Payments Principal

Job Description:

We are seeking an experienced and commercially minded Payments Principal to lead the development and delivery of strategic payments consulting services across the Australian and New Zealand financial services market.

The Payments Principal will be a recognised subject matter expert and trusted adviser to senior banking and financial services executives, helping clients modernise their payments capabilities, navigate regulatory and industry change, and capitalise on emerging opportunities in the payments ecosystem.

This role combines strategic advisory, payments domain leadership, technology transformation and business development. The successful candidate will be responsible for shaping complex payments transformation programs, developing market-leading propositions, supporting strategic pursuits and overseeing the delivery of high-value consulting engagements.

The role will work closely with account executives, technology architects, engineering teams, industry partners and delivery leaders to drive sustainable growth and measurable client outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

1. Payments Strategy and Advisory

• Lead strategic advisory engagements covering enterprise payments strategy, modernisation, operating models and transformation roadmaps.
• Advise financial institutions on domestic and international payments ecosystems, industry developments and emerging technologies.
• Develop business cases, investment strategies and transformation plans that balance customer experience, operational resilience, regulatory compliance and commercial value.
• Guide clients through the transition from legacy payments infrastructure to modern, scalable and API-enabled platforms.
• Provide strategic guidance on real-time payments, payment orchestration, embedded finance, digital wallets, open banking and emerging payment models.
• Support executive stakeholders in defining future-state payments capabilities, architectures and operating models.

2. Payments Domain and Industry Expertise

Provide deep subject matter expertise across key payments capabilities and industry frameworks, including:

Domestic Payments

• New Payments Platform (NPP), PayID and PayTo.
• BECS, direct entry and legacy payments modernisation.
• High Value Clearing System (HVCS) and real-time gross settlement.
• Australian Payments Plus (AP+) initiatives and industry transformation.
• ISO 20022 adoption, message standards and payment interoperability.

International and Cross-Border Payments

• SWIFT messaging and connectivity, including CBPR+.
• Correspondent banking and international payment processing.
• Cross-border payments modernisation, settlement and liquidity considerations.
• International payment standards and interoperability.

Cards and Digital Payments

• Card issuing and acquiring.
• Scheme integration, payment gateways and merchant services.
• Digital wallets, tokenisation and authentication.
• Payment switching, routing, authorisation and settlement.
• Fraud detection, transaction monitoring and payments security.

Risk and Regulatory

• Payments-related regulatory obligations and industry standards.
• Operational resilience, financial crime controls, fraud and cybersecurity.
• APRA CPS 230, CPS 234 and applicable payments regulatory requirements.
• PCI DSS and relevant scheme compliance requirements.

3. Business Development and Commercial Growth

• Establish and grow a differentiated payments consulting capability within the organisation.
• Identify and qualify opportunities across banking, financial services, payments providers and adjacent industries.
• Partner with account teams to develop strategic account plans and identify payments-related growth opportunities.
• Lead payments advisory pursuits, including opportunity qualification, solution shaping, proposals, presentations and commercial negotiations.
• Develop repeatable consulting propositions, methodologies, accelerators and intellectual property.
• Build relationships with senior client stakeholders, including CIOs, CTOs, Heads of Payments, Chief Product Officers and Transformation Executives.
• Support revenue, bookings, pipeline and margin objectives aligned to practice growth targets.

4. Solution and Transformation Leadership

• Lead the design and shaping of complex payments transformation programs.
• Translate business objectives into practical technology and operating model solutions.
• Provide oversight of payments architecture, integration patterns, platform selection and implementation strategies.
• Work with enterprise architects and engineering teams to develop scalable, resilient and secure payments solutions.
• Support vendor and platform evaluations, including build-versus-buy assessments.
• Provide independent assurance and strategic guidance on major payments programs.
• Identify delivery risks, architectural dependencies and transformation challenges, recommending practical mitigation strategies.
• Ensure proposed solutions align with client business outcomes, regulatory obligations and long-term technology strategies.

5. Client Relationship and Executive Engagement

• Act as a trusted adviser to senior executives across the banking and payments ecosystem.
• Facilitate executive workshops, strategy sessions and payments transformation discussions.
• Build strong relationships with existing clients while establishing new executive-level connections.
• Communicate complex payments concepts in clear, commercially relevant language.
• Represent the organisation in industry forums, client briefings and strategic partner engagements.
• Demonstrate thought leadership through market insights, industry perspectives and advisory content.

6. Practice and Capability Development

• Define the payments consulting capability roadmap, including priority services, skills and market propositions.
• Mentor consultants, business analysts, solution architects and delivery specialists.
• Develop reusable frameworks, reference architectures, assessment tools and delivery methodologies.
• Build relationships with technology and ecosystem partners to strengthen the payments offering.
• Support recruitment, capability development and knowledge-sharing activities.
• Promote collaboration across Business Consulting, Technology Consulting, Data & AI, Cybersecurity and Application Engineering practices.

Experience and Qualifications

Essential Experience

• 15+ years of relevant experience in banking, financial services, payments technology or consulting, with significant experience in payments.
• Demonstrated expertise across multiple payments domains, including real-time payments, clearing, settlement, cards or cross-border payments.
• Proven experience leading payments transformation, modernisation or strategic advisory engagements.
• Strong understanding of the Australian banking and payments landscape, including NPP, AP+, ISO 20022 and relevant regulatory frameworks.
• Experience engaging senior banking executives and influencing strategic technology and investment decisions.
• Demonstrated ability to shape complex consulting opportunities and support business development activities.
• Strong understanding of payments architectures, integration technologies, APIs and modern banking platforms.
• Experience working with multidisciplinary teams across business, architecture, engineering and delivery.
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication, facilitation and presentation skills.

Highly Desirable

• Experience working with major Australian banks, international financial institutions or payment service providers.
• Previous experience in a Tier 1 consulting organisation, global systems integrator or senior banking technology leadership role.
• Knowledge of payment hubs and platforms such as Volante, Finastra, FIS, Fiserv, ACI Worldwide, Temenos or equivalent solutions.
• Experience with cloud-native payments architecture, event-driven integration and microservices.
• Understanding of AI-enabled fraud detection, payment operations automation and intelligent transaction processing.
• Experience developing consulting offerings and establishing new industry capabilities.
• Relevant tertiary qualifications in Information Technology, Engineering, Finance, Business or a related discipline.

Key Capabilities and Attributes

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Industry credibility: Recognised expertise in the payments ecosystem and the ability to engage credibly with senior banking executives.
• Commercial acumen: Ability to identify opportunities, shape compelling propositions and translate client challenges into consulting revenue.
• Strategic thinking: Ability to connect industry trends, technology developments and business priorities into actionable transformation strategies.
• Technical fluency: Strong understanding of modern payments platforms, architectures and integration approaches.
• Consultative leadership: Ability to challenge conventional thinking, facilitate decisions and influence stakeholders.
• Delivery orientation: Focus on practical solutions, measurable outcomes and successful transformation execution.
• Collaboration: Ability to operate across account, consulting, engineering, partner and delivery organisations.

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