Lead Payments SME

About usEvery day, we deliver safe and secure energy to homes, communities, and businesses, connecting people to the energy they need for their lives. Our expertise and track record position us uniquely to shape the sustainable future of our industry as the pace of change accelerates. To succeed, we must anticipate customer needs, reduce energy delivery costs, and pioneer flexible energy systems. This requires delivering on our promises and seeking opportunities for growth. Our work is critical, as National Grid powers millions of homes and businesses across the UK and US, and the technology we employ is vital to this task. The successful applicant for this position will play a crucial role in our mission, supported by our multicultural, customer-centric global team, with opportunities for professional development. This role operates under a hybrid working model and is open to candidates based in either our Waltham, MA or Brooklyn, NY, or Syracuse, NY office locations. Hybrid work expectations are subject to business needs and company policy.Job PurposeThe Payments Subject Matter Expert (SME) is responsible for realizing required business capabilities, related business processes, and the rules, obligations, controls, and service levels satisfied by those processes. The SME must design, test, optimize, and implement these business processes within the Kraken Transformation Program. The SME is responsible for driving automated business functions that deliver high accuracy and operational efficiency.This position will work closely with business stakeholders, technology teams, and functional team leadership to ensure that payments processing from a variety of sources (physical lockbox, e-lockbox, and card processing services), payment posting rules, payment reversals, and management of several payment channels (in-person, agent-assisted, IVR, Web, mobile app) are optimized and effectively implemented within Kraken.Key Accountabilities* Brings process knowledge and proficiency to the functional team used to ensure business requirements are delivered through the Kraken solution.* Designs business process workflows that ensure satisfaction of rules, obligations, controls, and expected service levels.* Successfully implements business processes supporting payments processing from a variety of sources, payment posting rules, payment reversals, and management of several payment channels (in-person, agent-assisted, IVR, Web, mobile app).* Defines and optimizes financial transaction exception handling.* Ensures business standardization across all jurisdictions and detailed process design, aligning with out-of-the-box software solution capabilities.* Assesses exceptions, identifies risks, issues, and mitigation options associated with standardization.* Coordinate functional development with peers and cross-function analysts providing them with direction and skills to support project work.* Ensures deliverables meet requirements and are completed on time.* Provides production support during the program lifecycle, pending service introduction recommendation.Qualifications * 5+ years of experience in utility billing and payment operations, financial transaction booking and balancing, and financial reporting, preferably within the utility industry. * Proven experience delivering functional products in medium to large-scale CIS endeavors. * Strong knowledge of utility billing and payment methodologies and associated financial transaction management. * Hands-on configuration experience in relevant CIS platforms, ensuring proper alignment with business requirements. * Expertise in billing and payment exception handling, financial reconciliation, and automated invoicing workflows. * Experience with financial controls and bulk execution strategies to validate meter-to-cash processing accuracy. * Familiarity with regulatory compliance and revenue assurance in utility billing processes. * Demonstrated ability to lea