Vice President of Payments (High-Risk)

Phoenix is the Autonomous Commerce Platform for DTC Founders . We unify storefronts, checkout, payments, and operations into one platform where AI agents handle the operational grind and merchants focus on growth. We set out to build the "Shopify of Direct Response" and along the way recognized something bigger. Direct response is roughly a third of all ecommerce transactions, a trillion-dollar market chronically overlooked by Silicon Valley. The merchants who run it are obsessive about tooling. They live and die by velocity, conversion, and margin. They have no brand moats. They only compete on operations, which is exactly what makes them ripe for agentic disruption and the earliest, fastest adopters of AI agents in commerce. That insight reframed Phoenix from "the Shopify of DR" to the AI Agent Platform for DTC Founders. This is a category-defining bet, and we are running at it from a position of strength. Where We Are Today 8-figure ARR growing 100%+ YoY Strong unit economics and efficient growth Rapid merchant adoption and expanding market presence Backed by experienced operators and investors with a history of building and scaling successful businesses Why Now This is a rare opportunity for a technical leader to step into a company with proven revenue, product-market fit, an established team, and a large market opportunity. Three things make this an inflection point: Product-market fit is established. Demand continues to grow, merchant adoption is accelerating, and Phoenix is outperforming expectations. There is an opportunity to define a category. While many companies are building AI tools for commerce, few are focused on helping sophisticated DTC operators automate revenue-generating decisions at scale. Our customers are AI-ready. They adopt technology quickly when it drives measurable business outcomes, creating an ideal environment for agentic products. The Role We are hiring a Vice President of Payments to own Phoenix's high-risk payments business end to end, the P&L, the risk posture, the bank and processor relationships, and the operating engine that moves merchant volume. This is the most senior payments role at Phoenix. You will own underwriting, risk, payment operations, partner strategy, and payments GTM strategy (both revenue and product) as a single business rather than a set of separate functions. The Director of Payments Risk, along with the underwriting and risk teams, reports into this role. Phoenix processes for direct response ecommerce merchants within nutraceuticals, supplements, skincare, clothing, accessories, and subscription and continuity offers. That is deliberate. It is also unforgiving. The difference between a profitable portfolio and a terminated BIN is judgment, monitoring discipline, and the strength of your bank relationships. This role requires someone who already knows this industry. It is not a role where a generalist payments leader learns high-risk on the job. You should have lived through a VAMP or VDMP escalation, defended a portfolio in front of an acquirer, structured a merchant nobody else would board, and known when to walk away. You will work closely across: Merchant underwriting High-risk ecommerce and card-not-present Merchant acquiring and sponsor bank relationships Fraud and chargeback risk KYC/AML and compliance Payment operations, funding, and residuals Product, Sales, and Client Success What You'll Own Payments P&L Own the revenue strategy (ICP, pricing), cost, and margin of the high-risk payments business as a standalone business unit. Although the sales team does not report into you, you will have high influence on how we go-to-market. You will own: Processing revenue recognition, interchange, and net effective rate Merchant pricing and pricing governance Residual and revenue share economics with ISOs, agents, and referral partners Cost of processing, gateway, and vendor spend Loss reserves, write-offs, and net risk cost Contribution margin by merchant and by portfolio segment Forecasting and reporting that lets leadership see payments revenue, risk exposure, and margin in a single view Risk & Underwriting Own Phoenix's risk appetite and the policy framework that enforces it. This includes: Underwriting policy, approval authority, and escalation thresholds Reserve strategy, rolling holds, and processing limits Portfolio concentration limits by vertical, bank, and processor Chargeback and fraud thresholds and the remediation playbooks behind them Ongoing portfolio monitoring, periodic reviews, and offboarding decisions Client comms in collaboration with the Sales and Client Success teams The end goal is to keep the portfolio inside Visa and Mastercard monitoring program thresholds — VAMP, VDMP, VFMP, and MATCH/TMF, while volume continues to grow. Bank, Processor & Partner Strategy Own the relationships that determine whether Phoenix can board merchants at all. Sponsor bank and acquiring relationships: sourcing, negotiating, and defending them Processor, gateway, and orchestration partnerships Redundancy and diversification so no single bank or processor is a point of failure Schedule A negotiation, buy rates, and cost structure Audit readiness, ISO/MSP registration, and ongoing compliance reporting New market, new vertical, and new geography expansion Payment Operations Own the operating engine for the Payments team Merchant onboarding, KYC/KYB, activation, and time-to-board Funding, settlement, reconciliation, and residual accuracy Chargeback mitigation tooling including Ethoca, Verifi, VMPI, RDR, and CDRN Authorization performance, decline recovery, and payment routing SOPs, SLAs, dashboards, and the automation roadmap Payments as a Growth Engine Treat payments as a driver of merchant growth and Phoenix revenue, not a cost of doing business. Approval rate and authorization optimization Attach rate of Phoenix payments across the merchant base Payment product roadmap in partnership with Product Pricing and packaging that grow both merchant volume and Phoenix margin New payment types and rails where they serve merchants, including ACH, RTP, and alternative payment methods Team & Leadership Recruit, develop, and retain underwriters, risk analysts, and operations leaders Set clear performance standards and accountability systems Build a culture of precision, urgency, and ownership Serve as the executive voice of payments to the CEO, the board, banks, and partners What We're Looking For Required 8+ years in payments, merchant acquiring, or fintech, including at least 5 years directly in high-risk Proven ownership of a payments P&L, portfolio, or business unit, not solely a functional team Direct experience with ISO, MSP, PayFac, or sponsor bank models Existing relationships with acquiring banks, sponsor banks, processors, and gateways Deep working knowledge of Visa and Mastercard monitoring programs (VAMP, VDMP, VFMP, MATCH/TMF) and the corrective action each requires Demonstrated experience underwriting and managing high-risk ecommerce verticals such as nutraceuticals, supplements, skincare, peptides, and subscription or continuity offers Command of KYC/AML, PCI DSS, NACHA, and card network rules Experience setting reserve, rolling hold, and processing limit strategy at the portfolio level Track record of holding chargeback and fraud ratios inside card brand thresholds while growing volume Ability to make fast, independent, defensible risk decisions with incomplete information Experience building and leading underwriting, risk, or payment operations teams Strong analytical skills and fluency operating from portfolio data and dashboards Preferred Experience at an ISO, PayFac, high-risk acquirer, or payments-enabled commerce platform Experience standing up a new bank or processor relationship from scratch Experience recovering a portfolio from a monitoring program or bank remediation Experience with embedded payments, ISV, or platform payments monetization Familiarity with direct response, DTC, and subscription commerce Exposure to ACH, RTP, and alternative payment methods Experience in a fast-paced startup or high-growth payments environment Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, or a related field Leadership Traits We Value High ownership Decisiveness Strong recruiting and talent development capabilities Accountability Product judgment Calm under pressure Builder mentality Culture These are the values that guide how we operate: All In to Win — Operate with urgency, intensity, and a relentless bar for excellence. A Players Only — Only hire, develop, and keep A players. Protect talent density. Merchant First — Merchants are why we exist. Every decision measured by merchant impact. Entrepreneurial Spirit — Move like a Day One company. Fast, scrappy, hungry. Everyone owns. Execution Over Ego — Best ideas win regardless of source. Status and titles do not matter.