Senior Payments Consultant

Waterhouse-Kern Associates is seeking either an interim or permanent Senior Payments Consultant to join an exciting consulting business which is growing and works with some very well established clients in the FinTech space.

About The Client

Our client is a specialist payments advisory firm and SaaS platform provider, focused exclusively on payment economics including scheme fees, interchange, merchant pricing for acquirers, scheme fee allocation and card portfolio profitability. They serve a sizeable client base globally including well-known financial services brands, fintechs and neobanks across Europe, APAC, North America and MENA. Their consultants bring 20+ years of hands-on practitioner experience and have delivered significant bottom-line benefits to their clients.

Services span two areas:

• Consulting — scheme fee reviews, interchange reviews, pricing model development, scheme incentive agreement support, merchant pass-through and pricing efficacy reviews, and issuer/acquirer portfolio profitability diagnostics.
• SaaS Platform — proprietary tools for ongoing scheme fee tracking and analysis, scheme announcement monitoring, and forecasting and accruals accounting.

Role Overview

Our client is growing its consulting team and is seeking a Senior Payments Consultant with deep expertise in payment economics, particularly international scheme fees and interchange, to join as a senior practitioner and SME contributor across client engagements.

This is a high-impact role within a specialist boutique advisory firm. The successful candidate will bring genuine subject matter expertise in the commercial economics of card payments, the analytical horsepower to develop rigorous financial models, and the communication skills to turn complex analysis into compelling client deliverables.

The role is flexible in terms of employment structure (permanent or contract) and location, and is suited to a senior individual who is equally comfortable working autonomously and as part of a collaborative team.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and contribute as a subject matter expert to consulting engagements across scheme fee reviews, interchange reviews, pricing model development, and portfolio profitability analysis.

• Own the development of high-quality analytical outputs — including Excel financial models, PowerPoint deliverable presentations, and written recommendations — to the standard expected by global financial institutions and leading fintechs.

• Manage engagement delivery workstreams from initial data gathering through to client presentation and implementation support, ensuring timely, accurate, and commercially impactful outputs.

• Act as a trusted advisor to clients, interpreting complex scheme economics in a clear, commercially relevant manner.

• Serve as a senior SME on Visa and Mastercard scheme fee structures, pricing manuals, invoice components, and cost optimisation levers — drawing on a deep repository of practical experience.
• Apply specialist knowledge of interchange qualification, rate optimisation, and product-level configuration to issuer and acquirer client mandates.
• Contribute to the development and maintenance of client's analytical frameworks and proprietary tools
• Contribute to client's thought leadership and market positioning through demonstrated expertise.

Experience Required

• 5–10 years of experience in a senior payments role with a direct focus on scheme fees and/or interchange economics.
• Strong hands-on experience with Visa and Mastercard scheme fees — including fee structure analysis, invoice reconciliation, cost optimisation, and billing.
• Deep understanding of interchange — rate structures, qualification criteria, acquirer-side optimisation, and issuer-side revenue enhancement.
• Commercial acumen and experience applying payment economics insight to real-world business decisions (pricing, profitability, negotiation).
• High degree of proficiency in Microsoft Excel, with demonstrated ability to develop and manage complex financial models independently.
• High degree of proficiency in Microsoft PowerPoint, with a track record of producing compelling, client-ready deliverable presentations.

Candidates from the following backgrounds are particularly encouraged to apply:

• Acquiring — pricing teams, scheme economics or scheme management functions, with direct exposure to interchange and scheme fee optimisation, management and reporting.
• Issuing — roles focused on scheme economics, cost management, incentive agreement management, or product-level P&L ownership.
• International Card Schemes — roles with a focus on pricing, interchange, scheme fee policy, or commercial economics.
• Payments Consulting — advisory or management consulting experience in payment economics is a plus, though not a prerequisite.

Skills & Competencies

• Analytical rigour: ability to work with large, complex datasets and translate granular fee-level data into clear commercial insight.
• Financial modelling: confidence in building, validating, and presenting complex multi-variable Excel models from scratch.
• Communication: ability to present sophisticated analysis clearly and persuasively to senior stakeholders, both written and verbally.
• Presentation: ability to present complex payment economics concepts confidently, compellingly, and professionally — translating technical analysis into clear, actionable insights for client audiences at all levels.
• Delivery mindset: structured, methodical, and deadline-focused — capable of managing multiple workstreams simultaneously.
• Intellectual curiosity: genuine interest in the commercial mechanics of card payments and the evolving scheme fee landscape.
• Collaboration: comfortable working within a small, high-calibre specialist team as well as independently with client counterparts.