Senior Payments Specialist

Job description

Hello. We’re Teya. Teya was founded on a simple belief: local businesses deserve better. They are the cafés, restaurants, salons, shops and entrepreneurs that bring character to our high streets, create jobs and keep communities moving. Yet for too long, financial services has made life harder for them - with clunky tools, poor support and complexity that gets in the way of running a business. Teya exists to change that. We’re building a financial platform for local businesses across Europe - one built around simple tools, thoughtful design and real human support. Our Members rely on us to help them run their business with confidence, and that responsibility shapes the way we work. We move fast. We care about quality. We stay close to the detail. And we believe great performance and genuine hospitality should go hand in hand. If you want to build meaningful products, solve real problems and make a genuine difference for local businesses, we’d love to hear from you YOUR MISSION We are looking for a Payments Specialist to join our Financial Services team in London. This is a senior individual contributor role sitting at the intersection of product, operations, and scheme compliance. You will own Teya's participation in European and UK payment schemes — driving new connections, maintaining scheme compliance, and supporting the build-out of our payments infrastructure as we scale. The ideal candidate brings deep functional expertise across domestic and cross-border payment rails, has operated in or alongside tier-1 banks or payment networks, and can work across technical and commercial stakeholders to drive outcomes KEY RESPONSIBILITIES - Lead Teya’s direct and indirect participation in UK and European payment schemes, including Faster Payments, CHAPS, SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Direct Debit, and BACS. - Drive ISO 20022 migration activity — including MT to MX message mapping, scheme compliance, and tecEuropehnical implementation with engineering partners. - Own scheme rulebook adherence across , monitoring regulatory and standards changes from SWIFT, EBA, Vocalink, and the Bank of England. - Define and document functional requirements for payments platform changes, working alongside product managers and engineers. - Represent Teya in external sessions with schemes, central banks, and infrastructure partners (e.g. our banking infrastructure partner, Vocalink, SWIFT). - Conduct market research and support new product development across acquiring settlements, treasury, and real-time payments. - Support the build-out of Teya’s acquiring and banking settlement infrastructure, including reconciliation, exception handling, and payment operations tooling. - Provide subject matter expertise on cross-border payment flows, SWIFT GPI, FX payment frameworks, and high-value clearing systems. REQUIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE Essential - 8+ years in payments, with hands-on experience across multiple UK and European payment schemes (Faster Payments, CHAPS, SEPA, BACS, SWIFT). - Strong working knowledge of ISO 20022 — MT/MX message standards, CBPR+, and T2 RTGS migration. - Experience leading or contributing to direct scheme participation projects, including regulatory approvals and technical implementation. - Proven ability to write high-quality functional specifications and HLD/LLD documentation. - Strong stakeholder management skills — comfortable engaging with scheme bodies, central banks, and C-suite internally. - Fintech or financial services background, ideally with exposure to both banking infrastructure and merchant-facing or acquiring products. Nice to Have - Experience with the UK New Payments Architecture (NPA) and evolving Open Banking infrastructure. - Familiarity with tokenised payments, blockchain-based settlement, or digital currency frameworks. - Exposure to acquiring settlement flows, merchant reconciliation, or embedded finance products. - Background in quality engineering or testing within a payments context (e.g. SWIFT, SIT, UAT across core banking changes). The Perks - Physical and mental health support through our partnership with GymPass giving free access to over 1,500 gyms in the UK, 1-1 therapy, meditation sessions, digital fitness, and nutrition apps - Our company offers extended and improved maternity and paternity leave choices, giving employees more flexibility and support - Cycle-to-Work Scheme - Health and Life Insurance - Pension Scheme - 25 days of Annual Leave (+ Bank Holidays) - Office snacks every day - Friendly, comfortable, and informal office environment in Central London Teya is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, or background can thrive and do their best work. We believe that a diverse team leads to better ideas, stronger outcomes, and a more supportive workplace for all. If you require any reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process whether for interviews, assessments, or other parts of the application—we encourage you to let us know. We are committed to ensuring that every candidate has a fair and accessible experience with us.