Payments Partnership & Innovation Lead

Summary

Join M&S at a pivotal moment in the evolution of customer payments. As our leader for Payment Partnerships & Strategy, you'll own the relationships, economics and future direction of the payment services that power millions of customer transactions across stores and online. From managing strategic partnerships with acquirers, schemes and payment providers to shaping a forward-looking payments roadmap, you'll balance commercial performance, operational resilience and customer experience while driving innovation in areas such as digital wallets, Pay by Bank, Click to Pay and emerging payment technologies. This is a high-impact role with visibility across the business, influencing investment, strategy and supplier performance to ensure M&S remains commercially strong, customer-focused and future-ready.

What you'll do

• Own M&S's payment acceptance strategy and lead key partnerships across acquirers, card schemes and payment providers, ensuring strong commercial performance, operational resilience and an exceptional customer payment experience.

• Drive payment cost optimisation and commercial value, managing a multi-million-pound payments budget while identifying opportunities to improve performance, reduce costs and maximise return from supplier relationships.

• Lead the payment optimisation agenda, improving approval rates, reducing avoidable declines and enhancing customer journeys through initiatives such as routing, tokenisation, wallets and payment acceptance improvements.

• Shape the future of payments at M&S by identifying emerging trends, developing business cases and influencing investment in new capabilities including Pay by Bank, Click to Pay, NFC, digital wallets and other evolving payment technologies.

• Act as a senior payments SME and leader, providing strategic guidance, managing critical incidents and regulatory change, and influencing senior stakeholders across Finance, Technology, Product, Retail, Risk and Compliance to deliver business priorities.

Who you are

• You bring deep payments expertise, with experience managing payment acceptance across online and in-store channels, and a strong understanding of payment economics, processing, routing, tokenisation, settlement and optimisation strategies.

• You have a proven track record of managing strategic payment provider relationships, leading commercial negotiations, contract renewals and performance management to deliver measurable business value.

• You combine strategic thinking with execution, translating emerging payment trends and technologies into clear roadmaps, business cases and practical solutions that improve customer experience and commercial performance.

• You are a credible and influential stakeholder manager, able to communicate complex payment concepts to senior audiences, build alignment across teams and drive outcomes through collaboration.

• You are a recognised payments professional with strong knowledge of the regulatory and industry landscape, an active external network, and a passion for staying ahead of market developments and innovation.

What’s in it for you? 

Working at M&S means being part of something bigger - helping to deliver quality, value and service to millions of customers every day. We’re inclusive, fast-moving and always evolving, with a strong sense of purpose and a focus on doing the right thing.

Here are just a few of the benefits that make working here even more rewarding:

• 20% colleague discount on all M&S products and many third-party brands for you and someone in your household, available once you’ve completed your probation

• Competitive holiday allowance with the option to buy more

• Discretionary bonus schemes linked to your performance and ours

• Strong pension and life assurance to help plan for the future

• Tailored induction and training to support your development from day one

• Exclusive perks and savings through our M&S Choices portal

• Market-leading family policies, including parental, adoption and neonatal leave

• 24/7 wellbeing support, including virtual GP access and mental health services

• One paid volunteer day a year to support a cause that matters to you

Everyone’s welcome 

We are ambitious about the future of retail. We’re disrupting, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We’re transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make change happen.

We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together.

If you feel you'd benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don’t hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.

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