Lead Product Manager - Payment Platform

The Company

PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. 

We operate a global, two-sided network at scale that connects hundreds of millions of merchants and consumers. We help merchants and consumers connect, transact, and complete payments, whether they are online or in person. PayPal is more than a connection to third-party payment networks. We provide proprietary payment solutions accepted by merchants that enable the completion of payments on our platform on behalf of our customers.

We offer our customers the flexibility to use their accounts to purchase and receive payments for goods and services, as well as the ability to transfer and withdraw funds. We enable consumers to exchange funds more safely with merchants using a variety of funding sources, which may include a bank account, a PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products, a credit card, a debit card, certain cryptocurrencies, or other stored value products such as gift cards, and eligible credit card rewards.  Our PayPal, Venmo, and Xoom products also make it safer and simpler for friends and family to transfer funds to each other. We offer merchants an end-to-end payments solution that provides authorization and settlement capabilities, as well as instant access to funds and payouts. We also help merchants connect with their customers, process exchanges and returns, and manage risk. We enable consumers to engage in cross-border shopping and merchants to extend their global reach while reducing the complexity and friction involved in enabling cross-border trade. 

Our beliefs are the foundation for how we conduct business every day.  We live each day guided by our core values of Inclusion, Innovation, Collaboration, and Wellness. Together, our values ensure that we work together as one global team with our customers at the center of everything we do – and they push us to ensure we take care of ourselves, each other, and our communities.

Job Summary:

This job contributes to Payment processing optimization at PayPal.
In this role, you will sit at the intersection of technical teams within PayPal as well as PayPal card processing business units to understand customer needs around best in class authorization rates. The role involves collaborating with multiple internal stakeholders as well as customers to deeply understand, tackle and build Payment capabilities interfacing with card networks, processors and issuers to enhance authorization rates.
This job is an individual contributor.

Job Description:

Essential Responsibilities:

• Inputs to product strategy with cross-functional stakeholders consistent with the shared vision for the product or enabling platform.
• Implements the architectural roadmap that balances innovative design and technical implementation, while balancing regulatory requirements, time-to-market, meeting customer needs and product profitability.
• Controls for the customer experience and customer needs in product requirements and as an input to decision making.
• Monitors metrics that inform the success of products including usability studies, research and market analysis.
• Manages one or more workstreams to include analytics, customer discovery, market research and competitive analysis to drive data-driven decision-making.
• Monitors product profitability measures, including budget.
• Participates in operational mechanisms that drive execution and accountability including Product Reviews, Operating Reviews, and Business Reviews. Interfaces with product and technology leadership as needed.
• Partners with content developers, data scientists, product designers and user experience researchers.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 5+ years relevant experience and a Bachelor’s degree OR Any equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Drive authorization rate strategy and roadmap for enterprise customers, identifying and prioritizing initiatives across network tokenization, smart retry logic, 3DS2 optimization, and payment routing to maximize transaction approval rates and revenue recovery
• Own strategic relationships with top customers, conducting deep-dive analyses of their payment performance, decline patterns, and authorization metrics to develop customized optimization plans and drive measurable improvements in approval rates
• Lead cross-functional initiatives spanning engineering, data science, risk/fraud, and payment operations teams to design, build, and launch authorization rate enhancements including ML-powered retry logic, dynamic routing, and exemption frameworks
• Partner with payment processors, networks, and technology vendors to evaluate and implement cutting-edge solutions such as network tokens, account updaters, and adaptive authentication while staying current on industry best practices
• Define success metrics and reporting frameworks for authorization performance, establishing dashboards, KPIs, and business cases that quantify revenue impact and communicate ROI to executive stakeholders and customers
• Evangelize authorization optimization as a revenue driver across the organization, educating internal teams and customers on emerging technologies, regulatory requirements (PSD2/SCA), and strategic opportunities to reduce false declines and involuntary churn

Preferred Qualifications:

• Strong technical product skills and expertise working on card processing in the industry
• 6+ year experience with  technology product management
• Bachelors degree in a technical discipline, MBA a plus.

Subsidiary:

PayPal

Travel Percent:

0

-

The base pay for this role will depend on where you work and the relevant experience and expertise you bring. The expected range of pay for this role by location is:

Primary Location | Pay Range:

San Jose, California | ($176,500.00 - $262,350.00 Annually)

Additional Location(s) | Pay Range:

No other locations are assigned to this requisition currently.

Additional compensation for this role may include an annual performance bonus, equity, or other incentive compensation, as applicable.

PayPal does not charge candidates any fees for courses, applications, resume reviews, interviews, background checks, or onboarding. When making an application directly, we will never ask you to share passwords, one-time passcodes (OTP), or verification codes.  Any such request is a red flag and likely part of a scam. All communication regarding your application will come from official PayPal email domains. If you suspect fraudulent activity, please report it immediately.  To learn more about how to identify and avoid recruitment fraud please visit https://careers.pypl.com/contact-us. 

For the majority of employees, PayPal's balanced hybrid work model offers 3 days in the office for effective in-person collaboration and 2 days at your choice of either the PayPal office or your home workspace, ensuring that you equally have the benefits and conveniences of both locations.

Our Benefits:

At PayPal, we’re committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy. And we can’t do this without our most important asset-you. That’s why we offer comprehensive, choice-based programs, to support all aspects of personal wellbeing—physical, emotional, and financial—delivering meaningful value where it matters most. We strive to create a flexible, balanced work culture with a holistic approach to benefits, including generous paid time off, healthcare coverage for you and your family, and resources to create financial security and support your mental health.

Who We Are:

Click Here to learn more about our culture and community.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion 

PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.  In addition, PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.  If you are unable to submit an application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at paypalglobaltalentacquisition@paypal.com.

Belonging at PayPal: 

Our employees are central to advancing our mission, and we strive to create an environment where everyone can do their best work with a sense of purpose and belonging. Belonging at PayPal means creating a workplace with a sense of acceptance and security where all employees feel included and valued. We are proud to have a diverse workforce reflective of the merchants, consumers, and communities that we serve, and we continue to take tangible actions to cultivate inclusivity and belonging at PayPal.

Any general requests for consideration of your skills, please Join our Talent Community.

We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates. Please don’t hesitate to apply.