Director, Payments & Risk Operations

Who is Halcyon Labs ? Halcyon Labs provides the first and only client experience platform for appointment-based, self-care businesses. We empower our customers to give their clients more of the magical moments that matter most. Before launching in 2016, our founders spent months interviewing salon managers and working behind front desks to understand their pain points so we could design a modern, user-friendly platform that meets the unique needs of their business. Our roots may be in hair salons, but we are built for the broader self-care industry, including many types of salons, spas, medspa, barbershops, and more. Our technology not only helps our customers survive but thrive. Take a look at how we (and YOU) can make that happen . We have an insatiable curiosity and embrace experimentation. We believe that simple solutions require the most sophistication, and we design each and every detail to maximize potential, power, and impact. Do our values match? Read through our story and what we value the most . Our team values and celebrates our diverse backgrounds. Being open about who we are and what we do allows us to do the best work of our lives. We believe in equal opportunity for all, and you should too. Come do the best work of your life at Halcyon Labs . Halcyon Labs is redefining how salons and spas run their businesses, and payments are core to that mission. Our integrated payments platform processes billions of dollars annually, is scaling rapidly, and underpins the trust our customers place in us every day. Halcyon Labs Payments is an industry-leading vertical payments platform. We are a registered payment facilitator processing billions annually and growing rapidly. This role owns the operating system behind that engine: merchant onboarding, underwriting, transaction monitoring, disputes, and payments operations. This is a senior, high-impact position responsible for operational payments performance and scalability. It sits in the center of operations, risk, and revenue growth. You will own the build-out of a truly AI-native payments operation — where automation is the default and human judgment is reserved for what machines can't handle — while driving ARR growth and margin. What you'll do here: Payments Operations System Own the full lifecycle: onboarding, pricing, underwriting, monitoring, disputes, and support Define and operate against core metrics: approval rates, loss rates, false positives, time-to-decision Build a highly instrumented, scalable system with clear feedback loops — including monitoring for decision quality, and failure modes — and drive continuous improvement AI, Automation & Decisioning Reimagine the payments operations stack as an AI-native system, where humans manage exceptions, not volume Build and deploy agent-based workflows, LLM-assisted investigation tools, and real-time decisioning at scale Continuously raise the bar for what AI-forward operations looks like in a PayFac context Partner with Product and Engineering to ship internal AI tooling that compounds over time, as well as select external vendors Portfolio Performance Own portfolio-level losses, balancing growth, protection, and customer experience Thoughtfully evolve Halcyon Labs 's risk appetite and control frameworks in partnership with the GM Fintech Design and refine underwriting and monitoring strategies; proactively identify and address emerging risks Partner Management (Internal & External) Ensure adherence to applicable regulations, card network rules, and PayFac requirements Partner with Legal and Compliance to maintain strong control frameworks, audits, and reporting Manage relationships with acquirers, processors, and banking partners; represent Halcyon Labs credibly in external risk discussions Cross-Functional & Team Leadership Serve as the central accountability point for Payments Operations across Product, Engineering, CX, Sales, and Finance Translate operational insights into product and policy improvements Lead a high-performing team across underwriting, risk, and compliance ops — evolving from manual processing to system oversight and exception handling What you'll need to thrive: 10+ years in operations, with 7+ years in payments, fintech, and/or risk; significant PayFac experience strongly preferred Demonstrated success building AI-native decisioning systems — agent workflows, rules engines, ML-assisted approaches — that improved outcomes Deep expertise in payments, acquiring, and/or risk underwriting, fraud, chargebacks, and transaction monitoring Proven track record of owning portfolio-level performance with clear accountability for loss rates, approval rates, and operational efficiency Proven ability to lead operational evolution — moving teams from manual workflows to system oversight Senior-level experience engaging with external partners (acquirers, processors) and cross-functional partnerships across Product, Engineering, Legal, and Compliance At Halcyon Labs , we work hard to structure compensation in a way