The Sr. Director, Enterprise Payments leads Choice Hotels enterprise payments business and go-to-market strategies, with accountability for payment economics, operational processes, partner performance, data enablement, and the multi-year operating roadmap. This leader aligns Procurement, Technology, SkyTouch, Security, Finance, Operations, Digital, Choice Privileges, Legal, Product, and Analytics teams around enterprise payment priorities and investment decisions. The role owns the consolidated payments profit-and-loss view and develops new revenue opportunities while improving payment experiences and value for franchisees and guests. The Sr. Director also serves as the strategic owner of Choice's payments ecosystem, including payment service providers, gateways, acquirers, card networks, banks, fraud and dispute partners, and international payment relationships. The role will initially establish and stabilize the function and, over time, build and lead a dedicated payments team as volume, complexity, and geographic scope grow.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Own Choice's enterprise payments strategy, business outcomes, go-to-market approach, investment priorities, and three-to-five-year capability portfolio.
- Set enterprise payment governance, decision rights, and scorecards so choices such as build versus buy, partner models, and domestic versus international sequencing are reviewed on a consistent cadence.
- Partner with Payments Product Owners and delivery teams to define and prioritize product roadmaps that deliver enterprise payment objectives.
- Provide strategic direction and business priorities to Product, Technology, Operations, and Analytics teams, serving as Choice's enterprise subject-matter expert for payments.
- Own the consolidated payments profit-and-loss view and partner with Financial Planning and Analysis to develop budgets, forecasts, sensitivity models, performance reporting, and recommendations for revenue growth and cost optimization.
- Develop business cases and go-to-market plans for new and adjacent opportunities, including digital wallets, multi-currency services, fraud products, points buying, alternative payment methods, payment optimization, embedded finance, working-capital solutions, and new commerce experiences.
- Serve as strategic owner of the full partner ecosystem, including payment service providers, gateways, acquirers, card networks, issuing and acquiring banks, fraud providers, tokenization partners, and other processing partners.
- Set the partner portfolio and commercial agenda; lead partner governance, quarterly business reviews, product-roadmap reviews, service-level oversight, issue escalation, and performance improvement.
- Track contractual rebates, commissions, compliance-related revenue, hotel migration timing, partner reporting accuracy, revenue leakage, pricing changes, volume commitments, token and device economics, and franchisee adoption against negotiated terms.
- Define the payment data Choice must receive, including required detail and frequency, and partner with Advanced Analytics, Choice Privileges, Security, and Legal on identity, consent, security, retention, and permitted uses.
- Manage the business direction and performance of payment operations, including authorization, settlement, uptime, conversion, fraud, AutoOTA reconciliation, chargebacks, disputes, and recurring service metrics.
- Monitor card-network requirements, regulatory developments, emerging payment methods, network tokenization, credential strategy, artificial-intelligence-enabled fraud tools, and agentic commerce to keep Choice's capabilities future-ready.
- Evaluate international requirements and local payment methods, and serve as the primary business contact for international affiliates as new markets are onboarded.
- Build the Enterprise Payments operating model, clarify roles and governance across functions, and recruit and develop team members as the organization expands.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Employment Experience
- At least 7 years of progressive experience in payments, financial technology, payment operations, product strategy, commerce, or risk management, including experience leading complex enterprise initiatives.
- Demonstrated experience developing payment strategies, commercial models, business cases, operating processes, and partner-governance programs.
- Experience managing cross-functional teams and influencing senior stakeholders across Product, Technology, Finance, Operations, Security, Legal, Analytics, and Commercial functions.
- Experience managing payment service providers, gateways, acquirers, processors, card-network relationships, fraud or dispute providers, and strategic vendor evaluations.
- People-leadership experience, including building or scaling a team or functional capability, is strongly preferred.
Technical Skills
- Strong knowledge of payment processing, gateway and acquiring models, payment economics, fraud prevention, tokenization, chargebacks, disputes, reconciliation, and payment data.
- Working knowledge of payment security, privacy, compliance, and card-network requirements, including PCI DSS and related control frameworks.
- Ability to develop and interpret financial models, forecasts, scorecards, service-level metrics, adoption models, and executive-level business cases.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and collaboration and project-management tools.
Additional Skills & Competencies
- Enterprise strategy and commercial acumen, with the ability to translate market and technology developments into measurable business outcomes.
- Executive presence and clear communication, including the ability to explain complex payment concepts and tradeoffs to varied audiences.
- Cross-functional leadership and influence, with the ability to establish decision rights and drive alignment without direct authority.
- Analytical problem-solving and sound judgment across revenue, risk, customer experience, partner performance, and investment decisions.
- Builder mindset with the ability to create structure, operating discipline, and organizational capability in an evolving environment.
Education Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in business, finance, economics, technology, hospitality, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
- Advanced degree or relevant payments, financial technology, risk, or product-management certification is preferred but not required.
SALARY RANGE
The salary range for this position is $175,000 to $205,000 annually. In addition to the annual salary, this role is eligible for an annual bonus based on the terms of Choice's Management Incentive Plan (MIP), as well as annual awards of Choice Hotels International common stock through Choice’s Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTI Plan).
Choice prioritizes our associate wellbeing by offering a comprehensive benefits program that is both competitive and flexible to help you achieve your wellbeing goals - here are just a few:
- Competitive compensation and benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage
- Leave and paid time-off for holidays, vacation, personal, family, volunteer, sick, jury duty, bereavement, military, and religious observance
- Financial benefits for retirement and health savings
- Employee recognition programs
- Discounts at Choice hotels worldwide
About Choice
Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), is one of the largest lodging franchisors in the world. With 7,500 hotels in 45+ countries and territories, we offer a range of high-quality lodging options in the upper upscale, upper midscale, midscale, extended stay, and economy segments. We’re the hotel company for those who choose to bet on themselves — the striver, the dreamer, the entrepreneur — because that’s who we are, too.
At Choice, we are united by the simple belief that tomorrow will be even better than today — for associates, our company, and our franchisees. At our worldwide corporate headquarters in North Bethesda, Maryland, at our technology center in Scottsdale, Arizona, and through our associates around the globe, every voice is heard and every idea is listened to, no matter what area of the company they come from. We are united in supporting the entrepreneurial dreams of our thousands of franchise owners, which propels us forward — giving our work at Choice a purpose larger than our business.
Our corporate office locations:
North Bethesda, MD — Located at Pike & Rose, our worldwide headquarters is less than 15 miles from Washington, D.C., one block away from the North Bethesda Metro station, with easy access to I-495, complimentary parking, electronic charging stations, restaurants and retail.
Scottsdale, AZ — Located at the northwest corner of Loop 101, the Scottsdale office is home to our technology, eCommerce and customer service organizations, with easy access to complimentary parking, electronic charging stations, restaurants and retail.
Minneapolis, MN — Select roles are based in our Minneapolis office on Highway 394, near the intersection with Highway 100, only five minutes from downtown.
Field/Remote — Select roles designated as field/remote will require associates to work from a home office, connecting virtually with Choice team members and leadership on Zoom, with possible required travel depending on the role.
Choice’s Cultural Values
Welcome and Respect Everyone | Be Bold | Be Quick | Listen | Be Curious | Show Integrity
Choice’s Leadership Principles
Act with Intention | Lead with Authenticity | Grow & Deliver
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