At least 8 years of experience in financial operations, lending operations, payment operations, loan servicing, consumer finance, or a related field.
At least 3 years in a Director, Senior Manager, Vice President, or comparable leadership position.
Experience managing high-volume payment or billing operations.
Strong understanding of merchant processing, Automated Clearing House (ACH), credit card payments, chargebacks, refunds, reconciliations, and payment exceptions.
Experience managing offshore, outsourced, or business process outsourcing (BPO) teams.
Demonstrated experience creating and managing service-level agreements (SLAs) and operational key performance indicators (KPIs).
Experience negotiating with and managing financial vendors and service providers.
Strong process-improvement and operational problem-solving skills.
Experience with customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), payment, banking, or financial management systems.
Advanced reporting and analytical capabilities.
Demonstrated ability to build scalable processes in a fast-growing organization.
Ability to identify losses, control weaknesses, underperforming vendors, and automation opportunities in billing or payment operations.
Ability to take ownership of financial operations and continually improve accuracy, efficiency, scalability, and accountability.
Responsibilities
Oversee day-to-day financial operations, including billing, payment processing, reconciliations, refunds, chargebacks, and merchant processing.
Ensure funds move and reconcile accurately and on time across all systems and accounts, with controls to catch discrepancies, failed payments, billing errors, and duplicate transactions.
Manage relationships with merchant processors, payment providers, and banking partners; monitor fees, chargebacks, declines, and reserves; and reduce processing costs.
Oversee client billing, including payment plans, refunds, cancellations, credits, and account adjustments, and track payment trends affecting collections and cash flow.
Manage offshore and third-party finance teams, set service-level agreements and key performance indicators, and hold vendors accountable through regular performance reviews.
Document and improve financial workflows, standard operating procedures, and approval processes, and identify bottlenecks, financial leakage, and control weaknesses.
Partner with Technology to automate manual processes, improve system integrations, and support new payment platforms.
Build reporting and dashboards that give leadership clear visibility into financial operations.
Work with Sales, Operations, Compliance, Technology, and Client Services to resolve systemic billing and payment issues.
Lead the Finance Manager and financial operations team, set performance expectations, and serve as the escalation point for complex issues.
Provide executive leadership with analysis and solutions.
Desired Qualifications
Background in mortgage lending, auto lending, consumer lending, fintech, payment processing, or loan servicing is strongly preferred.
Director of Financial Operations
Location: Orange County, CA | On-site || Department: Finance || Employment Type: Full-time
About the Role
Tax Relief Advocates is seeking an experienced Director of Financial Operations to lead and strengthen the operational side of our finance organization. This is not a traditional accounting or FP&A position. We’re looking for a highly operational financial leader from mortgage lending, auto lending, consumer finance, loan servicing, fintech, payment processing, or another high-volume financial services environment.
You understand how money moves through a complex organization. You’ve overseen billing, payments, merchant processing, reconciliations, financial vendors, offshore teams, SLAs, reporting, and controls. In this role, you’ll work closely with executive leadership and oversee the Finance Manager. Together you’ll build scalable systems, processes, controls, and accountability across the organization.
What You’ll Do
Oversee day-to-day financial operations, including billing, payment processing, reconciliations, refunds, chargebacks, and merchant processing.
Ensure funds move and reconcile accurately and on time across all systems and accounts, with controls that catch discrepancies, failed payments, billing errors, and duplicate transactions.
Manage relationships with merchant processors, payment providers, and banking partners. Monitor fees, chargebacks, declines, and reserves, and reduce processing costs.
Oversee client billing, including payment plans, refunds, cancellations, credits, and account adjustments. Track payment trends that affect collections and cash flow.
Manage offshore and third-party finance teams, set clear SLAs and KPIs, and hold vendors accountable through regular performance reviews.
Document and improve financial workflows, SOPs, and approval processes. Identify bottlenecks, financial leakage, and control weaknesses.
Partner with Technology to automate manual processes, improve system integrations, and support new payment platforms.
Build reporting and dashboards that give leadership clear visibility into financial operations.
Work with Sales, Operations, Compliance, Technology, and Client Services to resolve systemic billing and payment issues.
Lead the Finance Manager and the financial operations team, set performance expectations, and serve as the escalation point for complex issues.
Bring executive leadership clear analysis and solutions, not just problems.
What You Bring
8+ years of experience in financial operations, lending operations, payment operations, loan servicing, consumer finance, or a related field.
3+ years in a Director, Senior Manager, VP, or comparable leadership position.
Experience managing high-volume payment or billing operations.
Strong understanding of merchant processing, ACH, credit card payments, chargebacks, refunds, reconciliations, and payment exceptions.
Experience managing offshore, outsourced, or BPO teams.
Demonstrated experience creating and managing SLAs and operational KPIs.
Experience negotiating with and managing financial vendors and service providers.
Strong process-improvement and operational problem-solving skills.
Experience with CRM, ERP, payment, banking, or financial management systems.
Advanced reporting and analytical capabilities.
Demonstrated ability to build scalable processes in a fast-growing organization.
The ability to look at a billing or payment operation and quickly see where money is being lost, where controls are weak, where vendors are underperforming, and what can be automated.
A builder’s mindset. You take ownership of financial operations and keep making them more accurate, efficient, scalable, and accountable.
Nice to Have
Background in mortgage lending, auto lending, consumer lending, fintech, payment processing, or loan servicing (strongly preferred).
Why You’ll Love Working Here
Impact - Every day, you’ll help real people escape financial stress and rebuild their lives.
Growth - We’re a rapidly expanding company with plenty of room for career advancement.
Supportive Culture - We value collaboration and continuous learning.
High Client Satisfaction - With thousands of 5-star reviews, our clients consistently praise our expertise and results.
We’re looking for passionate, driven individuals who want to make a real difference while building a rewarding career in a purpose-driven organization.
Compensation
Base Salary: $150,000 – $185,000 per year.
Bonus: This position is also eligible for a performance-based bonus.
Total Compensation: The final salary offered will depend on factors such as experience, skills, qualifications, and location.
The salary range represents the Company’s good-faith estimate of the base salary it reasonably expects to pay at the time of hire.
We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value diversity and encourage all qualified individuals to apply.