# Head of Engineering, Payments Platform
**Company:** [Airwallex](https://scaleengineer.com/companies/airwallex)
Head of Engineering for Airwallex's Payments Platform, leading architectural strategy and team development for a globally distributed payments infrastructure serving over 675,000 businesses. This Director-level role combines technical leadership, people management across multiple squads, and platform ownership across payment processing, routing, settlement, and partner integrations spanning North America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia-Pacific regions. Requires 10+ years software engineering experience with 5+ years in engineering leadership, demonstrated expertise in fintech/regulated industries, and exceptional ability to architect mission-critical, high-volume distributed systems.
**Role:** Engineering Manager
**Seniority:** Director
**Locations:** SG - Singapore
**Salary:** 384674–460000 USD
[Apply](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/airwallex/1df645e6-47a1-4317-808c-8ebc07af9f96)
Canonical: https://scaleengineer.com/jobs/airwallex/head-of-engineering-payments-platform
---
## Responsibilities

- End-to-End Platform Strategy and Architecture: Own the complete strategic direction, technical architecture, and product roadmap for Airwallex's Payments Platform, encompassing payment processing systems, intelligent routing engines, settlement infrastructure, reconciliation systems, and third-party partner integrations across multiple global markets and regulatory jurisdictions.
- Engineering Team Leadership and Development: Build, lead, and grow a high-performing engineering organization spanning multiple squads by managing Engineering Managers, mentoring senior technical talent, fostering a culture rooted in ownership, technical excellence, and continuous improvement, and developing future technical leaders within the organization.
- Technical Standards and System Design: Establish and enforce architectural standards for high-volume, mission-critical payment systems, ensuring implementation of best practices in reliability, observability, security, scalability, and developer productivity across all platform components.
- Execution and Delivery Management: Drive execution across multiple concurrent strategic initiatives while balancing competing priorities between short-term delivery commitments and long-term platform investments, operational health, and technical debt management.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration and Partnership: Partner strategically with Product Management, Commercial teams, Risk and Compliance functions, and regional engineering leaders to ensure Payments Platform capabilities directly support Airwallex's growth objectives, customer experience improvements, and evolving regulatory requirements across global markets.

## Requirements

### education

- {"name":"Computer Science or Related Field","description":"Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent technical discipline; advanced degrees welcome but not required given strong practical engineering experience."}

### technical

- {"name":"Distributed Systems Architecture","description":"Deep expertise in designing and operating large-scale, complex distributed systems including payment processing infrastructure, with demonstrated experience guiding architectural decisions for systems handling high transaction volumes and mission-critical operations."}
- {"name":"Financial Systems and Payments Infrastructure","description":"Proven technical experience with payment systems, settlement mechanisms, reconciliation processes, and financial data integrity requirements in production environments."}
- {"name":"System Design and Scalability","description":"Strong foundation in software architecture patterns, scalability principles, and system reliability engineering, with ability to architect solutions that maintain correctness and performance under extreme scale."}
- {"name":"Observability and Operational Excellence","description":"Hands-on experience implementing comprehensive monitoring, logging, and observability solutions for complex systems, ensuring visibility into system health and incident response across distributed infrastructure."}

### experience

- {"name":"Senior Software Engineering Leadership","description":"Minimum 10+ years in software engineering roles with at least 5+ years actively leading engineering teams, including direct people management experience with Engineering Managers, Engineering Leads, or equivalent senior technical personnel."}
- {"name":"Fintech or Regulated Industry Experience","description":"Proven track record working in fintech, financial services, payments infrastructure, or similarly regulated industries where correctness, data integrity, compliance, and risk management are foundational to system design and operations."}
- {"name":"High-Growth and Fast-Paced Environments","description":"Demonstrated success operating effectively in high-growth, fast-paced environments where ownership mindset, incremental improvement, speed of execution, and ability to make decisions with incomplete information are critical success factors."}
- {"name":"Team Building and Scaling","description":"Track record of successfully building and scaling high-performing engineering teams, recruiting senior talent, developing leaders, and establishing engineering cultures that emphasize technical excellence and ownership."}

## Skills

### required

- {"name":"Technical Leadership and Architecture","description":"Ability to define system architecture, establish technical vision, and guide teams through complex architectural decisions for distributed payment systems."}
- {"name":"People Management and Mentorship","description":"Proven capability in recruiting, developing, and retaining high-caliber engineering talent; experience managing managers or senior individual contributors."}
- {"name":"Product Thinking and Roadmap Definition","description":"Strong ability to partner with Product Management on strategic roadmap development, translate business requirements into technical initiatives, and balance product needs with technical investments."}
- {"name":"Operations and Execution","description":"Demonstrated ability to drive multi-team delivery across competing priorities, manage complex dependencies, and maintain operational excellence in mission-critical systems."}
- {"name":"Fintech/Payments Domain Knowledge","description":"Deep understanding of payment flows, settlement mechanics, compliance requirements, and financial data integrity principles specific to fintech infrastructure."}
- {"name":"Cross-Functional Communication","description":"Exceptional ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and collaborate effectively across Product, Risk, Compliance, and Commercial functions."}

