We are seeking an experienced Payments Technical Project Manager to support a major ISO 20022 initiative within a Global Markets environment.
The successful candidate will lead complex payments technology initiatives from initial planning through implementation and post-production stabilization. This role will work closely with business, technology, operations, architecture, risk, compliance, security and third-party teams to deliver secure, resilient and reliable payment solutions.
The ideal candidate combines strong project management and delivery leadership skills with a practical understanding of payments technology, systems integration, testing, operational readiness and regulatory controls.
Key Responsibilities
Project & Delivery Leadership
- Own end-to-end project delivery, including scope, timelines, milestones, dependencies, resources and budgets.
- Establish project governance, reporting and decision-making processes.
- Manage risks, issues, assumptions and dependencies, escalating and resolving challenges as required.
- Coordinate delivery across business, technology, operations, architecture, testing, security and control teams.
- Track project progress against timelines, quality standards and agreed outcomes.
- Manage scope and change control throughout the project lifecycle.
Payments Technology Delivery
- Lead technology projects involving payment processing, clearing and settlement, payment platforms, APIs, messaging, reconciliation and operational tools.
- Work with architects and engineering teams to understand system interfaces, integration patterns and technical dependencies.
- Support initiatives involving domestic, cross-border, real-time and account-to-account payments.
- Coordinate technology changes involving payment gateways, fraud and sanctions screening, customer channels, data platforms and third-party providers.
- Ensure payment exceptions, investigations, returns, repairs and reconciliation requirements are addressed as part of solution delivery.
Testing & Implementation
- Develop and manage comprehensive test strategies covering system integration, end-to-end, performance, resilience, security and UAT.
- Coordinate test environments, test data, defect management and business sign-off.
- Ensure payment volumes, message formats, settlement behavior and reconciliation processes are appropriately tested.
- Lead implementation planning, including cutover, communications, rollback and contingency plans.
- Manage post-implementation reviews, hypercare and transition to business-as-usual support.
Stakeholder & Vendor Management
- Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders and cross-functional delivery teams.
- Translate complex technical information into clear business impacts, options and recommendations.
- Manage vendors and third-party partners, including deliverables, milestones, risks and dependencies.
- Facilitate workshops and help resolve competing priorities.
- Provide clear, concise and timely project status reporting.
Required Qualifications & Experience
Must Have
- 10+ years of project or program management experience, preferably within financial services or payments.
- Proven experience delivering complex technology projects from initiation through implementation.
- Strong experience managing cross-functional teams and delivery partners without direct reporting authority.
- Demonstrated experience managing project risks, issues, dependencies, governance and senior stakeholder reporting.
- Strong understanding of production implementation, operational readiness and post-release support.
- Experience working with Agile, Waterfall or hybrid delivery methodologies.
- Excellent communication, stakeholder management and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to prioritize competing demands, make clear recommendations and drive issues through to resolution.
Preferred Experience
- Experience with domestic or cross-border payments.
- Knowledge of ISO 20022, SWIFT, real-time payments, payment gateways or account-to-account payments.
- Experience with clearing and settlement processes.
- Exposure to fraud detection, sanctions screening, payment reconciliation or payment investigations.
- Experience with cloud platforms, microservices, APIs or event-driven architectures.
- Experience working with major technology vendors or payment processors.
- PMP, PRINCE2, AgilePM, Scrum or similar project/delivery certification.
