Strategy and Operations Manager, Hearth Pay
About Hearth
Hearth exists because 50 - 80% of small businesses in the trades (roofers, plumbers, etc.) fail within their first five years. Our mission is to change that forever and empower small businesses to build and grow successful companies.
We've built an all-in-one platform that helps SMBs grow sales, protect profits, and save time. With over 10,000 customers, Hearth is a vertical SaaS platform powered by a financial services layer that is currently powering billions in home improvement projects. We are growing, profitable in our base case, and are working to disrupt a fragmented, underserved, and $600B market.
Backed by the same investors as SpaceX, Stripe, Palantir, AirBnb, Rippling, Affirm, Brex, and OpenAI (FoundersFund, 8VC, Human Capital), we aim to protect small business entrepreneurship in America, redefine what is possible in running a trades business in today's rapidly changing world, and bring forth a future where every small business owner in the trades can succeed.
Hearth Pay, our integrated payments product, makes it easy for small business contractors to get paid in a modern, seamless way while increasing profit margins by saving on processing fees. Hearth Pay has been growing organically, multiplies customer LTV, and dramatically increases the stickiness of the Hearth Platform. We have reached an inflection point and are looking for a strategic BizOps-oriented payments leader to own this business line, scaling volume from $150M to $1B+, while managing risk and ensuring efficient operations. You will be responsible for owning the P/L of this business line, working directly with the CEO and the executive team, building a world-class payments business, and collaborating with cross-functional teams.
This is a career-defining opportunity to truly own and scale a validated product and scale a significant growth-stage vertical saas fintech startup as we power a $600B / year market.
Your Mission
We are seeking a BizOps-oriented Head of Payments to take full ownership of HearthPay. The ideal candidate will have a background in payments and the ability to drive significant growth while improving profitability and managing risk.
What You’ll Do
- Take full-time ownership of HearthPay, measured by P/L and volume growth.
- Effectively manage all aspects and stakeholders within the payments product and business to execute strategic objectives.
- Create and implement risk processes to prevent issues in the HearthPay business.
- Collaborate with a Senior Product Manager to lead the Payments engineering pod.
- Achieve the ambitious goal of 50x current HearthPay volume, reaching $50B annually processed.
Key Responsibilities
- Manage Hearth Pay P&L in close collaboration with the Finance team, improving unit economics and owning forecasting.
- Track, maintain, and present key performance metrics in the Hearth Pay funnel as it relates to volume, risk, and overall health.
- Track and resolve negative account balances.
- Payments Operations and Risk Management
- Lead a team of payment specialists responsible for processing subscription and HearthPay disputes, reviewing high-risk transactions, and conducting KYC checks for new customers.
- Handle escalated transactions and disputes, resolving them in accordance with regulatory standards and internal policies.
- Design, build, and maintain a risk scoring model encompassing KYC, usage behavior, and transaction activity.
- Ensure risk scoring is paired with product controls to successfully reduce the risk of loss and fraud.
- Ensure all processes and payment flows are thoroughly documented.
- Payments Strategy & Growth
- Scale payments volume by partnering with a Payments Senior Product Manager to radically grow Hearth Pay transaction volume.
- Manage Hearth Pay vendors (payment processors, KYC tools, third-party data, advisors, integrations such as Coris, Stripe, Consultants, Alloy, LexisNexis, Justt).
- Partner with CS, Sales, and Marketing to continue growing payments volume and adoption through advertising, selling, training, and onboarding.
- Lead RFP process for potential Stripe replacement and manage any such transitions.
Who You Are
- Ideal early career experience in management consulting, investment banking, or analogous in tech industry.
- Strong BizOps background, preferably in payments.
- Experience implementing payments risk models and controls.
- Track record of scaling payment volume (2-3x or more).
- Familiarity with payments and KYC vendors.
- Close collaboration experience with payments product teams.
- Payments GTM or Product Marketing background is a plus.
- Early-stage startup experience.
- Super scrappy and high ownership - find a way to get things done, now.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
- Excellent project management and cross-functional leadership skills.
- Deep understanding of payment systems and risk management.
- Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution.
- Strong communication skills to work with various stakeholders.
- Experience in team leadership and stakeholder management.
- Embodiment of our core values of Truth, Mutual Benefit, Slope, and Competitive Greatness.
Why This Role Matters
This role offers a unique opportunity to be a key leader in the business who owns a high-conviction path to double the business, accelerate growth, and be a strategic driver of our mission to help small business contractors across America. You will play a critical role in scaling a technology that’s organically growing. If you fit the above criteria, want an opportunity to prove what you’re capable of, and are hungry to make a substantial difference in the growth of a company that’s changing the landscape for small businesses in the trades, we want to hear from you.
Our Core Values
- Truth: We value honesty and data. We seek to understand what is reality, so we can effectively respond to it.
- Slope: Rate of change over time. We hire and reward based on a team member’s potential, capacity, and growth-mindset, rather than a fancy resume.
- Mutual Benefit: The best outcomes happen when everyone wins - customers, team members, and the company. We seek to understand each other’s aspirations and create alignment to get there.
- Competitive Greatness: We desire an opportunity and environment from which to pull the greatest versions of ourselves out into the world, rather than just a “job”.
Location
This role will be located in NYC along with the rest of the technical Hearth team, the CEO, and other key roles in the business. Hearth believes in the energy, connection, and serendipity of in-person/hybrid work culture (3+ days/week) for builders who are committed to building innovative software and making a significant positive impact in the world.
Compensation:
Competitive salary based on experience, along performance-based bonuses and with a significant equity package.
Mission-driven, values-based culture.
Competitive pay.
Unmatched opportunities to learn and develop; front-row seat at a fast-growing tech startup.
Meaningful equity.
Medical, dental, and vision options.
401(k).
Free Employee Assistance Program.
Parental Leave Program.
Pet Insurance.
More About Us
Hearth embraces diversity. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and do not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, citizenship, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We consider employment for qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
The pay range for this role is:
150,000 - 180,000 USD per year (New York)
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