Senior Director, Operations - EU / UK

Marqeta
London, GB
Hybrid

Who this role is best for

Aimed at senior payments leaders who have scaled European operational teams in card issuing and network compliance, with hybrid London office presence.

Best fit for

  • Seasoned payments executive with 15+ years scaling European delivery teams.
    — “15+ years of experience leading Solution Engineering, Delivery, Implementation
  • Operational architect who integrates cross-functional teams into unified models.
    — “Proven experience integrating teams or building unified operating models
  • Card network expert comfortable owning Visa/Mastercard relationships end-to-end.
    — “Serve as Marqeta’s senior operational owner for European card network relationships

Things to consider

  • Hybrid schedule requires living within 35 miles of London.
    — “requires employees to be based within 35 miles of our London office
  • Tuesday/Thursday in-office days are non-negotiable.
    — “expected to work on-site two days a week, on Tuesday and Thursday

How to stand out

  • Quantify Time to Value improvements in past implementation roles.
    — “Demonstrated success reducing Time to Value and improving customer outcomes
  • Showcase card network certification experience in resume bullet points.
    — “Ensure operational readiness, certification compliance, and execution excellence
  • Prepare examples of unifying siloed delivery organizations.
    — “building unified operating models from multiple delivery organizations
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · CompanyLevel · Senior

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • scale-solution-engineering-and-delivery-organizations
  • build-standardized-solutions-framework
  • ensure-card-bin-delivery-operations
  • translate-market-strategy-into-team-structure
  • support-multi-year-growth-objectives
Typical background
senior-leadership-experienceoperational-excellencestrategic-vision

Skills & requirements

Required

Market-operationsSolution-engineeringDelivery-operationsProgram-implementationOperational-infrastructureTime-to-value-improvementsRevenue-growthCard-network-operationsBin-delivery-operationsCross-functional-integrationStrategic-growthOrganizational-scaling

Preferred

Network-rules-mandatesDelivery-insightsProduct-roadmap-input

Stack & domain

OperationsSolution EngineeringDeliveryProgram ImplementationCard NetworkBin DeliveryCard Network RelationshipsVisaMastercardNetwork RulesMandatesDelivery PlansComplianceScalabilityAutomationProcess SimplificationReusable Solution ComponentsOperational InfrastructureCustomer JourneyPre-sales SolutioningOnboardingImplementationExpansionOperational CulturePredictabilityAccountabilityQualityLeadershipStrategic VisionOperational RigorCollaborationCommunicationProblem-solvingData-driven MindsetFinanceFintech

About the role

Original posting from Marqeta via Greenhouse

Marqeta is looking for a Senior Director, Market Operations to lead our European go-to-market execution across Solution Engineering, Delivery, and Program Implementation. Reporting to the European Market Owner, you will own the end-to-end customer journey—from pre-sales solutioning through to program launch and expansion—while building the operational infrastructure needed to scale Marqeta’s European business.

This is a senior leadership role requiring both strategic vision and operational rigour. You will shape how Marqeta delivers for its customers in Europe, driving Time to Value improvements, enabling revenue growth, and ensuring excellence across our card network and BIN delivery operations.

NOTE: This is a hybrid role and requires employees to be based within 35 miles of our London office. You will be expected to work on-site two days a week, on Tuesday and Thursday, with the flexibility to work remotely on the other days.

The Talent team will share more details if selected for the "Recruiter" Interview. We'd love for you to join us!

The Impact You’ll Have

  • European Solutions Engineering and Delivery

Own and scale the Solution Engineering and Delivery organisations supporting issuer processing and program management customers across Europe.

Define clear engagement models with Sales and Account Management across the full customer lifecycle: pre-sales, onboarding, implementation, and expansion.

Build and maintain a standardized Solutions & Delivery framework that drives consistency, speed, and quality:

Measurable KPIs spanning Time to Value, delivery quality, predictability, and customer satisfaction.

Automation, process simplification, and reusable solution components.

Ensure all solution designs are scalable, compliant, and aligned to Marqeta’s product and market strategy.

  • Card BIN Delivery Operations

Own Marqeta’s Card BIN delivery teams in Europe, integrating people, processes, and governance into a unified operating model.

Standardise BIN onboarding, certification, and lifecycle management processes to ensure reliability and compliance.

Build a scalable BIN operating model that supports future growth in European volumes and program complexity.

  • Card Network Operations

Serve as Marqeta’s senior operational owner for European card network relationships (e.g., Visa, Mastercard).

