Job Description
Affirm is reinventing credit to make it more honest and friendly, giving consumers the flexibility to buy now and pay later without any hidden fees or compounding interest.
We’re looking for a senior leader to join the Affirm Global Operations team as the Director, Vendor Strategy & Operations to lead Affirm’s global BPO and vendor operations program and serve as a true partner in reinventing how we serve customers at scale across our large global vendor network. This leader owns the customer operations vendor strategy, performance, and outcomes of our global servicing network vendor program — customer experience, compliance, operational excellence, resiliency, and cost-to-serve — across a rapidly growing and complex business. The role will be taking ownership and providing programmatic oversight of the vendor program for operations.
This is a senior leadership role for someone who thinks like an owner, not an administrator. The ideal candidate pairs deep expertise in fintech and financial-services customer operations and vendor programs with genuine fluency in applying AI and human call center culture to reinvent servicing across the vendor network. They are relentlessly customer-centric, dive deep into both the customer and front-line vendor agent experience, and know how to build a winning combination of culture and data-driven operations across vendors and our internal team. This role is scoped to grow: the right leader will expand into broader operational scope as our transformation matures and play a key leadership role in shaping the future of Affirm Operations and customer centric company culture.
You’ll lead a team of Vendor Managers and In-Country Vendor Managers, partner closely with cross-functional stakeholders, and shape the future of Affirm’s global servicing network.
What You’ll Do
Strategy, Governance & Reinvention
- Define and execute the long-term strategy for Affirm’s global customer operations vendor network, balancing customer experience, operational efficiency, resiliency, compliance, and business continuity across all global vendors.
- Reinvent how we resolve customer issues and deliver experience across the vendor network, treating the BPO vendor network as an innovation hub rather than a cost center.
- Establish governance frameworks, performance standards, and accountability mechanisms across the global vendor ecosystem.
- Lead executive-level vendor governance forums, including Quarterly Business Reviews, strategic planning, and escalation management.
- Partner with Financial Partnerships on vendor selection, expansion, remediation, and network design, evaluating capabilities, geographic footprint, and concentration risk to inform future-state decisions.
AI & Operational Innovation
- Partner deeply across product, engineering and operations teams to deploy agent and customer facing AI and automation across servicing workflows within the vendor network — agent assist, quality, forecasting, and customer resolution — to reinvent cost-to-serve and elevate vendor agent and customer experience.
- Bring an experimentation mindset, using AI in everyday problem-solving to reimagine the vendor operating model and program, not just optimize the current one.
Performance & Operational Excellence
- Own overall vendor network performance across servicing functions, including CSAT, SLA, compliance, QA, productivity, and efficiency outcomes.
- Build mechanisms for vendor performance management, escalation handling, and vendor accountability, and drive systemic improvements across vendors and functional PODs.
- Lead recovery efforts for high-risk or underperforming vendor relationships.
- Drive target cost optimization programs across all global vendors.
Analytics & Decision Enablement
- Partner with Analytics to define vendor reporting requirements, scorecards, and operational health metrics.
- Translate operational trends into actionable recommendations for senior leadership, ensuring decisions are grounded in data and measurable outcomes.
Cross-Functional Leadership
- Build a global “one team” mentality that treats the vendor network as strategic partners rather than order-takers.
- Serve as the primary operational leader for vendor-supported servicing functions, partnering with Product, Engineering, Workforce Management, QA, Training, Risk, and Compliance.
- Lead large-scale initiatives — vendor migrations, specialization efforts, operating-model transformations, and regulatory implementations.
- Act as the executive escalation point for complex vendor, operational, and customer-experience issues.
People Leadership
- Lead and develop a team of Vendor Managers and In-Country Vendor Managers, embodying a customer-centric culture and Affirm’s values by example.
- Establish role clarity, operating rhythms, and performance expectations across the organization.
- Coach leaders to strengthen analytical rigor, strategic thinking, vendor-management capability, and cross-functional influence.
- Build a high-performing organization anchored in accountability, ownership, and continuous improvement.
What we look for
- 15+ years in customer operations — including large-scale global vendor BPO program management, operations strategy, or consulting for fast-paced, multi-million-customer businesses using vendor networks (or demonstrated equivalent leadership trajectory).
- 10+ years leading managers and/or complex global operational and vendor organizations.
- Proven success managing large-scale outsourced operations and global vendor networks across multiple international geographies.
- Experience leading and optimizing supply and demand management with global work force management teams.
- Demonstrated experience deploying AI or automation to improve customer operations or BPO environments at scale.
- Strong analytical background, using data to drive strategic decisions and operational outcomes.
- Track record leading large cross-functional initiatives with measurable business impact.
- Deep cultural fluency across global geographies — a proven ability to lead and motivate diverse international teams and to build a customer-centric, high-performing culture across varied call-center and BPO environments.
- Exceptional communication, executive presence, and stakeholder management.
Preferred Qualifications
- Industry background in fintech, technology, or financial services, or other high-growth operational environments.
- Knowledge of consumer facing compliance-heavy functions such as Fraud, Payments, Compliance, or Financial Operations.
- Experience building operating models, governance frameworks, and scalable service-delivery organizations.
- Experience designing vendor network strategies that balance performance, resiliency, scalability, and risk.
- Leading in fast paced rapid growth environments.
Pay Grade - S
Equity Grade - 13
USA Pacific base pay range (CA, WA, NY, NJ, CT): $255,000 - $335,000
USA Sapphire base pay range (all other U.S. states): $226,000 - $306,000
#LI-Remote
Affirm is proud to be a remote-first company! The majority of our roles are remote and you can work almost anywhere within the country of employment. Affirmers in proximal roles have the flexibility to work remotely, but will occasionally be required to work out of their assigned Affirm office. A limited number of roles remain office-based due to the nature of their job responsibilities.
We’re extremely proud to offer competitive benefits that are anchored to our core value of people come first. Some key highlights of our benefits package include:
- Health care coverage - Affirm covers all premiums for all levels of coverage for you and your dependents
- Flexible Spending Wallets - generous stipends for spending on Technology, Food, various Lifestyle needs, and family forming expenses
- Time off - competitive vacation and holiday schedules allowing you to take time off to rest and recharge
- ESPP - An employee stock purchase plan enabling you to buy shares of Affirm at a discount
We believe It’s On Us to provide an inclusive interview experience for all, including people with disabilities. We are happy to provide reasonable accommodations to candidates in need of individualized support during the hiring process.
[For U.S. positions that could be performed in Los Angeles or San Francisco] Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, Affirm will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
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