Learfield is the leading media and technology company powering college athletics. Through its digital and physical platforms, Learfield owns and leverages a deep data set and relationships in the industry to drive revenue, growth, brand awareness, and fan engagement for brands, sports, and entertainment properties. With ties to over 1,200 collegiate institutions and over 12,000 local and national brand partners, Learfield’s presence in college sports and live events delivers influence and maximizes reach to target audiences. With data-based solutions for a 365-day, 24/7 fan experience, Learfield enables schools and brands to connect with fans through licensed merchandise, game ticketing, donor identification for athletic programs, exclusive custom content, innovative marketing initiatives, NIL solutions, and advanced digital platforms. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed Learfield Directors’ Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions.

Our people-first culture is the foundation of our business and is reflective of our approach to building meaningful relationships with our employees, partners, and fans. The company strives each day to deliver the mission statement and embody the core values that make Learfield an exciting place to work.

Our Mission

Powering the connection of fans to the brands and experiences they love.

Our Core Values

Build Trust | Be Fans of One Another | Power Tomorrow | Create & Connect Communities | Have Fun

We are seeking a Director of Payments to lead Paciolan’s payments strategy, operations, and partnerships with a clear mandate to drive growth of payments capabilities. The role will focus on expanding flexibility for clients, improving margin performance, and identifying new revenue opportunities. The Payments leader must bring deep payments knowledge combined with strong commercial and product acumen. They will act as a trusted advisor to leadership, a key liaison with corporate functions, and a strategic partner to our clients.

This is a rare opportunity to drive transformation in a high-scale, high-visibility environment where payments directly impact fan experience, client economics, and company growth.

• Define and execute payments strategy in alignment with platform modernization initiatives.
• Drive ongoing strategic decisions and payment product changes that can deliver incremental revenue and client value.

• Lead relationships with PSPs, acquirers, card networks, fraud/risk vendors, and emerging payment providers.

• Negotiate commercial terms to improve economics, reliability, and flexibility.

• Ensure seamless client onboarding, settlement, and reporting across all payments flows.

• Partner with Revenue and Client Success teams to deliver value-added payment services that drive client retention and adoption.

• Optimize payment economics and identify opportunities for incremental revenue.

• Partner with finance, security and legal teams for PCI compliance, fraud/risk management, and regulatory requirements.

• Build scalable processes for dispute resolution, reconciliations, and settlement accuracy.

• Serve as payments subject-matter expert for Product, Technology, Finance, and Client Services.

• Provide regular updates to senior leadership and act as the internal “voice of payments.”

• 8+ years of professional experience, with at least 5 years working in payments, fintech, or related financial services.

• Strong understanding of payment processing models (merchant of record, payfac, platform partnerships).

• Proven success managing PSP/acquirer relationships and negotiating contracts.

• Experience balancing compliance (PCI, AML, fraud) with client service and business growth.

• Excellent cross-functional leadership skills; able to work with product, tech, finance, and client teams.

• Analytical thinker with ability to model economics and articulate tradeoffs.

• Competitive compensation

• High visibility role with exposure to senior leadership.

• The opportunity to modernize a critical function at the heart of live events.

• A collaborative, client-focused culture within a market-leading company.

Paciolan is the leading live events platform that connects fans to sports, concerts, and theatrical events that they love. We are the trusted technology partner for College Athletics Power Five Conferences and world-famous venues in the arena and performing arts verticals. We revel in waking up every day to solve the industrys most complex problems with innovation that makes every live event memorable for over 120M people

About Learfield
Learfield is a leading media and technology services company in intercollegiate athletics since 1972. The company unlocks the value of college sports for brands and fans through an omnichannel platform with innovative content and commerce solutions. Learfield services includes licensing and multimedia sponsorship management; publishing, audio, digital and social media; data analytics; ticketing, ticket sales and professional concessions expertise; branding; campus-wide business and sponsorship development; and venue technology systems.

The approximate national base pay range for this position is $160,000 to $215,000. Please note that this is a good faith estimate for the position at the time of posting. Individuals may also be eligible for an annual discretionary bonus and/or sales compensation based on individual and company performance. Placement on the range may vary based on factors including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, and geographic location.The pay rate will comply with all minimum federal, state, and local wage/salary requirements.

Learfield offers a full spectrum of benefits for eligible employees including Medical, Dental, Vision, Health Savings Account, Life Insurance and Other Insurance Plans, Flexible Paid Time Off (minimum 10+ days annually), including Parental Leave, 20 Paid Holidays, 401(k) + Match, and Short/Long Term Disability. Leave benefits are consistent with state and local laws, including the Colorado Health Families and Workplaces Act.

Learfield is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We provide equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race; color; sex; gender identity; sexual orientation; religious practices and observances; national origin; pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; status as a protected veteran or spouse/family member of a protected veteran; or disability.