Product Director - Scheme Relationship Management

About Us:
The payments market is the most exciting technology market in the world today for good reason. McKinsey values it globally at over $2 trillion and it’s growing between 13-15% year-on-year. Some of the largest most dynamic brands are investing in this sector; Apple has ApplePay, Google has GooglePay, Amazon has AmazonPay, and it’s not just the Silicon Valley brands. Tencent owns WeChatPay, Alibaba owns Alipay and digital disruptors like Square, Stripe and Adyen all invest millions to grow the payments market.

Planet are a technology company that’s transforming payments by putting the customer experience first. We help our customers deliver a better experience for guests, shoppers, and consumers everywhere. We operate in a market that continues to evolve and expand, partnering with the world’s most prestigious brands across Retail and Hospitality, and with a network of Financial Services partners worldwide.

To meet consumer demands, payments must be simple, safe, and invisible. The only way to do this is to fully embed payments in the software and networks that runs business. By combining networks, software and payment technology, Planet’s creating a world of connected commerce, that makes payments feel good.

We’re growing organically, and with strong Private Equity investors, Advent International and Eurazeo, we’ve the financial capital and expertise to grow our capabilities and reach through acquisition.

Function Overview:
Planet’s Product & Technology team have a world class vision for pushing product innovation which helps reinforce Planet’s position as a revenue generating payments partner across the Retail, Hospitality, Food & Beverage and Parking verticals.

Planet operates a unique single payments platform that includes acquiring, processing, digital wallets, VAT refund and currency conversion services to deliver a better customer experience. Our Product & Tech team comprise of over 750 employees globally who all help drive the single platform vision, a key differentiator to other payment platforms in the market and deliver technical excellence both internally & externally for our customers.

Join us at Planet and be inspired by our overall technology expertise in enterprise architecture and digital transformation.

Role Overview:
The role will have responsibility for building and managing the Planet Group’s global relationships with payment schemes and alternative payment methods (APM). Working closely alongside Product, Commercial, Financial and Technical colleagues the role will define and execute the payment scheme and APM engagement strategy, ensure that the right relationships are developed and managed, and that projects supporting new scheme enablements geographical expansion are raised, prioritized and supported. In addition, the role will lead a team of scheme relationship management Product Managers and Product Owners.

It will be a requirement that the individual’s market knowledge be kept up to date through attendance to industry events, awareness of market trends and through frequent analysis of competitors.

What you will do:
Lead, motivate, mentor and coach the scheme relationship management team so it operates at its full potential
Own the development and management of our relationships with: Core payment scheme partners, including Visa, MasterCard, Amex, JCB, Diners/Discover & UnioPay
Alternative payment methods and wallets such as PayPal, Alipay & WeChatPay and Klarna etc.
Establish and maintain robust relationship management and commercial model with each scheme
Act as the main liaison between the schemes and Planet
Support geographical expansion activities and act as subject matter expert on all Scheme related initiatives
Provide Sales support and payment expertise as required
Be closely aligned and aware of market trends in the card schemes, plus acquiring and merchant services markets
Attend relevant card scheme industry events, working groups and webinars to ensure product and market knowledge is kept relevant and information is cascaded to appropriate colleagues
Where required assist in training and upskilling the product knowledge of relevant colleagues in the group through insightful presentations

Who you are:
Business/financial/technical/marketing university degree or equivalent would be valued
At least five years of senior payment scheme relationship management experience
Payment scheme, market and technology experience - preferably in card processing/acquiring/gateway
Experience managing a high-performing team
Experience in product lifecycle, managing release cycles and prioritisation
Analytical approach to complex problems, generating pragmatic solutions with consensus
Excellent verbal and written communication skills with customers, business and technical team members across the organization
Strong interpersonal skills and an effective communication style
Ability to effectively communicate and work in a distributed environment with colleagues located in different geographical regions across various levels of departments and organizations to facilitate meetings with a business and technical audience
Detail oriented planner with the ability to manage workload, capacity and prioritization with a structured approach
Pro-active and organized to function well and meet deadlines in a high-paced environment
Fluent in English (both oral and written)
UK based

Why Planet:
Planet is an equal-opportunity employer where diversity is valued, and all employment is decided based on qualifications, merit, and business need.

Come and grow your career in the most exciting, fast paced technology market, with a business that delivers feel-good connected commerce. We would love to hear from you

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