At Scalapay, we're shaping a **culture** with high standards, independent and critical thought, **innovation, ownership, and continuous learning**. We operate in a **fast-moving, tech-driven environment**, and we're looking for people who **thrive in change, think boldly, and take initiative.** If you're ready to** put your potential to the test** in a hiring process designed to spotlight exceptional talent, this is your chance to stand out and grow **with one of Europe's most ambitious fintech teams**.
- #MakeItHappen #PlayAsATeam #StayCurious #FocusOnCustomer._ **The** Mission**:
Scalapay is a regulated Payment Institution providing Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services across European markets. As a fast-growing fintech operating under strict compliance requirements (DORA, PCI-DSS, GDPR), we serve millions of customers and thousands of merchants across Italy, France, and other European countries. The Director of Payments will lead Scalapay's payment strategy and commercial operations, driving optimization across our multi-processor payment infrastructure and banking relationships. Reporting to the CTO and have a matrix reporting relationship to the CEO of Scalapay IP (our regulated entity), this role will focus on payment economics, vendor negotiations, and strategic partnerships while collaborating closely with the Payment Domain engineering team. This is a strategic and commercial role focused on maximizing payment performance, minimizing costs, and building the financial infrastructure to support our consumer lending expansion. **Key Responsibilities**:
**Payment Strategy & Economics**: - Define and execute payment strategy to maximize authorization rates while minimizing costs
- Own payment economics including processor fees, interchange optimization, and cost attribution




- Develop business cases and ROI analysis for payment initiatives and infrastructure investments
- Lead strategic decisions on payment routing, processor selection, and payment method expansion
- Drive payment performance analytics and KPI reporting to executive team
- Identify and evaluate emerging payment technologies and market opportunities **Commercial Management & Negotiations**: - Lead commercial negotiations with payment processors on pricing, terms, and SLAs
- Manage payment vendor relationships and contract renewals
- Negotiate interchange fees, scheme fees, and processing rates
- Build business cases for processor additions, changes, or consolidations
- Drive cost optimization initiatives across payment stack (target: 5-10% reduction annually)
- Establish and manage payment vendor governance and performance reviews **Core Banking & Settlement Strategy**: - Define merchant payout strategy leveraging SEPA rails and core banking platform
- Optimize settlement economics including timing, costs, and working capital impact
- Lead core banking platform vendor relationship and commercial optimization
- Support loan securitization from a payment and settlement infrastructure perspective
- Drive treasury efficiency through improved settlement processes and reconciliation
- Partner with Finance on payment operations P&L; management **Banking Relationships & Infrastructure**:



- Build and maintain relationships with banking partners supporting SEPA operations
- Lead strategic decisions on banking infrastructure and correspondent banking relationships
- Support securitization facility requirements with robust payment reporting and operations
- Navigate EU banking ecosystem (TARGET2, EBA Clearing) for optimal payment execution
- Drive compliance with SEPA scheme rules and EU banking regulations
- Represent Scalapay in banking industry forums and with financial institution partners **Stakeholder Management & Leadership**: - Partner with Product, Business, and Commercial teams on payment strategy alignment
- Provide regular updates to CTO and executive team on payment performance and commercial opportunities
- Represent payment function in board and investor discussions
- Lead cross-functional initiatives requiring payment expertise (e.g., securitization, market expansion)
- Communicate complex payment economics and trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders
- Build internal knowledge and capability around payment operations and economics **Required Qualifications**:
**Experience**: - 10+ years in payments, fintech, or financial services with progressive responsibility
- 5+ years in strategic/commercial payment roles (payment strategy, vendor management, business development)
- Proven track record leading commercial negotiations with payment processors and banking partners
- Experience managing multi-million dollar payment budgets and P&L; responsibility
- Direct experience with regulated financial services environments (Payment Institution, Bank, EMI)
- History of driving payment optimization and cost reduction initiatives
- Experience supporting securitization or asset-backed lending operations (preferred)
- Background in strateg

📌 Director of Payments (Milano)
🏢 Scalapay
📍 Milano