### preferred

- {"name":"Global Team Leadership","description":"Experience managing distributed engineering teams across multiple time zones and geographic regions, with comfort navigating complex cross-cultural communication."}
- {"name":"Regulated Infrastructure Experience","description":"Prior experience working with regulatory bodies, compliance frameworks, or building systems under strict regulatory requirements (payments, banking, fintech)."}
- {"name":"Open Banking and API Infrastructure","description":"Experience with open banking platforms, REST/GraphQL API architecture, third-party integrations, and partner ecosystem development."}
- {"name":"Real-Time Systems","description":"Background in building real-time, low-latency systems or event-driven architectures relevant to financial transaction processing."}
- {"name":"Incident Management and Reliability","description":"Demonstrated expertise in establishing on-call programs, incident response frameworks, post-mortems, and Site Reliability Engineering practices for critical systems."}

## Tech stack

### tools

- {"name":"Datadog or New Relic","description":"Comprehensive observability, monitoring, and alerting for mission-critical payment systems across distributed infrastructure."}
- {"name":"Kafka","description":"Real-time data streaming and event processing for payment transaction pipelines and inter-service communication."}
- {"name":"Docker","description":"Containerization supporting consistent deployment and scaling across Airwallex's global infrastructure footprint."}
- {"name":"GitLab or GitHub","description":"Version control, CI/CD pipelines, and collaborative development workflows for distributed engineering teams."}
- {"name":"Terraform or CloudFormation","description":"Infrastructure as Code tooling for managing multi-region cloud infrastructure and deployment automation."}

### others

- {"name":"PCI-DSS Compliance Architecture","description":"Deep understanding of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard requirements and architectural patterns for secure payment processing."}
- {"name":"Financial Regulations and Compliance","description":"Knowledge of AML/KYC, sanctions screening, and varying regional financial regulations across North America, Europe, APAC, and Middle East markets."}
- {"name":"High-Frequency Trading Systems","description":"Experience with systems requiring sub-millisecond latency, high throughput, and extreme reliability for settlement and routing optimization."}
- {"name":"Multi-Currency and FX Management","description":"Technical understanding of multi-currency transaction processing, FX exposure management, and cross-border settlement mechanics."}

### databases

- {"name":"PostgreSQL","description":"Primary relational database for transaction data, settlement records, and financial reconciliation with ACID compliance requirements."}
- {"name":"Redis","description":"In-memory caching and session management for high-speed payment processing and rate limiting across global infrastructure."}
- {"name":"Cassandra","description":"Distributed time-series and ledger data storage supporting high-volume transaction logging and audit trail requirements."}
- {"name":"Elasticsearch","description":"Transaction search, analytics, and operational visibility across payment platform components."}

### languages

- {"name":"Python","description":"Backend service development and data processing pipelines commonly used in fintech infrastructure."}
- {"name":"Java","description":"Enterprise-grade backend systems, particularly for high-throughput payment processing and microservices architectures."}
- {"name":"Go","description":"Cloud-native services and concurrent system development for distributed infrastructure at scale."}
- {"name":"TypeScript/JavaScript","description":"Full-stack development with Node.js backends and modern frontend frameworks for partner and merchant dashboards."}

### frameworks

- {"name":"Microservices Architecture","description":"Distributed service patterns enabling independent scaling, deployment, and ownership of payment processing, routing, settlement, and reconciliation services."}
- {"name":"Event-Driven Architecture","description":"Event streaming and message queue patterns for asynchronous payment processing and real-time transaction tracking across global infrastructure."}
- {"name":"API-First Development","description":"RESTful and GraphQL API design for partner integrations, merchant interfaces, and internal service communication."}
- {"name":"Kubernetes Orchestration","description":"Container orchestration and deployment infrastructure supporting multi-region payment platform operations."}

## Benefits

### benefits

- {"name":"Competitive Equity and Bonus Structure","description":"Participate in Airwallex's equity program with performance-based bonus potential as part of comprehensive executive compensation package aligned with company growth."}
- {"name":"Comprehensive Health and Wellness Benefits","description":"Medical, dental, and vision coverage with wellness programs and mental health support across all office locations globally."}
- {"name":"Flexible Working Arrangements","description":"Hybrid and remote work flexibility with support for global teams across 27 offices, recognizing the need for occasional flexibility across time zones."}
- {"name":"Professional Development and Leadership Training","description":"Investment in executive coaching, technical conference attendance, and continuous learning opportunities to develop leadership capabilities."}
- {"name":"Global Relocation Support","description":"Relocation assistance available for candidates willing to relocate to co-headquarters in San Francisco, Singapore, or other strategic office locations."}
- {"name":"Inclusive Workplace Culture","description":"Equal opportunity employer with commitment to diversity, inclusion, and creating an environment where merit, qualifications, and talent are valued above all else."}

