Lead, Payment Operations Strategy & Automation

About the role

You will direct the central payment operations function by transforming how Wise manages payment defects and exceptions. This role focuses on shifting from human-led manual intervention to an agentic model where AI handles the majority of frontline tasks.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Manage core operational metrics including defect rates, total costs, and first-resolution speed.
• Partner with product and engineering leadership to define and execute a shared roadmap.
• Deploy AI-driven workflows into production environments while building systems for observability and performance evaluation.
• Mentor senior individual contributors and technical leads to develop the next generation of operational leadership.
• Represent the operations function in high-level forums covering compliance, risk, analytics, and workforce management.

Requirements

• Minimum 6 years of experience in product, operations, or product-ops within high-growth tech, fintech, or payments sectors.
• Proven track record of end-to-end ownership from problem identification to measurable outcomes.
• Practical experience deploying at least one AI, LLM, or agent-based workflow.
• Proficiency in SQL and enough technical literacy to validate AI-generated code and data.
• Understanding of software development lifecycles to evaluate engineering trade-offs and project scope.
• Ability to communicate complex technical or operational strategies to senior stakeholders.
• Demonstrated success in coaching and developing senior team members.

Nice to have

• Professional background in banking, payments, or regulated financial services.
• Experience managing organizational transitions in operating models.
• Expertise in designing human-in-the-loop systems, AI evaluation frameworks, or observability tools.
• Familiarity with LLM APIs, agent frameworks, and prompt engineering.

Skills & tools

• SQL
• LLM APIs
• Agent frameworks
• Prompt design
• Operational metrics analysis

Practical notes

This role is not for project managers or pure reporting analysts. We require a builder who can drive outcomes rather than coordinate delivery. Candidates must have recent hands-on experience in an individual contributor capacity within the last 3 to 5 years. We are looking for high conviction in AI-driven operational design.