise-scale initiatives.
Deep, demonstrable expertise in the Payment Facilitator/PayFac model, merchant acquiring, and the acquiring value chain, including onboarding, underwriting, risk, compliance, processing, funding, settlement, and servicing.
Strong working knowledge of network rules and regulatory frameworks, including Mastercard/Visa Service Provider registration, AML/sanctions, KYC/KYB, MATCH, and chargeback/dispute regimes.
Proven experience designing delegation, risk, and control frameworks that balance operational flexibility with registered-party accountability.
Experience defining commercial packaging, pricing, and go-to-market models for platform or managed-services offerings.
Demonstrated success influencing executive leadership and driving cross-functional alignment across Product, Risk, Compliance, and Legal.
Strong analytical, strategic planning, and executive communication skills.
Advanced PowerPoint and Excel skills.
Bachelor’s degree required.

Nice To Haves

MBA or advanced degree.
Direct experience standing up or scaling a PayFac, PayFac-as-a-Service, or embedded-payments business.
Familiarity with Fiserv acquiring platforms, Commerce Hub, and merchant onboarding/risk systems.
Experience preparing Board, Investor Relations, or executive-level strategic and risk materials.
Knowledge of AI-driven onboarding/risk tooling and modern product development practices.

Responsibilities

Own the global end-to-end PayFac-as-a-Service product strategy and multi-year roadmap, including target segments, use cases, and value propositions.
Define baseline and optional product capabilities across onboarding, risk, compliance, processing, funding, reporting, and servicing.
Translate market demand and client needs into a product and capability catalogue and differentiate Fiserv’s proposition.
Own the operating-model spectrum from Full-Service PayFac through Managed PayFac to Fiserv-led PayFac-as-a-Service.
Define delegation and qualification rules, including which activities qualified clients may perform and under what eligibility conditions.
Establish responsibility assignments across the acquiring value chain, identifying client-owned, delegable/shared, and Fiserv-retained activities.
Validate client-specific operating-model allocations against legal role, Service Provider registration, funds flow, control design, and Fiserv risk appetite.
Own the delegation risk framework and assess delegability using funds exposure, decision authority, regulatory and network impact, registration dependency, data and system access, and oversight feasibility.
Define retained authority and risk appetite, including final merchant approval and exceptions, funds access and payout control, settlement accountability, MATCH decisions, network reporting submission, and PF sponsorship authority.
Ensure high-risk capabilities are retained or tightly controlled and that delegated activities have appropriate qualification, monitoring, evidence, escalation, and intervention controls.
Maintain registered-party accountability and oversight throughout the value chain and partner with Risk, Compliance, and Legal on approvals and network-rule alignment.
Define product requirements for merchant onboarding, KYC/KYB, underwriting analysis, and merchant activation.
Oversee fraud and portfolio monitoring, disputes and chargebacks, merchant servicing, reconciliation inputs, operational reporting, and network-reporting governance.
Define the commercial model, service packaging, and pricing strategy, including platform pricing and separately priced services, modules, or controls.
Structure client-tailored Fiserv-led, Shared Service, and Full-Service offerings to match client capability, controls, and risk profile.
Partner with Product Marketing on positioning, launch readiness, portfolio narratives, and commercial enablement.
Lead go-to-market strategy with Sales and Partnerships and develop client propositions and proposal strategies.
Align Product, Technology, Risk, Compliance, Legal, Finance, and Operations around priorities and measurable outcomes.
Lead QBRs, MBRs, operating reviews, and roadmap reviews, ensuring decisions, ownership, and follow-through are clear.
Drive executive communications and stakeholder alignment on strategy, progress, and risk posture.
Establish oversight and contracting models, including evidence, reporting, audit, intervention, and remediation rights.
Define and monitor PayFac-as-a-Service KPIs, onboarding and portfolio performance, risk indicators, and commercial outcomes.
Drive accountability for strategic objectives, network obligations, and portfolio commitments.
Build and lead a high-performing global PayFac-as-a-Service organization and develop talent through coaching, mentoring, and career development.
Create a collaborative operating model across product, technology, risk, compliance, legal, sales, and operations, and influence senior stakeholders without direct authority.