## Compensation

- **max:** 350000
- **min:** 250000
- **currency:** USD
- **stockOptions:** true

## Interview process

### steps

- {"name":"Initial Screening Call","description":"30-minute conversation with Talent Acquisition team to assess background, motivation for the role, and alignment with Airwallex's operating principles of ownership, speed, and first-principles thinking."}
- {"name":"Technical Assessment Discussion","description":"60-minute conversation with VP Engineering or Head of Platform to explore distributed systems design, payment infrastructure experience, and technical leadership approach to mission-critical systems."}
- {"name":"People Leadership and Culture Fit","description":"60-minute discussion with Chief Technology Officer or senior engineering leader to evaluate people management philosophy, team-building approach, and alignment with Airwallex's culture of ownership and accountability."}
- {"name":"Business and Product Acumen","description":"45-minute conversation with Chief Product Officer or VP Product to assess product thinking, ability to partner cross-functionally, and understanding of how technical decisions drive business outcomes."}
- {"name":"Executive Leadership Panel","description":"60-minute meeting with Head of Payments Platform or executive stakeholders to discuss strategic vision, execution capability, regulatory acumen, and ability to operate across global markets and regulatory environments."}
- {"name":"Final Executive Discussion","description":"30-minute conversation with CFO or Chief Executive Officer to discuss company strategy, role expectations, compensation, and cultural fit at executive leadership level."}

## Full description
## **About Airwallex**

Airwallex is the AI-native financial operating system for a real-time, intelligent economy. More than 675,000 businesses, including McLaren Racing, Qantas, SHEIN, and TikTok, use us, directly or through our platform partners, to run their financial operations or build and monetize financial products of their own.

We started in Melbourne in 2015 to build the infrastructure global commerce runs on. We're the regulated backbone behind global payments: not by accident, but by design. A decade plus, 85+ licenses, and a financial infrastructure spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

We're co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, with more than 2,700 people across 27 offices. We hire builders with founder-level energy, people who move fast with good judgment, dig in with real curiosity, and make calls from first principles rather than waiting to be told what to do. Read our[ operating principles](https://www.airwallex.com/en-us/operating-principles) to see it in full.

## How you'll make impact

Payments Platform turns global payment complexity into infrastructure that helps businesses accept and process money more simply. As Engineering Director, you'll combine people leadership, technical direction, and delivery ownership to build and operate critical components of the platform.

* Own the end-to-end strategy, architecture, and roadmap for Airwallex's Payments Platform, covering payment processing, routing, settlement, reconciliation, and partner integrations across global markets.
* Lead and grow a high-performing engineering organisation by managing and developing Engineering Managers and senior technical talent across multiple squads, while building a culture of ownership, technical excellence, and continuous improvement.
* Provide architectural direction for high-volume, mission-critical payment systems, setting high standards for reliability, observability, security, scalability, and developer productivity.
* Drive execution across multiple concurrent initiatives, balancing short-term delivery with long-term platform investments and operational health.
* Partner with Product, Commercial, Risk, Compliance, and regional engineering leaders to ensure platform capabilities support Airwallex's growth, customer experience, and regulatory requirements.

## What we're looking for

### Essentials

* 10+ years of experience in software engineering, with 5+ years in engineering leadership roles.
* Demonstrated experience in people management, including managing Engineering Managers or Engineering Leads, with a track record of building and scaling high-performing teams.
* Strong product thinking and the ability to partner closely with Product Management to define roadmaps, prioritise delivery, and drive business outcomes.
* Deep technical fluency in software architecture and system design, with experience guiding architectural decisions for large-scale, complex distributed systems.
* Proven ability to operate in fast-paced, high-growth environments where incremental improvement, ownership, and speed of execution are valued.
* Experience in fintech, financial services, payments, or a similarly regulated industry where correctness and data integrity are critical.

## You'll thrive here if

* You're comfortable owning the roadmap yourself.
* You own the outcome and you don't wait for permission to fix what's broken.
* You're comfortable making decisions with incomplete information and moving quickly anyway.
* You enjoy working closely with people across multiple countries and time zones as part of one connected, global team, including flexing your hours occasionally to make that connection work.
* You have experience at a fintech, payments company, or other highly regulated business.

## **Applicant Safety Policy: Fraud and Third-Party Recruiters**

_To protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for bank details, sensitive ID numbers (i.e. passport), or any form of payment during the application or interview process. All official communication will come from an @_[_airwallex.com_](http://airwallex.com) _email address. Please apply only through_ [_careers.airwallex.com_](http://careers.airwallex.com) _or our official LinkedIn page._

_Airwallex does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms/recruiters. Airwallex will not pay any fees to search firms/recruiters if a candidate is submitted by a search firm/recruiter unless an agreement has been entered into with respect to specific open position(s). Search firms/recruiters submitting resumes to Airwallex on an unsolicited basis shall be deemed to accept this condition, regardless of any other provision to the contrary._

## **Equal opportunity**

Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don’t regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.