Manager - Payment Operations

About the role

We are looking for a hands-on and analytically sharp Manager – Payment Operations to own the end-to-end payment processing, reconciliation, and settlement engine of our RBI-licensed Payment Aggregator (PA) and Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) business. You will ensure that every transaction flowing through our platform - across UPI, cards, net banking, wallets, and NACH - is processed accurately, settled on time, and fully reconciled. You will also anchor the recon and settlement operations for our card programme and manage fraud monitoring and dispute operations. This is a mission-critical role at the intersection of technology, finance, and operations.

What you'll do

Transaction Processing & Monitoring

Own the end-to-end transaction lifecycle - payment initiation, processing, success/failure handling, and final settlement - across all payment modes (UPI, cards, net banking, wallets, NACH/e-NACH).

Set up and maintain real-time monitoring dashboards for transaction success rates, latency, failure categories, and exception volumes; define and enforce SLA thresholds.

Investigate and resolve payment failures, stuck transactions, and gateway errors in coordination with technology and banking partners.

Track and report daily/weekly/monthly payment KPIs to senior management, flagging anomalies and root causes proactively.

Reconciliation & Settlement Operations

Own the full reconciliation suite: T+0/T+1 transaction recon, corporate reconciliation, switch settlement, PG settlement, TPAP recon, on-us recon, escrow monitoring, and failed transaction recon - ensuring zero unreconciled breaks at end-of-day.

Manage daily settlement cycles with acquiring banks, payment networks, and NPCI; ensure funds are received and disbursed within RBI-mandated timelines.

Coordinate with the Escrow & Banking Operations team for nodal account movements and settlement fund management.

Maintain accurate settlement MIS and provide inputs to the Finance team for revenue recognition and ledger entries.

Drive automation of reconciliation workflows; reduce manual intervention and exception handling time continuously.

Fraud Monitoring

Own real-time fraud monitoring across all payment channels - configuring rules, thresholds, and velocity checks in coordination with the risk and technology teams.

Investigate fraud alerts, suspicious transaction patterns, and anomalous volumes; escalate confirmed fraud incidents per defined protocols.

Track fraud rates by channel, merchant category, and transaction type; produce fraud MIS and trend reports for senior management.

Coordinate with card networks, banks, and law enforcement agencies as required for fraud investigations and recovery.

Dispute Management, Refunds & Chargebacks

Oversee end-to-end refund processing - ensuring timely initiation, tracking, and completion within RBI-mandated TATs.

Manage the chargeback and dispute resolution process with card networks (Visa, Mastercard, RuPay), banks, and merchants; maintain win rates and track patterns.

Define and enforce refund, chargeback, and dispute policies; maintain escalation matrices and merchant communication protocols.

Produce chargeback MIS and work with the Merchant Operations team on merchants with persistently high chargeback ratios.

Exception Handling & Corporate Reporting

Own the exception handling queue for all payment and recon anomalies - define triage rules, resolution SLAs, and escalation paths.

Prepare and submit corporate reports and RBI-mandated operational reporting (in coordination with the Compliance team) covering settlement, reconciliation, and payment performance.

Maintain detailed SOPs and runbooks for all payment operations, reconciliation, and fraud management processes.

Stakeholder & Vendor Management

Serve as the primary operational point of contact for payment gateway partners, acquiring banks, NPCI, and card networks.

Partner with the product and technology teams to define operational requirements for new payment features, integrations, and channel launches.

Manage SLAs with external vendors and partners; escalate and resolve operational issues with urgency.

What we're looking for

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Finance, Commerce, Business Administration, or a related field.

6–9 years of experience in payment operations at a payment aggregator, payment gateway, bank, or fintech company.

Deep understanding of Indian payment rails: UPI, IMPS, NEFT, RTGS, card networks (Visa/Mastercard/RuPay), net banking, and NACH/e-NACH.

Hands-on experience with end-to-end settlement reconciliation, T+0/T+1 recon, switch settlement, on-us recon, and chargeback management.

Working knowledge of fraud monitoring tools, rule engines, and dispute management processes.

Working knowledge of RBI PA Master Directions, NPCI operational guidelines, and nodal/escrow account mechanics.

Strong analytical skills; proficient in Excel/Google Sheets for MIS and reconciliation; SQL or BI tools experience is a strong plus.

High attention to detail with a zero-tolerance approach to reconciliation discrepancies.

Nice to have

Experience with payment reconciliation platforms (e.g. Fiorano, Intellect, in-house reconciliation engines).

Familiarity with API-level payment integrations and the ability to read payment logs for debugging.

Prior experience building or scaling fraud monitoring operations at a PA or card issuer.

Exposure to TPAP (Third-Party Application Provider) operations and UPI ecosystem settlement flows.