Credit Card Operations & Settlement Manager

Powering the next generation of global finance About Us Founded in 2018, Bakkt, Inc. is a regulated financial technology company building infrastructure for the future of finance. Bakkt's platform serves financial institutions, fintechs, and consumer finance products - providing the compliance, security, and scale required to deliver trusted financial services at a global level. Through its core business pillars, Bakkt powers institutional-grade trading capabilities, AI-enabled programmable finance, and cross-border payment infrastructure. Job Summary We are seeking an experienced Credit Card Operations & Settlement Manager (Back-office) to lead operational excellence, settlement, audit oversight, and strategic vendor management for our U.S. de novo credit card program. This role is critical for ensuring regulatory compliance, maintaining high operational efficiency, ensuring strict Sponsor bank program compliance, and managing critical third-party relationships, including core card processor, card fulfillment vendors, and outsourced support. Reporting Structure • Direct Report to: Head of Credit Card Primary Responsibility Own and drive operational excellence, settlement, and strategic vendor management with key vendors including sponsor banks, processors, and customer support, focusing on core back-office functions like payments processing, dispute resolution, network settlement, and card fulfillment, while defining and tracking key performance indicators and ensuring strict program compliance. Key Responsibilities & Essential Functions • Settlement: • • Facilitate the design and implementation of the daily settlement function for credit card reconciliation ensuring strict Flow of Funds compliance • Own the daily function of settlement in partnership with Treasury teams to ensure adherence to settlement timing, proper flow of funds movement, and final reconciliation • Ensure settlement is performed daily in a timely fashion before network cutoff • Operational Workflow & Compliance: • • Build and manage the Credit Card back office operations function from the ground up using industry best practices and agentic automations where possible • Own the administration of internal and external audits for the credit card program, ensuring timely reporting and preparation of exam responses • Design, implement, and maintain the end-to-end Dispute & Chargeback workflow, ensuring strict compliance with Regulation Z. • Act as the final escalation point for complex, high-risk customer issues that cannot be resolved by the front line. • Own the timely completion and submission of all Quarterly Network reporting. • Payment Processing & Regulatory Compliance (Reg Z) • • Payment Lifecycle Management: Oversee daily payment processing to ensure all credits post in accordance with Regulation Z requirements, including the management of ACH returns, failed payments, and payment reversals. • Network Resolution: Conduct deep-dive research to resolve complex ACH Network issues, ensuring seamless fund movement and system integrity. • Regulatory Reporting: Guarantee the accuracy and timely delivery of billing statements and mandatory disclosures to maintain strict compliance with federal lending laws. • Dispute Management & Complex Research • • Billing Error Resolution: Ensure cases are investigated and resolved including billing errors and disputes; draft and deliver formal resolution notices (letters or emails) within the specific timeframes mandated by Reg Z. • Incentive & Fee Auditing: Research and rectify rewards posting errors and complex interest/fee disputes (including trailing interest) while ensuring all communications adhere to UDAAP and Reg Z standards. • Technical Troubleshooting: Analyze complex account anomalies, such as authorization declines and duplicate transaction postings, ensuring final resolutions comply with Regulation Z. • Account Lifecycle & Portfolio Maintenance • • Onboarding Oversight: Monitor API booking failure logs to identify and fix new account errors, ensuring successful onboarding and strict adherence to the Military Lending Act (MLA). • Risk & Maintenance: Execute account-level maintenance and process risk-based closures to protect the portfolio s health and security. • Legal Processing including MLA & SCRA Administration: Manage SCRA requests by adjusting interest rates to 6% and monitoring accounts for continued compliance; process subpoenas and legal documents, including account freezes and statement production. • Quality Assurance & Systems Testing • • Operational Control: Perform monthly QA/QC audits on 10% of total booked card volume, documenting successful bookings and reporting systemic errors to the Product team for remediation. • UAT & Production Readiness: Lead rigorous End-to-End (E2E) and User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for production changes, providing formal sign-off for new features and system updates. • Pricing Integrity: Execute and document ...