Vagaro

Compensation

Full Description

Why Vagaro? At Vagaro, we believe in fostering a collaborative and inclusive work environment where every team member can thrive. Our culture is built on innovation, continuous learning, and a passion for making a positive impact. We support our employees' growth and vision for themselves, offering opportunities for professional development and career advancement. Join us and be part of a team that values creativity, teamwork, and a commitment to excellence. Plus, we know how to have fun while getting the job done! What you'll Be Doing: The Director of Payment Operations & Financial Services owns the day-to-day execution and performance of Vagaro’s payments and embedded finance ecosystem. This is a hands-on operator role responsible for improving payment revenue and margin, optimizing transaction performance, strengthening risk outcomes, and ensuring operational readiness and compliance across card-present, card-not-present, ACH, and wallet-based payment solutions. This role also owns payments economics: forecasting, financial modeling, opportunity sizing, and executive-ready materials that drive decision-making. You will work closely with FP&A and Data teams, but you are expected to personally build and maintain key models, dashboards, and weekly leadership updates. You will partner tightly with a Payments Analyst who owns ongoing monitoring and reporting. Together, you will ensure Vagaro detects issues early, acts quickly, and continuously improves profitability and merchant experience. *This role is based onsite in Pleasanton, CA Monday through Friday* Compensation Base Annual Salary: $170,000 to $240,000 Annual Bonus: Up to 10% Your Impact: What you'll own (Core Responsibilities) 1) Payments Execution & Performance Management Execute Vagaro’s payments roadmap with clear milestones, owners, and measurable outcomes. Actively manage payments performance across POS, card-present, card-not-present, ACH, and digital wallet solutions. Own the core metrics that define success, including authorization rate, net yield, cost of processing, interchange impact, refund/void trends, dispute/chargeback rates, fraud loss, and funding performance. Identify revenue expansion, cost optimization, and margin improvement opportunities using rigorous analysis and clear prioritization. Build scenario models for pricing changes, partner economics, and new product launches; quantify ROI, margin impact, and operational requirements. Drive merchant adoption of Vagaro payment solutions through improved onboarding, performance, and support readiness. Accountable for achieving payments revenue, margin, and performance goals. 2) Operational Excellence & Reliability Improve operational scalability through documented processes, controls, and monitoring routines. Establish a consistent operating cadence (daily health checks, weekly KPI review, monthly close/performance review). Partner with Data/Engineering to improve reporting accuracy, data availability, and metric definitions (“single source of truth”). Ensure dashboards and alerts exist for key performance and risk indicators, with clear thresholds and escalation paths. Identify process gaps, define fixes, and drive implementation through cross-functional execution (Support, Risk, Product, Engineering, Finance). Own operational readiness for launches and changes (runbooks, training, support workflows, issue triage, post-launch reviews). 3) Financial Products & Embedded Finance Execute and scale embedded finance solutions such as instant payouts, lending/capital, BNPL, and other financial tools aligned to Vagaro customers. Evaluate product viability, risk exposure, and revenue contribution; track portfolio performance and provide recurring reporting. Manage relationships with banks, card brands, financial institutions, and fintech partners. Support commercial negotiations with processors and financial partners by preparing economic analysis and contract scenario evaluation. Identify new revenue opportunities and translate them into clear business cases with resourcing and timeline requirements. 4) Leadership, Cross-Functional Execution & Communication Lead and develop the Payments function with a strong bias toward ownership, accountability, and execution. Manage the Payments Analyst and ensure reporting, monitoring, and insights operate on schedule with high accuracy. Partner with Product/Engineering to improve the merchant payment experience and accelerate delivery of high-impact initiatives. Partner with Marketing/Sales to support payments adoption strategies and improve funnel performance. Partner with Risk & Compliance to ensure products meet regulatory, security, and brand standards. Prepare and present executive-ready KPI decks, business cases, and performance updates for senior leadership. Support enterprise and franchise payment programs to align location-level performance with platform economics. Operating Cadence (Expected Deliverables) Daily: Review payments health and exceptions (volume/margin shifts, auth rate drops, funding issues, elevated disputes/fraud). Ensure triage and ownership are assigned. Weekly: Publish a leadership KPI update with insights (what changed, why it changed, what we are doing next). Monthly: Complete performance review tied to close/variance, margin drivers, partner economics, and initiative impact tracking. Quarterly: Support partner reviews and strategic planning materials, including roadmap prioritization and investment cases. Success Metrics (How You’ll Be Measured) Improved net yield and margin through pricing discipline, cost optimization, and interchange/fee management. Improved authorization rates and transaction success, with clear root-cause resolution for declines and performance degradation. Controlled fraud and chargeback loss with measurable improvements in loss rates and operational handling. Reduced time-to-detect and time-to-resolve for material issues through monitoring, alerts, and crisp escalation paths. Strong execution of high-impact initiatives with predictable delivery and measurable outcomes. Reliable, trusted reporting where leadership spends time making decisions, not debating numbers. What you Bring: 6–10+ years of experience in payments, fintech, or financial services, with ownership of revenue-driving programs and operational outcomes. Strong analytical and financial modeling skills; experience building forecasts, scenario models, and business cases. Deep understanding of payment processing economics (merchant acquiring, pricing, processor fees, interchange/assessments, and yield drivers). Experience working with processors, card networks, and financial institution partners. Familiarity with risk management, fraud/chargebacks, and compliance requirements in financial services. Comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment with multiple concurrent priorities. Strong cross-functional leadership skills with Product, Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Support, Compliance, FP&A, and Data. Experience in SaaS, SMB-focused financial services, or verticalized payments is a plus. SQL/BI experience is a plus (or strong ability to partner effectively with analytics teams). Working Style (Important for This Role) High ownership and follow-through; willing to roll up sleeves and drive outcomes personally. Clear communicator who turns complex analysis into executive-ready recommendations. Operates with discipline: cadence, metrics, documentation, and accountability. Builds strong partnerships across teams and moves quickly when issues arise. Why You’ll Love Working Here: 💖 Attractive Compensation & Performance Bonuses: Enjoy a competitive salary paired with performance-based bonuses Generous PTO: 15 accrued days, plus 10 company holidays annually. Health & Wellness: Comprehensive healthcare, dental, and vision plans for you and your family. 🏥 Exclusive Perks: Discounts on attractions, theme parks, shows, sports events, movies, hotels, and more through TicketsAtWork. 🎟️ Beauty Perks: $30/month reimbursement for any Vagaro service, including health, beauty, or wellness treatments. 💅 Food Perks: $50 monthly stipend for our onsite microkitchen and a complimentary DoorDash DashPass subscription. 🍽️ Growth Opportunities: College Assistance Reimbursement, access to EAP & Work/Life Programs, and a LinkedIn Learning account. 📚 Financial Security: 401k program with 4% matching and optional life/supplemental insurance. 💰 Stay Active: Access to our on-site gym, flavored water dispenser, and basketball court to keep you fit and energized! 🏀 Equal Opportunity Employer: Vagaro is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and affirmative action employer. We foster an inclusive environment where individuals are evaluated without discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected by law. Privacy Policy: Your privacy matters! At Vagaro, we are committed to protecting your personal information. Before proceeding with your application, please review our Employee and Applicant Privacy Notice here. By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Privacy Notice, which outlines how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your information during the recruitment and employment process. Vagaro is an E-Verify employer. Learn more at www.e-verify.gov Learn More About Vagaro: Visit us at vagaro.com/pro and vagaro.com to learn more.]