Head of Acquiring and Open Banking Solutions (IT)

Description Hello, we're Starling. We built a new kind of bank because we knew technology had the power to help people save, spend and manage their money in a new and transformative way. We're a fully licensed UK bank with the culture and spirit of a fast-moving, disruptive tech company. We're a bank, but better: fairer, easier to use and designed to demystify money for everyone. We employ more than 3,500 people across our London, Southampton, Cardiff and Manchester offices. This is an exciting opportunity to join Starling's Customer and Banking team to build out and run our growing suite of acquiring solutions and open banking capabilities. T A our Head of Acquiring and Open Banking you'll act as the Solution Owner for Retail, helping our retail customers to efficiently and securely top-up their accounts, request money and make payments. You will support the Business Solutions team to help our SME customers get paid faster. You'll own the services, and work alongside Retail Bank, Business Bank and Starling Banking Services (SBS) teams to take the solutions to our customers. You'll also own our card acquiring relationships / solutions (e.g., Settle-Up / pay by card), open banking solutions (e.g., PIS / AIS) and direct debit origination and associated payouts/refunds capabilities. The role holder will work with our internal tech / product teams to compliantly build solutions, and complement our stack by bringing in leading technology service providers where appropriate. Key accountabilities: Acquiring ownership Act as the central technical lead for all acquiring services (card, DDO etc.), working alongside Business Solutions to run our payment partnerships. Manage the Bank's traditional card acquiring capabilities alongside the services' end-users in the Retail Bank, Business Bank and SBS. Act as the lead for merchant acquiring PCI-DSS Candidate profile: requirements. Manage related payout / refund / indemnity services. Open Banking solutions Alongside technology, run and develop our open banking Payment Initiation Services and our internal AIS capability Act as the SME for Starling's ASPSP participation, in particular PIS sweeping and future commercial VRP engagements Represent Starling at key industry events and forums, in particular Bank representation at the Open Banking Founding Funders Forum and other scheme commercial VRP opportunities Journey commercialisation Work collaboratively with colleagues in the Business Bank / Retail Bank / SBS to take the solutions to market Support with customer price setting (where relevant) and manage service costs Requirements Must have run scale card acquiring relationships on the merchant side, covering PCI-DSS Must have experience in PIS and AIS capabilities, across multiple use cases Must have knowledge of and experience in Direct Debit Origination services Proven payments vocation - must care passionately about payments, want to learn more and appetite to upgrade the Bank's understanding Consistently act with the highest ethical standards, ensuring decisions are always in the best interest of our customers, colleagues, and the bank. Lead by example, fostering a culture of trust and transparency across all levels Good to have Experience in collaborating effectively across a variety of business areas and ability to interact effectively with all levels. Diplomacy and emotional intelligence to build robust professional relationships at all levels Hands-on, resilient and adaptable to a fast moving environments Ability to communicate complex concepts and issues in a business-friendly manner to senior/executive management. Excellent verbal and written communication skills Benefits 25 days holiday (plus take your public holiday allowance whenever works best for you) An extra day's holiday for your birthday Annual leave is increased with length of service, and you can choose to buy or sell up to five extra days off 16 hours paid volunteering time a year Salary sacrifice, company enhanced pension scheme Life insurance at 4x your salary & group income protection Private Medical Insurance with VitalityHealth including mental health support and cancer care. Partner benefits include discounts with Waitrose, Mr&Mrs Smith and Peloton Generous family-friendly policies Incentives refer a friend scheme Perkbox membership giving access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly free and boosted perks Access to initiatives like Cycle to Work, Salary Sacrificed Gym partnerships and Electric Vehicle (EV) leasing