Ensure operational readiness, certification compliance, and execution excellence across all network obligations.

Act as the escalation point for delivery, implementation, and network-related operational issues.

Translate network rules, mandates, and changes into clear, actionable delivery plans for internal teams.

  • Cross-Functional Integration

Drive tight alignment between Sales, Account Management, Solution Engineering, Delivery, and BIN Operations to create a seamless customer experience.

Eliminate handoff friction, duplicated effort, and unclear ownership across the customer journey.

Partner with Product, Technology, Compliance, Risk, and Legal to ensure solutions are deliverable, compliant, and scalable—and to feed delivery insights back into the product roadmap.

  • Strategic Growth and Organisational Scaling

Translate European market strategy into team structure, capacity models, investment priorities, and delivery excellence metrics.

Partner with Revenue Leadership to support multi-year European growth objectives and organizational development.

Build an operational culture grounded in predictability, accountability, quality, and continuous improvement.

Who You Are

15+ years of experience leading Solution Engineering, Delivery, Implementation, or Customer Operations teams in payments or financial services.

10+ years scaling and leading large customer-facing operational organisations in high-growth environments.

Deep expertise across the payments ecosystem, including one or more of: issuer processing, program management, card networks, and BIN sponsorship models.

  • Operational Excellence

Strong background in process design, operational transformation, and customer journey improvement.

Demonstrated success reducing Time to Value and improving customer outcomes through structured operational programs.

Proven experience integrating teams or building unified operating models from multiple delivery organizations.

  • Leadership and Influence

Track record of building and developing high-performance teams, including growing leaders and managers.

Ability to influence and build trust with senior internal stakeholders and external partners, including customers and card networks.

A strategic yet hands-on leader—equally comfortable setting vision and rolling up their sleeves to drive execution.

  • Ways of Working

Comfortable operating in a fast-moving, international, matrixed organization.

Strong communicator who can bridge the gap between technical delivery teams and commercial leadership.

High ownership mentality with a bias toward simplification, clarity, and getting things done.

Recruiter for this role

Lou Devlin - Linkedin Profile (no agencies please!)

Typical Process

Application Submission

Recruiter video call

Hiring manager video call

Virtual “Onsite” consisting of 4-5, 45 min calls

Presentation Round to team

Offer!

Compensation and Benefits

Premium Private Medical and Dental coverage

Generous time off program with additional “Floating Holiday days”

Retirement savings program with company contribution

Equity in a publicly-traded company and an Employee Stock Purchase Program

Monthly stipend to support our remote work model

Annual development stipend to support our people's growth and development

Family-forming benefits and up to 20 weeks of Parental Leave

Wellbeing programs i.e. Modern Health, HealthKick and much more…

About Marqeta

Marqeta is on a mission to change the way money moves. We’re one of the earliest enablers of embedded finance, a market opportunity sized up in the trillions. Our card issuing platform provides unprecedented flexibility and control for companies to issue cards, authorize transactions, and manage payment operations in real time. Marqeta is powering the most well known brands in the new economy (Block, Cash App, Affirm, Instacart, Doordash, Uber, Walmart, etc). You don’t need to be a Payments expert to join the Marqeta Team, let us help you with that.  This is the opportunity of a lifetime to work with innovators around the world and unlock equitable financial access for all.

Marqeta’s Values

– Solve for the Customer: With a deep understanding of our customers' business and empathy for their needs, we deliver products and services that drive their success. Earning and keeping their trust guides everything we do.

– Do What's Right: Knowing businesses and livelihoods depend on us, we pursue solutions that disrupt responsibly and deliver high-quality results that our customers count on. We own our work from start to finish.

– Simplify and Innovate: We approach challenges with curiosity and take smart risks. Innovation comes from finding better, simpler ways to achieve extraordinary outcomes.

– Win as a Team: We succeed together by embracing diverse perspectives and pushing each other to raise the bar. We lead with humility and set aside hierarchy to work as a team.

– Make it Count: We drive forward with focus and agility. With a sense of urgency and purpose, we get the job done, and done right.

Equal Employment Opportunity, Accommodations and Privacy 

Marqeta is an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive workplace that fosters belonging. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, lactation, childbirth, or related medical conditions), veteran status or uniformed service member status, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship or immigration status, physical or mental disability, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, genetic information (including testing or characteristics) or any other characteristic protected by applicable

Source: Marqeta careers (Greenhouse)

Similar roles