Interchange Specialist

About Highnote

Founded in 2020 by a team of leaders from Braintree, PayPal, and Lending Club, Highnote is an embedded finance company that sets the standard in modern card platform management. As an all-in-one card issuer processor and program management platform, we provide digital-first organizations with the flexibility to seamlessly issue and process payment cards, embed virtual and physical card payments, and integrate ledger and wallet functionalities—empowering businesses to drive growth and profitability.

We’ve raised $145M+ and have grown our team to 140+ employees. Headquartered in San Francisco, we’ve managed to build one of the most advanced payments teams in the industry, with team members in 25+ US states.

Operating through our core values of customer obsession, executional excellence, intentional inclusion, we’re helping businesses grow for the future by creating the payment products demanded by tomorrow, with the ability to solve for use cases that don’t exist yet.

We are fast-moving, hands-on, and strongly believe everyone deserves a seat at the table. We believe we’re unlocking incredible opportunities that can change the future of payments, as long as we have the right people to make it happen.

Job Description

The role oversees card network interchange analytics, strategy, optimization for both issuing and acquiring processing businesses and all activities, including proactive monitoring, reactive remediation, rebalances, and the development of scalable analytical and reporting infrastructure. The role incumbent will manage projects that will range from maintaining and enhancing interchange compliance processes, evaluating interchange trends, addressing internal & external inquiries related to Interchange, and supporting strategic issuing and acquiring processing initiatives across regions.

The ideal candidate brings strong technical and analytical capabilities, deep business acumen, and a passion for using technology and data to improve operational efficiency and compliance outcomes.

What you’ll be doing:

• Lead workstreams related to Highnote’s interchange compliance strategy & optimization collaborating with functional partners across the organization

• Oversee continuous monitoring of key drivers of interchange assessment and present insights and trends to senior leadership

• Identify, investigate, and resolve potential interchange processing issues that may result in financial or operational impacts to clients or Highnote

• Direct the development and maintenance of KPIs, dashboards, and analytical tools to support data‑driven decision‑making

• Maintain deep knowledge of Card Network(Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, PULSE, STAR, NYCE, Accel, Moneypass, Allpoint, CU24, Shazam and future card network partners) global interchange programs, industry developments, and subscriber trends to ensure interchange analysis and optimization strategy for Highnote remains effective and aligned with evolving business needs

• Be an active member of the Partner Operations team, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and operational excellence

• Develop and oversee interchange compliance monitoring tools, documentation libraries and the development lifecycle of internal systems

• Establish industry‑leading operational practices for anomaly detection, incident management, and end‑to‑end resolution across both issuing and acquiring processing business lines

What we are looking for:

• 10 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or at least 8 years of work experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters/ MBA/JD/MD) or at least 3 years of work experience with a PhD

• Advanced SQL proficiency with hands-on experience working with large datasets and building BI tools (e.g., Salesforce Reporting, PowerBI, Tableau)

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with experience in financial or statistical modeling and quantitative analysis

• Demonstrated ability to communicate strategy, influence senior stakeholders, and secure internal buy in through consistent execution

• Excellent collaboration and communication skills with strong executive presence

• Self-motivated, comfortable with ambiguity, and able to influence across multiple levels and global organizations

Bonus skills:

• 10 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or 7-8 years of experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 6+ years of work experience with a PhD

• Prior experience leading analytics, strategy, or technical teams

• Experience building scalable automated analytical models

• Experience in pricing analysis, corporate strategy, investment banking, or FP&A

• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment and adopt new technologies to solve business problems

• Strong interpersonal and leadership skills with the ability to build effective partnerships across global stakeholders

Why Highnote?

• We’re a startup that allows for our employees to truly build from the ground up and impact every layer of our organization.

• We’re a team of payments obsessed individuals. While some of us come from the fintech world, some of us don’t. We value the varied backgrounds and the diverse perspectives of our employees.

• We’re small on hierarchy and big on growth. We’re a flat organization that allows everyone to have direct exposure to our leadership team. We are looking for builders who thrive in ambiguity.

• We’re backed by Oak HC/FT, Costanoa Ventures, Adams Street Partners, Westcap, and Pinegrove Venture Partners. Angel Investors include Bill Ready (CEO at Pinterest) and Renaud Laplanche (Co-Founder & CEO of Upgrade).

Highnote benefits

• Flexible Paid Time Off

• 100% healthcare coverage + 75% coverage for dependents

• 401k program

• Paid Parental Leave: Up to 16 weeks paid leave for the birth parent, and up to 6 weeks paid leave for the non-birth parent

• Equity in Highnote

• Stipend to build out your home office; internet reimbursement

• At Highnote we have built a total rewards philosophy that includes fair, equitable, geo-based compensation that is performance and potential based. Our compensation packages are competitive based on robust market research and are a combination of a cash salary, equity, and benefits. In compliance with the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, the annual salary range for applicants is $125,000-175,000.

Please note that positions located in San Francisco are hybrid and include core working days of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in office. We provide flexible work options based on distance from our downtown SF office. Highnote believes in the power of face-to-face, personal connection. As a result, we prioritize in-person candidates.

Highnote is a diverse and inclusive company committed to growing a diverse and inclusive team. We invite people from all backgrounds and identities to apply. We do not discriminate based on gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, religion, age, national origin, citizenship, disability, pregnancy status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected by US federal state or local laws, or the laws of the country or jurisdiction where you work. Additionally, we encourage everyone to share which pronouns you wish for us to use when addressing you (i.e.: she/her, he/him, they/them, etc).