About Planet
Planet is a global provider of integrated technology and payments solutions for retail and hospitality customers.
We create great experiences for the millions of people who use our payments, software, and tax-free solutions every minute of every day.
Planet empowers its customers to deliver great customer experiences by combining payments and software in ways that drive greater loyalty, increase revenue and save time.
Founded over 35 years ago and with our headquarters in London, today we have more than 2,500 employees located across six continents serving our customers in more than 120 markets.
Role Overview:
The Merchant Data Steward safeguards the quality of new merchant data as it is captured into Salesforce, acting as the gatekeeper at the point of entry. The role ensures that only complete, accurate, and logically valid data is admitted, preventing the downstream data pipe from being degraded by poor-quality inputs.
Operating as a key part of the merchant onboarding process, the Steward enforces mandatory-field and data-quality standards on opportunity and merchant records, working closely with the Onboarding team and partnering with the Data Architect in the Architecture team.
This role is critical to sustaining the gains of the merchant Hierarchy Programme cleanse and to enabling a shift from reactive data correction to disciplined, quality-by-design data capture.
What you will do:
1. Data Gatekeeping & Quality Control at Point of Entry
- Act as the controlling gate for all new merchant data entering Salesforce
- Reject incomplete, inaccurate, or illogical data before it enters the live data set
- Define, apply, and continuously improve data-quality standards, validation rules, and acceptance criteria
- Protect the integrity of the data pipe, preventing it from being degraded by poor-quality inputs
2. Merchant Onboarding & Opportunity Acceptance
- Serve as a key participant in the merchant onboarding process, building quality in from the first point of capture
- Review opportunity records submitted by the Commercial team
- Decline records unless all mandatory fields are populated with logical, valid information
- Provide clear, consistent feedback on why a record is returned and what is required for acceptance
3. Collaboration with the Onboarding Team
- Work closely with the Onboarding team to embed data-quality checks within the onboarding workflow
- Align gatekeeping controls with onboarding timelines to support smooth, timely merchant set-up
- Resolve data issues early, acting as the data-quality point of contact throughout onboarding
4. Partnership with the Data Architect & Hierarchy Programme
- Work closely with the Data Architect (Architecture team) to protect hierarchy data quality
- Ensure data feeding the Hierarchy Programme cleanse is not degraded by weak onboarding process
- Apply the agreed definitions, standards, and validation logic defined by the Data Architect
- Sustain data quality on an ongoing (BAU) basis once the cleanse is complete
5. Data Quality Monitoring & Continuous Improvement
- Monitor, measure, and report on data-quality metrics, trends, and recurring issues
- Identify root causes and drive process improvements at source
- Escalate systemic data-quality problems for resolution
- Maintain documentation of data definitions, mandatory-field rules, and stewardship procedures
6. Stakeholder Engagement
- Data Architect & Architecture team
- Champion a culture of data quality across functions
- Resolve cross-functional disagreements on data standards and acceptance
Accountabilities
- Quality, completeness, and logical validity of new merchant data entering Salesforce
- Enforcement of mandatory-field and acceptance criteria on opportunity records
- Integrity of data feeding the Hierarchy Programme cleanse and its ongoing upkeep, jointly with the Data Architect
- Timely, constructive feedback to the Commercial and Onboarding teams
Who you are:
Core Expertise
- Hands-on experience with Salesforce, particularly merchant, account, and opportunity data
- Strong understanding of data-quality principles, validation, and data governance
- Payments industry knowledge — a sound understanding of merchants, transactions, and merchant hierarchy structures
- Meticulous attention to detail and a low tolerance for incomplete or ambiguous data
- A confident gatekeeper, able to hold the line and return non-compliant records constructively
Domain & Technical Experience (Preferred)
- Experience in the payments, fintech, or financial services industry
- Exposure to data hierarchy, master-data, or data-cleanse programmes
- Familiarity with data-architecture concepts and working alongside data architects
- Reporting and dashboarding for data-quality metrics
Leadership & Behavioural
- A clear communicator who gives actionable feedback to commercial and onboarding stakeholders
- Pragmatic, delivery-focused, and outcome-driven
- Comfortable influencing without direct ownership of source systems
- Collaborative — works effectively across business and technical teams
Role Positioning
- Located within the Finance Transformation function
- Operates within a hybrid model:
- Commercial captures opportunity and merchant data
- Onboarding sets up new merchants
- The Data Architect governs the data model and hierarchy
- The Merchant Data Steward enforces data quality at the gate
- Reporting line, grade, and location to be confirmed
What This Role Is / Is Not
This role IS:
- The quality gatekeeper for new merchant data entering Salesforce
- A key part of the onboarding process, working closely with the Onboarding team
- Jointly responsible, with the Data Architect, for protecting Hierarchy Programme data quality
This role is NOT:
- The owner of the Salesforce platform itself
- The owner of the enterprise data model, which sits with the Data Architect
- A commercial / sales or data-engineering role
Success Measures
- Reduction in data-quality defects originating at onboarding
- A high proportion of merchant and opportunity records accepted first time, with all mandatory fields valid
- Hierarchy data integrity sustained post-cleanse, with no degradation attributable to onboarding
- Faster, cleaner merchant onboarding through early resolution of data issues
- Timely, high-quality feedback to the Commercial and Onboarding team.
Why Planet:
Planet is an equal opportunity employer where diversity is valued, and all employment is decided based on qualifications, merit, and business need.
Come and grow your career in the most exciting, fast paced technology market, with a business that delivers feel-good connected commerce.
We would love to hear from you – Apply now.
At Planet, we embrace a hybrid work model, with three days a week in the office.
Reasonable accommodations may be made in order to allow for an individual to perform the essential functions of this role successfully.
