Enterprise Payments Senior Director
$175k - $205k/yr+ Annual bonus + Annual common-stock awards
Senior, Expert
Bachelor's
North Bethesda, MD, USA
In Person
Business & StrategyBusiness Operations
About the job
Requirements
- At least 7 years of progressive experience in payments, financial technology, payment operations, product strategy, commerce, or risk management, including experience leading complex enterprise initiatives.
- Demonstrated experience developing payment strategies, commercial models, business cases, operating processes, and partner-governance programs.
- Experience managing cross-functional teams and influencing senior stakeholders across Product, Technology, Finance, Operations, Security, Legal, Analytics, and Commercial functions.
- Experience managing payment service providers, gateways, acquirers, processors, card-network relationships, fraud or dispute providers, and strategic vendor evaluations.
- Strong knowledge of payment processing, gateway and acquiring models, payment economics, fraud prevention, tokenization, chargebacks, disputes, reconciliation, and payment data.
- Working knowledge of payment security, privacy, compliance, and card-network requirements, including PCI DSS and related control frameworks.
- Ability to develop and interpret financial models, forecasts, scorecards, service-level metrics, adoption models, and executive-level business cases.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and collaboration and project-management tools.
- Enterprise strategy and commercial acumen, with the ability to translate market and technology developments into measurable business outcomes.
- Executive presence and clear communication, including the ability to explain complex payment concepts and tradeoffs to varied audiences.
- Cross-functional leadership and influence, with the ability to establish decision rights and drive alignment without direct authority.
- Analytical problem-solving and sound judgment across revenue, risk, customer experience, partner performance, and investment decisions.
- Builder mindset with the ability to create structure, operating discipline, and organizational capability in an evolving environment.
- Bachelor's degree in business, finance, economics, technology, hospitality, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
Responsibilities
- Own Choice's enterprise payments strategy, business outcomes, go-to-market approach, investment priorities, and three-to-five-year capability portfolio.
- Set enterprise payment governance, decision rights, and scorecards so choices such as build versus buy, partner models, and domestic versus international sequencing are reviewed on a consistent cadence.
- Partner with Payments Product Owners and delivery teams to define and prioritize product roadmaps that deliver enterprise payment objectives.
- Provide strategic direction and business priorities to Product, Technology, Operations, and Analytics teams, serving as Choice's enterprise subject-matter expert for payments.
- Own the consolidated payments profit-and-loss view and partner with Financial Planning and Analysis to develop budgets, forecasts, sensitivity models, performance reporting, and recommendations for revenue growth and cost optimization.
- Develop business cases and go-to-market plans for new and adjacent opportunities, including digital wallets, multi-currency services, fraud products, points buying, alternative payment methods, payment optimization, embedded finance, working-capital solutions, and new commerce experiences.
- Serve as strategic owner of the full partner ecosystem, including payment service providers, gateways, acquirers, card networks, issuing and acquiring banks, fraud providers, tokenization partners, and other processing partners.
- Set the partner portfolio and commercial agenda; lead partner governance, quarterly business reviews, product-roadmap reviews, service-level oversight, issue escalation, and performance improvement.
- Track contractual rebates, commissions, compliance-related revenue, hotel migration timing, partner reporting accuracy, revenue leakage, pricing changes, volume commitments, token and device economics, and franchisee adoption against negotiated terms.
- Define the payment data Choice must receive, including required detail and frequency, and partner with Advanced Analytics, Choice Privileges, Security, and Legal on identity, consent, security, retention, and permitted uses.
- Manage the business direction and performance of payment operations, including authorization, settlement, uptime, conversion, fraud, AutoOTA reconciliation, chargebacks, disputes, and recurring service metrics.
- Monitor card-network requirements, regulatory developments, emerging payment methods, network tokenization, credential strategy, artificial-intelligence-enabled fraud tools, and agentic commerce to keep Choice's capabilities future-ready.
- Evaluate international requirements and local payment methods, and serve as the primary business contact for international affiliates as new markets are onboarded.
- Build the Enterprise Payments operating model, clarify roles and governance across functions, and recruit and develop team members as the organization expands.
Desired Qualifications
- People-leadership experience, including building or scaling a team or functional capability, is strongly preferred.
- An advanced degree or relevant payments, financial technology, risk, or product-management certification is preferred but not required.
About the company
Choice Hotels operates a global hotel franchising network with a range of brands from upscale to economy. Its model lets property owners use the brand name by paying fees, while gaining access to centralized reservations, marketing, loyalty programs, and standardized quality guidelines; owners still handle day-to-day operations. Unlike some competitors that own hotels, Choice Hotels primarily franchises or leases properties and supports growth through its brand system. Its goal is to expand its franchise network worldwide and provide reliable guest experiences and predictable opportunities for franchisees through a broad, tiered brand lineup.
Company Size
1,001-5,000
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
Rockville, Maryland
Founded
1941
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Second-quarter 2026 net income reached $64 million, with adjusted EBITDA up 6%.
- U.S. room openings rose 27% in Q2 2026, the best second quarter since 2019.
- Harvest Hosts expands Choice into outdoor RV travel with 11,200 host locations.
What critics are saying
- Choice faces a Maryland data-breach class action filed February 25, 2026.
- Judge confirmed Choice's $309,883 franchise award in August 2026, signaling persistent operator friction.
- A failed Harvest Hosts integration after the September 30, 2026 acquisition would waste $130 million.
What makes Choice Hotels unique
- Choice Hotels' 22-brand, 7,500-hotel platform spans economy through upscale globally.
- Choice Privileges now adds free points sharing, Titanium status, and milestone rewards.
- Choice's conversion-led model drives 77,300-room pipeline, 96% in extended stay, midscale, upscale.
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Benefits
- Health Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- Paid Vacation
- Paid Sick Leave
- Paid Holidays
- Hybrid Work Options
- 401(k) Retirement Plan
- Employee Discounts