Senior Manager, Merchant Services

About the role

This role will lead the commercial, financial, and strategic management of the payments portfolio. Own complex provider negotiations, optimize payment economics and performance, strengthen risk and control, and ensure negotiated value is implemented and measured. Partner across Finance, Technology, Product, Procurement, Legal, and Commercial teams to shape future payments strategy and deliver sustainable business outcomes. Your day to day Own end-to-end strategy and execution for complex negotiations with card schemes, acquirers, payment service providers, and gateways, including deal structure, pricing, incentives, service levels, and commercial terms. Translate payment contract terms and provider proposals into P&L, margin, cash, and unit economics impacts; build robust financial models that clarify revenue, cost, and risk trade-offs. Actively optimize the payments portfolio across routing, pricing, providers, and operating models; identify and close fee leakage and performance gaps. Use hotel-level and portfolio data to improve authorization rates, chargebacks, pricing consistency, service performance, and provider accountability. Own the payments control agenda across fraud, PCI, scheme rules, disputes, and chargebacks while balancing control, guest experience, and cost. Establish clear governance, decision rights, RACI, and escalation paths across a multi-owner environment without slowing delivery. Align Finance, Technology, Product, Procurement, Legal, and Commercial stakeholders behind a single negotiation and implementation strategy. Ensure negotiated outcomes are implemented, tracked, and realized, including rates, routing changes, incentives, SLAs, savings, and performance improvements. Reset standards and build capability in underperforming environments; foster a challenger culture that tests provider and internal assumptions when economics do not stack up.   What we need from  Demonstrated success leading complex payment negotiations and owning deal strategy end-to-end. Deep payments ecosystem experience across acquiring, interchange, scheme economics, gateway models, PSPs, and provider operating models. Proven record of delivering measurable savings, improved commercial terms, and payment performance improvement. Experience operating across Finance, Technology, Product, Procurement, Legal, Commercial, and external provider stakeholders. Experience resetting standards, improving an underperforming environment, and building team or organizational capability.   Travel - minimal required Location - Our hybrid work structure is an expectation of three (3) days a week in the ATLANTA office. This expectation may be adjusted to evolve with the changing needs of the business. #LI-SM   At IHG, we’ve made a promise. As one of the world’s leading hotel groups, we’re here to deliver True Hospitality for Good. Making our guests and colleagues feel welcome, cared for, recognised and respected – wherever they are in the world. Want to be part of the journey?