Product Owner

Overview

• Product Strategy & Design: Own product design activities for the assigned platform and initiative, ensuring alignment with the business’ overall product strategy and market needs.
• Develop and articulate the product vision, strategy, and roadmap for the CMS platform, in collaboration with the Debit Card Product Owner and Product Manager.
• Initiate, plan, organize, execute, monitor/control, and direct the completion of CMS builds and enhancements.
• Assess value, develop business cases with Product Managers, and prioritize stories, epics, and themes to ensure work focuses on those with maximum value that are aligned with product strategy.
• Drive experience reviews and comparative assessments to continuously improve the debit card product experience for customers.
• Lead product design with cross-functional teams (e.g., IT, Operations, Risk, Compliance, Marketing) to ensure all regulatory, commercial, and technical requirements are included in builds.
• Prepare user stories and co-author Product Service Design (PSD) documents to verbalize requirements to Commercial and Technical Squads.
• Card Management System (CMS) Migration Leadership:
• Lead the product-side efforts for the migration of the existing card management system platform to a new one.
• Define product requirements for the new CMS, ensuring all existing functionalities are mapped and new capabilities are leveraged.
• Oversee data migration strategies, ensuring data integrity and accuracy throughout the transition.
• Collaborate closely with technical teams, vendors, and internal stakeholders to ensure a smooth, timely, and successful CMS platform migration with minimal disruption to services.
• Manage product-related risks and issues during the migration, developing mitigation strategies.
• Scheme Relationship Management & Integration:
• Act as the primary product liaison with major debit card schemes (e.g., Visa, Mastercard), understanding their roadmaps, new products, services, and integration opportunities.
• Identify and evaluate new products, services, and integrations offered by card schemes that can enhance our debit card portfolio or operational efficiency.
• Drive the integration of relevant scheme-specific features and compliance mandates into our debit card products and systems.
• Negotiate product-related terms and conditions with card schemes where applicable.
• Agile & Stakeholder Management:
• Closely work with the Squad, Tribe, Platform Management and Third Party vendor point persons to ensure builds are delivered on spec and on-time, that resources to deliver product features are in place, and issues are resolved and properly filed.
• File and manage Product backlog, defects, and enhancements until closure.
• Attend and co-drive meetings with the scrum master for the effective and efficient development of product features.
• Map out the high-level customer front-end & back-end experience to aid in product analysis and system integration.
• Come up with supporting processes, handling, and product briefs necessary for launch.
• Ensure robust governance and compliance frameworks are embedded into all debit card products and processes.
• Drive regular updates by Tribe to management to seek help needed or secure support on critical matters.

• Product Management Expertise: Proven experience (5+ years) in Product Management, specifically within the financial services industry, with a focus on payment products.
• Product Ownership Experience: Proficient in Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban) and experience working as a Product Owner in an Agile environment including experience in preparing and grooming of backlog, Tribe practices and Product reviews and testing.
• Cards Product Knowledge: Deep understanding of card product lifecycles, payment processing flows, transaction types, and the underlying technology infrastructure.
• Card Scheme Acumen: Strong knowledge of major card schemes (e.g., Visa, Mastercard) rules, regulations, products, services, and their operational models.
• Card Management System (CMS) Experience: Demonstrated experience with CMS platforms (e.g., Fiserv, TSYS, ACI, BPC SmartVista) and a proven track record in successful CMS migration projects.
• Regulatory & Compliance Knowledge: Comprehensive understanding of relevant financial regulations, data security standards (e.g., PCI DSS), and consumer protection laws pertaining to debit cards.
• Project & Program Management: Strong project management skills, particularly in managing complex, cross-functional initiatives like system migrations.
• User Experience (UX) Design Principles: Knowledge of UX design principles to drive intuitive and customer-centric product experiences.
• Analytical & Problem-Solving Skills: Exceptional analytical capabilities to interpret complex data, identify trends, and solve intricate product and operational challenges.
• Cross-functional Team Leadership: Proven ability to lead, influence, and collaborate effectively with diverse cross-functional teams (IT, Operations, Risk, Compliance, Legal, Marketing).
• Communication & Negotiation: Excellent verbal and written communication, presentation, and negotiation skills, capable of articulating complex ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Stakeholder Management: Strong ability to manage expectations and foster relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including senior management, vendors, and card schemes.

• Direct experience in building & launch cards product.
• Experience with fraud management systems and strategies for cards.
• Familiarity with digital payment trends, mobile wallets, and tokenization.
• Experience in a highly regulated banking or EMI environment.
• Certifications in Product Management (e.g., CSPO) or Project Management (e.g., PMP).