Payments Operational Manager

Company Overview:

Lightspeed is a leading provider of cloud-based software for dealerships and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), serving the Powersport, Marine, RV, Trailer, Outdoor Power Equipment, and Golf Cart industries. Lightspeed’s Dealer Management Solution (DMS) enables dealerships to optimize their end-to-end business operations, including sales, parts, service, rentals, accounting, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). When implemented into their daily operations, Lightspeed helps dealers increase their profitability by selling more units, service, and parts, all while creating a more streamlined experience for customers. For nearly 40 years, Lightspeed has been empowering 4,500+ dealers across North America with the tools and technology they need to manage their dealerships.

The Payments Operational Manager is responsible for the operational health, stability, and efficiency of the company’s integrated payments offering across powersports, RV, marine, and related industries. This role owns the processes, controls, and oversight that ensure merchants are onboarded efficiently, transactions flow correctly, funds are settled accurately, risk is managed, and performance targets are achieved.

Partnering closely with the Payment Solutions Team and other Lightspeed teams, this role translates payments strategy into day-to-day execution, serving as the cross-functional leader for payments operations across Product, Engineering, Finance, Risk/Compliance, Customer Support, and external partners.

What you'll Do:

• Own day-to-day payment operations, including transaction monitoring, exception handling, and issue escalation for in-person and card-not-present payments across the platform.
• Manage and optimize merchant onboarding workflows (KYC/KYB, underwriting, approvals, declines) in a PayFac or PayFac-as-a-Service operating model.
• Oversee settlement, funding, and reconciliation processes, partnering with Finance and Accounting to ensure timely, accurate payouts to dealers and alignment with financial reporting.
• Develop, document, and continuously improve standard operating procedures (SOPs), SLAs, and playbooks that support scalable, high-quality payments operations.
• Monitor operational health at the client, region, and system-wide levels, proactively identifying anomalies, incidents, and trends that impact dealers or end customers.
• Lead triage, escalation, and resolution of operational issues, coordinating across internal teams and external partners to restore service and communicate clearly with stakeholders.
• Establish and maintain dashboards and reporting for key operational and commercial metrics, including authorization rates, funding timelines, exception volumes, chargebacks, and SLA adherence.
• Own the definition, tracking, and reporting of performance criteria for the payments business: margin achievement, revenue, growth, and retention.
• Prepare and present regular performance updates (weekly/monthly/quarterly) for the executive and senior leadership teams, highlighting trends, risks, and recommended actions.
• Collaborate with Risk and Compliance to maintain controls for fraud monitoring, disputes, and regulatory requirements (PCI-DSS, KYC/KYB, AML).
• Partner with cross-functional teams to turn operational and financial insights into product and process improvements that drive margin expansion, adoption, and reduced churn.
• Support training and enablement for internal teams on payments processes, tools, and best practices.

What you should have:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, operations, or a related field.
• 4+ years of experience in payments operations, merchant acquiring, PayFac/PayFac-as-a-Service, fintech, or card processing operations.
• Strong understanding of payment processing flows (authorization, capture, settlement, refunds, chargebacks) for both in-person and online/card-not-present transactions.
• Familiarity with PCI-DSS, KYC/KYB, AML, and related regulatory and compliance requirements in payments.
• Demonstrated ability to build, document, and improve operational processes in a scaling or high-growth environment.
• Strong analytical and reporting skills, with a track record of owning and improving metrics tied to margin, revenue, growth, and retention.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills, with experience partnering closely with Product, Engineering, Finance, Risk, and Customer Support.

Preferred experience

• Experience in dealer-centric or high-ticket retail industries such as powersports, RV, marine, or automotive.
• Hands-on experience with merchant onboarding, underwriting, and/or monitoring in a PayFac or PFaaS environment.
• Background working with dealer management systems (DMS), SaaS platforms, or embedded payments in B2B or B2B2C contexts.
• Prior experience helping to stand up or scale a payments program, including defining KPIs, implementing tools, and building small, high-performing teams.

Inclusion and Diversity at Lightspeed:

At Lightspeed, we celebrate the uniqueness of every individual and encourage diverse perspectives. We believe that inclusion drives innovation and fosters meaningful connections. We are committed to building an environment where everyone feels valued and empowered to make an impact.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:

Lightspeed is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, creed, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, religion, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected category.

Important Note:

Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S.

Ready to apply?

Take the next step in your career—apply today and join a team where your skills will make an impact!