Director, Payments Operations

About the role

SRS Acquiom delivers the smartest way to run a deal™ through a platform and services designed to help deal parties manage complex M&A and loan agency transactions more efficiently. Based in Denver, Colorado, with offices across the United States and in London and Amsterdam, SRS Acquiom supports transactions across North America and Europe. Our M&A services include professional shareholder representation, paying and escrow agent services, and online document solicitation and reporting. For loan and credit transactions, we provide independent Administrative Agent, Collateral Agent, Sub-Agent, and Successor Agent services. Since 2007, SRS Acquiom has supported more than 11,500 transactions globally. By bringing efficiency, expertise, and purpose-built technology to complex financial transactions, we help sophisticated deal parties focus on building great businesses and maximizing value.

Responsibilities

• Owns daily execution and oversight of shareholder and closing-day payment operations, including payment file release governance, bank cutoffs, and Service Level Agreement (SLA) adherence.
• Leads and develops the Payments leadership team (Payments Managers and Manager of Payments Compliance), providing coaching, setting goals, and ensuring appropriate staffing, training, and coverage.
• Establishes, implements, and monitors operational controls for record review, payment instruction validation, customer validation, fraud prevention, and physical/electronic documentation retention.
• Oversees exception management for returned, delayed, or failed payments; ensures research cases are tracked through completion and escalations are executed with bank partners as needed.
• Ensures payment files contain required data elements and quality checks to reduce transaction failures and requests for additional information.
• Provides support for Foreign Exchange (FX) execution and operational readiness, including accurate instruction of FX trades and validation of system configuration for multi-currency payment batches.
• Owns reconciliation governance: reviews trends in breaks, ensures timely resolution, and ensures appropriate storage and auditability of supporting evidence.
• Pairs cross-functionally (Reconciliation, Payments, Client Services Team, Relationship team leadership, Business Analysts, Product Managers and bank partners) to drive continuous improvement and deliver technology-enabled solutions.
• Maintains and enforces standard operating procedures, training materials, and a knowledge repository to ensure consistent execution and rapid onboarding.
• Produces and delivers regular statistical reporting to senior leadership on payment timeliness, exception volumes, reconciliation status, and root-cause trends; recommends actions to improve outcomes.
• Ensures team performance management processes are executed effectively, including hiring, performance reviews, recognition, corrective action, and terminations when necessary.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of banking, financial services, payments, escrow, or transaction operations experience (or equivalent).
• 3+ years of people management experience, (preferably this experience includes managing managers), and leading multi-workstream teams.
• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, economics, or operations (or commensurate work experience) required.
• FINRA-licensed Series 99 Operations Professional or the ability to procure within the first year from hire date.
• Demonstrated expertise in payment operations, reconciliations, exception management (returns/delays), and operational controls.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, including the ability to interpret complex payment instructions and drive issues to resolution under time constraints.
• Experience partnering with bank operations and customer service teams to manage escalations and meet processing cutoffs.
• Working knowledge of foreign exchange processes and controls sufficient to participate in FX instruction and operational execution as needed.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite; experience with sophisticated CRM/ERP systems (e.g., NetSuite) and the ability to drive adoption through training and standardization.

Skills

• High ownership mindset with the ability to set direction and drive execution through others.
• Strong attention to detail balanced with an ability to scale processes and simplify complexity.
• Experience with integrating AI into processes, or AI-curious with a mind to leverage AI for potential operational task lift.
• Collaborative super communicator, calm under pressure, and effective at stakeholder management and escalation communications.
• Continuous improvement orientation with a track record of implementing innovative solutions.
• Commitment to operating with integrity, strong controls, and a customer-first mindset.

Benefits

• Day-one coverage: medical, dental, and vision plans so you’re protected from the start.
• A 401(k) with a 4% company match to keep your future on track.
• Discretionary time off - take the time you need, when you need it.
• Employer-paid life insurance, with the option to add extra coverage for peace of mind.
• Employee Assistance Programs for confidential support when life gets complicated.
• Discounted pet insurance (because furry family members count, too).
• A fitness credit to back your health and wellness goals.
• Pre-tax plans for dependent care, transportation, and flexible spending.

Pay

The salary range for this position is between $125k and $135k, depending on experience level.

Schedule

This role follows a 1-2 days per week in the office hybrid schedule based in Denver, Colorado.