Commercial Initiatives Product Manager - Payments - Vice President

Lead the design and execution of high-priority strategic initiatives for Merchant Services, with a flagship mandate to stand up a new Deal Desk capability for the commercial organization. In this role, you will operate as a trusted thought partner to commercial leadership, translating the Merchant Services Commercial Group's strategic initiatives into structured workstreams, building the frameworks and governance needed to scale the commercial function, and driving execution across a portfolio of special projects.

As VP, Commercial Initiatives within Merchant Services (Payments), you will be directly impacting the pipeline and Deal Desk effort across a core group of Managing Directors within Merchant Services, acting as a hands-on partner who removes friction, surfaces the right data, and ensures the initiative serves their day to day commercial reality, not just a top-down mandate.

Job responsibilities

- Lead the design and stand up of the Deal Desk, including defining scope, workflow, governance, and decision criteria; building the operating model from the ground up in partnership with Pricing, Risk, Legal, and Finance.

- Serve as a hands on, servant leader partner to key Managing Directors across Merchant Services whose businesses are directly impacted by the pipeline and Deal Desk effort, proactively understanding their priorities, pressure points, and workflows to ensure the initiative is built with them, not just for them.

- Own a portfolio of special projects on behalf of the MS Commercial Group, translating ambiguous strategic initiatives into structured workstreams with clear objectives, milestones, owners, and success metrics.

- Build governance and operating frameworks that scale with the commercial organization (e.g., intake processes, escalation paths, decision rights, prioritization criteria), incorporating direct input from MD stakeholders.

- Drive cross functional alignment across Coverage, Pricing, Risk, Legal, Finance, and Technology, ensuring initiatives are properly resourced, sequenced, and delivered.

- Act as a senior thought partner to commercial leadership, shaping strategy, surfacing risks/opportunities, and recommending paths forward on high visibility initiatives.

- Develop executive level communications and materials (strategy decks, business cases, steering committee updates) that clearly convey progress, decisions needed, and outcomes for both commercial leadership and impacted MDs.

- Identify new opportunities for commercial effectiveness, proposing and leading additional initiatives as the function matures.

Required qualifications, capabilities, and skills

- 7+ years of experience or equivalent expertise in commercial strategy, business management, deal structuring/deal desk, product/commercial operations, or strategic program leadership, ideally within Payments or financial services.

- Demonstrated ability to build a function or capability from scratch, including defining process, governance, and stakeholder workflows.

- Strong track record advising and influencing senior stakeholders (e.g., Managing Directors, business heads) with sound judgment, discretion, and executive presence, including in a service oriented, non direct authority capacity.

- Proven experience leading complex, cross functional initiatives with multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.

- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with experience producing executive ready strategic materials.

- Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint (and strong Word skills).

Preferred qualifications, capabilities, and skills

- Direct experience with deal desk, deal structuring, or pricing approval workflows in a commercial or sales organization.

- Familiarity with pipeline governance and prioritization frameworks within a coverage led commercial environment.

- Experience operating in Payments or Merchant Services, or adjacent commercial banking/coverage functions.

- Track record of standing up new teams or functions and scaling processes as organizations grow, with a collaborative, service minded leadership style.

- Comfort partnering with Risk, Legal, and Finance stakeholders to build compliant, scalable commercial processes.