Vice President, Payments Platform Engineering

Are you ready to lead the next evolution of a global payments platform at a trusted financial services company? Are you passionate about designing scalable, secure, and innovative payment systems that power seamless money movement across the world? Are you interested in joining a globally diverse organization where your contributions are recognized and celebrated? Then it’s time to join Western Union as a Vice President, Payments Platform.

Western Union powers your pursuit.

In this critical leadership role, you will drive the strategy, architecture, and execution of our global payments platform. You will partner across Engineering, Product, Compliance, Risk, and Operations teams to deliver a high-volume, low-latency, secure, and compliant platform that powers our global money movement ecosystem. You will ensure the platform is modern, scalable, resilient, and capable of supporting a diverse range of payment methods and channels around the world.

Role Responsibilities

• Define and execute the strategic vision and roadmap for the payments platform, aligning with Western Union’s growth, innovation, and modernization goals.
• Lead and inspire a global team of engineers and architects responsible for building and evolving platform services.
• Ensure the platform supports a wide array of payment methods, including card, bank transfers, Real-Time Payments (RTP), and others.
• Partner closely with Product, Security, Compliance, Risk, and Business stakeholders to deliver capabilities that meet both regulatory requirements and customer expectations.
• Champion resiliency, observability, scalability, and performance through well-defined SLAs and SLOs.
• Drive reuse, extensibility, and modular design to serve multiple use cases across Western Union’s ecosystem.
• Play a key role in vendor evaluation, selection, and integration strategies where needed.
• Lead operational excellence efforts, including incident management, root cause analysis, and a culture of continuous improvement.
• Attract, develop, and retain top engineering talent while fostering a culture of innovation, ownership, and accountability.

Role Requirements

• 15+ years of experience in technology and financial services industries, with a strong focus on payments systems and platform architecture.
• 10+ years of experience in technical leadership roles, managing large, distributed, global engineering teams.
• Proven success delivering high-volume, high-speed payment platforms at scale.
• Extensive experience working with large-scale global payment solutions, supporting complex and diverse decision frameworks.
• Strong executive presence with a history of building cross-functional partnerships across technical and business functions.
• Demonstrated expertise in platform scalability, system integration, and payments modernization initiatives.
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, or a related field (Master’s degree preferred).
• Expertise in cloud-based platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, or hybrid environments).
• Hands-on experience implementing and managing DevOps (CI/CD) and Agile practices.
• Strong interpersonal communication skills, with a proven ability to foster collaboration and drive results in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• High energy, result-driven approach with a strong sense of urgency and commitment to excellence.

We make financial services accessible to humans everywhere. Join us for what’s next. 

Western Union is positioned to become the world’s most accessible financial services company transforming lives and communities. We’re a diverse and passionate customer-centric team of over 8,000 employees serving 200 countries and territories, reaching customers and receivers around the globe. More than moving money, we design easy-to-use products and services for our digital and physical financial ecosystem that help our customers move forward.  

Just as we help our global customers prosper, we support our employees in achieving their professional aspirations. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to learn new skills and build a career, as well as receive a great compensation package. If you’re ready to help drive the future of financial services, it’s time for Western Union. Learn more about our purpose and people at https://careers.westernunion.com/.  

Salary 

The on-target earnings range is $250,000 - $300,000 per year, which includes a base salary and short-term and long-term incentives that align with individual and company performance. Actual salaries will vary based on candidates’ qualifications, skills, and competencies. 

Benefits 

You will also have access to short-term incentives, multiple health insurance options, accident and life insurance, and access to best-in-class development platforms, to name a few 
(https://careers.westernunion.com/global-benefits/). Please see the below benefits specific to your location and note that your recruiter may share additional role-specific benefits during your interview process or in an offer of employment. 

Your US specific benefits include:  

• Flexible Time Off
• Medical, Dental, Vision, and Life Insurance
• Parental Leave
• 4% Western Union Contribution to 401K
• Employee Discount Program

Western Union values in-person collaboration, learning, and ideation whenever possible. We believe this creates value through common ways of working and supports the execution of enterprise objectives which will ultimately help us achieve our strategic goals. By connecting face-to-face, we are better able to learn from our peers, problem-solve together, and innovate.  

Our Hybrid Work Model categorizes each role into one of three categories. Western Union has determined the category of this role to be Hybrid. This is defined as a flexible working arrangement that enables employees to divide their time between working from home and working from an office location. The expectation is to work from the office a minimum of three days a week. 

For residents of Colorado, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania: Please do not respond to any questions on this initial application that may seek age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You may also redact this information from any materials you submit during the application process. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information. 

We are passionate about inclusion. Our commitment is to provide an inclusive culture that celebrates the unique backgrounds and perspectives of our global teams while reflecting the communities we serve. We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, religion, political affiliation, sex, (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, or veteran status. The company will provide accommodation to applicants, including those with disabilities, during the recruitment process, following applicable laws. 

Estimated Job Posting End Date:

This application window is a good-faith estimate of the time that this posting will remain open. This posting will be promptly updated if the deadline is extended or the role is filled.