About the Role

We are looking for an experienced and commercially minded Senior Manager to lead the merchant

operations function. This is a leadership role with end-to-end ownership of the merchant lifecycle

from acquisition and onboarding to KYC compliance, merchant activation, and ongoing account

operations.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned payments professional who understands the nuances of merchant

onboarding at scale (from tea stalls to large corporates), brings strong regulatory and compliance

awareness, and has a proven track record of building and developing high-performance operational

teams. You will serve as the operational backbone of the merchant operations, partnering closely with

Sales, Product, Compliance, and Banking teams ensuring merchants journey as seamless,

compliant, and commercially impactful.

Key Responsibilities

Merchant Lifecycle &; Operational Compliance

• Own the full merchant lifecycle at Paytm scale from merchant application, KYC Due

diligence, and KYC/KYB processing through to activation, configuration, ongoing account

management

• Ensure accuracy, completeness, and timeliness across all merchant onboarding stages,

maintaining the highest standards of compliance and quality control.

• Design and govern onboarding workflows across merchant tiers and channels, adapting

processes to accommodate varying risk profiles, business models, and payment corridors.

• Act as the senior escalation point for complex merchant cases, disputes, and onboarding

exceptions requiring cross-functional resolution.

• Ensure all merchant onboarding and lifecycle operations are conducted in strict alignment

with KYC/KYB frameworks, RBI guidelines, FEMA regulations, and applicable laws of land.

• Oversee periodic merchant reviews, risk-triggered reassessments,



and self-initiated

documentation audits to maintain a clean and compliant merchant portfolio.

• Oversee operational workflows supporting domestic and International acquiring and payment

flows, including settlement, reconciliation, and exceptions.

• Partner with Banking and Product teams to ensure operational readiness for new corridors,

payment products, and acquiring partnerships.

• Monitor gateway and acquiring performance metrics, flagging issues and driving resolution in

coordination with technology and banking partners.

Process Excellence &; Operational Governance

• Design, document, and own SOPs across the end-to-end merchant lifecycle covering all use

cases (from tea stall to large enterprise across India and abroad), ensuring they are

consistently followed and regularly reviewed.

• Lead root-cause analysis (RCA) on onboarding failures, escalations, and SLA breaches;

implement robust corrective actions and track resolution effectiveness.

• Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement across all levels of

the team.

• Build and maintain operational dashboards tracking merchant onboarding health, TAT,

exception rates, and SLA performance

• Serve as the primary operational interface between Merchant Operations and internal teams

including Sales, MHD, Product, Compliance, Finance, and Tech





• Manage banking partner and third-party vendor relationships relevant to merchant

onboarding, ensuring quality, compliance, and cost-effectiveness.

• Oversee operational budgets and forecasts for the merchant operations function; identify and

implement cost efficiency opportunities.

Experience &; Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive experience in payments operations or fintech, with at least 5 years

in a leadership role managing multi-functional operations teams.

• Demonstrated, hands-on experience owning merchant onboarding, KYC/KYB operations, and

merchant lifecycle management at scale.

• Robust working knowledge of payment acquiring, cross-border payment corridors, and

associated compliance frameworks (RBI, FEMA, SWIFT).

• Bachelors degree in Business, Finance, or a related field; MBA or equivalent postgraduate

qualification strongly preferred.

Skills & Competencies

• Deep domain expertise in merchant operations Onboarding workflows, KYC/KYB

regulatory compliance, Risk tiering, AML KYC framework and lifecycle governance.

• Strong analytical capability with the ability to interpret operational data, identify trends, and

translate insights into actionable decisions.

• Excellent leadership, coaching, and people development skills — experienced in managing

large, diverse operational teams.

• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with confidence engaging

across senior leadership, banking partners, and regulatory interfaces.

• Proficiency in Excel / Google Sheets and Data Visualization tools, Intelligence tools (Tableau,

Power BI, or equivalent); SQL is an advantage.

• Six Sigma / Lean certification or equivalent process excellence credentials preferred.

📌 Senior Manager - Operations (Noida)
🏢 Paytm
📍 Noida