Director, UCC & Tax Lien Compliance

At Toast, we are passionate about creating raving fans and delivering an unparalleled customer experience — and that includes assisting our restaurant customers when their business becomes entangled in a creditor dispute. When a lien, levy, or garnishment is filed against a merchant, our customers need a partner who moves quickly, communicates clearly, and gets it right the first time. As Toast brings the end-to-end management of liens and levies in-house, we need an experienced subject matter expert to build and lead this function from the ground up. As the Director, UCC & Tax Lien Compliance, you will own the day-to-day operational management of Toast's merchant liens and levies and bankruptcy compliance programs, build the specialized team and processes required to run it well, and lead the insourcing of this function in close partnership with Compliance, Care, Product and Engineering and Legal. This is a hands-on, build-it role: you'll inherit an active, high-visibility function with real customer and compliance stakes, and you'll be the person who turns it into a well-governed, scalable operation. About this role Strategic Ownership • Build and maintain a state-by-state policy framework. • Build the governance backbone for the function: SOPs, decision frameworks, case tracking, and closed-loop quality review, so that policy is applied consistently across the team and holds up to audit and legal scrutiny. • Determine the right tools and systems required to manage an effective Liens & Levies compliance process, work with product and impacted stakeholders to minimize losses to Toast. • Own the phased liens and levies compliance transition plan with Toast's third-party partner, including data-sharing, visibility, and handoff of withholding and remittance responsibilities. • Establish and own the escalation path for complex or high-risk cases (e.g., competing creditor claims, disputed releases, bankruptcy proceedings, fraudulent or ambiguous documentation), partnering with Risk, Legal, and third-party fintech partners (e.g., payment processors) to reach sound, consistent decisions. • Define and track operational KPIs (e.g., resolution time, case volume, escalation rates) and report progress and risk to cross-functional and executive stakeholders. Operational Ownership • Own the day-to-day management and execution of Toast's merchant liens and levies compliance program, including customer communications, intake, validation, withholding, escalations, complex/unique scenario handling, remittance, and release, serving as the subject matter expert to bring and operate this function in-house. • Drive the operational process work required to insource the liens and levies compliance functions currently managed by a third-party partner, including business requirements, workflow design, and transition sequencing, in partnership with Fintech Product, Engineering, Legal and other cross-functional stakeholders. • Build and lead a dedicated liens & levies oversight team within Fintech Risk, defining roles, workflows, staffing needs, and training as case volume scales. • Serve as the organization's subject matter expert on handling liens, levies, garnishments, and similar legal orders — including UCC filings, judgment liens, tax levies, bankruptcy implications, lien priority, and change-of-ownership/change-of-legal-entity scenarios — and translate that expertise into developing, owning, and maintaining clear, defensible policies, procedures and processes. • Represent the team in cross-functional planning with Legal, Fintech, and Engineering as the technical build (case management, funds management, and reporting systems) is scoped and delivered. Do you have the right ingredients? • 7+ years of experience working with UCC and tax liens, levies, bankruptcies, and garnishments and the associated compliance requirements, as well as change and people leadership experience. • Experience developing compliance management programs for regulated functions. • Experience managing complex, sensitive escalations directly with customers, creditors, and their attorneys, exercising sound judgment on matters with real legal and financial consequences. • Deep subject matter expertise in the mechanics, legal/regulatory distinctions, and compliance requirements applicable to different types of liens, levies, and garnishments — including UCC-1 filings, judgment liens, tax levies, and lien priority–and how each is impacted by different events impacting merchants, such as bankruptcy, business organizational changes (e.g., change of ownership and mergers/acquisitions), and know your customers (KYC)/know your business (KYB) requirements and events. • Working knowledge of the regulatory landscape surrounding merchant funds handling, such as state-by-state garnishment and levy requirements, and money transmission/payment facilitator obligations, and strong knowledge of UCC Article 9 concepts as they apply to secured creditor claims. • Demonstrated ability to build an operating model, team, and governance structure where none previously existed, with comfort operating in ambiguity while a function transitions between partners and systems. • Proven cross-functional leadership skills — able to align Legal, Risk & Compliance, Engineering, Finance, and Customer Care around a shared process and drive decisions to closure without direct authority over every stakeholder. • Experience managing a vendor or partner transition (e.g., insourcing a previously outsourced function), including defining business requirements and partnering with technical teams on system design. • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex legal/operational nuance into clear guidance for frontline teams and concise updates for executive stakeholders. • Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience; a background in banking operations, legal/paralegal work, or compliance is a plus but no