Director of Engineering, Merchant & Payments

About the role

Lead the technology strategy for Zip's Merchant & Payments domain, shaping the future of AI‑enabled commerce and modern payments architecture. You will work closely with Product, Design and Architecture leaders to deliver intelligent commerce experiences.

Key responsibilities

• Define and execute engineering strategy aligned with long‑term business goals.
• Lead evolution of merchant and payments platforms across onboarding, orchestration, trust, settlement and enablement.
• Partner with cross‑functional leaders to deliver seamless merchant experiences.
• Identify AI and emerging technology opportunities to enhance customer and merchant journeys.
• Build, mentor and inspire high‑performing engineering leaders and teams.
• Drive modern engineering practices, sustainable delivery models and operational excellence.
• Provide technical leadership for cloud‑native, distributed systems while ensuring resilience, security and reliability.

Required profile

• Extensive leadership experience scaling engineering organisations in fintech, payments or digital commerce.
• Deep expertise in modern payments architecture (orchestration, tokenisation, acquiring, fraud, trust, clearing, settlement).
• Proven ability to define technology strategy balancing platform evolution with commercial outcomes.
• Strong commercial acumen and experience influencing executive stakeholders.
• Demonstrated success building inclusive, high‑performing engineering cultures.

Required skills

• Modern payments architecture and payment orchestration.
• Cloud‑native architectures and distributed systems.
• AI application to improve customer or merchant experiences.
• AWS, Kubernetes and microservices architectures.

What we offer

• 25 days paid leave annually, including birthday and wellbeing days.
• Generous parental leave and family support policies.
• Wellness allowance, EAP, private health insurance discounts and fitness benefits.
• Paid volunteering leave, benefits hub and novated leasing options.
• Fee‑free Zip products and merchant partner discounts.
• Team social events, free daily breakfast and weekly lunches.