Project Manager

Project Lead (Payments)

Location: Hybrid, London Office at 1 Royal Exchange London, EC3V 3DG.

RedCompass Labs: We Know Payments

RedCompass Labs are payments experts focused exclusively on payments modernization. The company works with banks and platform vendors around the world to deliver scheme migrations, platform builds, and large-scale modernization programs faster and with less risk than traditional consulting.

Over the last 23 years, RedCompass Labs has delivered 500+ projects across the world’s major payments schemes and platforms, including SEPA, Swift, the Real-time Payments Network, and FedNow on the scheme side, ISO 20022 migrations, and FIS Open Payments Framework (OPF), Finastra Global PAYplus (GPP), ACI Connetic, and many others on the platform side.

The company's flagship product is the Payments Expert Agent, an AI solution purpose-built for the full payments modernization software development lifecycle. From requirements analysis through development, testing, and deployment.

It’s trained on the company's decades of delivery expertise and more than 30,000 curated payments documents. Certified to SOC 2 Type II, the Payments Expert Agent deploys inside the bank's environment and enables modernization teams deliver complex programs faster, at lower cost, and to a higher standard.

In parallel, RedCompass Labs helps banks detect financial crime hidden within payment flows. The RedFlag Accelerator is a global reference for detecting modern slavery, human trafficking, child sexual exploitation, elder abuse, drug trafficking, scams, and authorized push payment fraud. It combines a persona-oriented detection approach with red flags, crime models, and open-source intelligence. The Financial Crime Unit delivers practitioner-grade intelligence and scoring models that support live investigations and law enforcement action.

RedCompass Labs supports clients from offices in London, Warsaw, Brussels, Miami, Boston, Toronto, and Pune. For more information, www.redcompasslabs.com.

The Role

The Project Lead role at RedCompass Labs demands a sharp focus on quality delivery, predictable outcomes, and disciplined execution. This is a role for someone who plans thoroughly, anticipates risk early, and takes personal ownership of keeping scope, time, and budget firmly on track. Project Leads are expected to resolve issues before they escalate - not after.

Successful candidates are highly adaptable, able to embed themselves within varied client cultures and work effectively across complex, cross-functional environments. They communicate with clarity and consistency, keep stakeholders well-informed, and are equally comfortable working through the detail of a delivery plan as they are presenting to a Steering Committee.

Levelling communication appropriately is a critical capability here. Project Leads at RedCompass Labs can translate operational complexity into concise, well-structured updates for senior audiences - framing progress, risk, and recommendations in a way that enables executives to act with confidence. At the same time, they roll up their sleeves in weekly delivery sessions, tracking dependencies and driving momentum at ground level.

RedCompass Labs welcomes both emerging and seasoned Project Leaders. What distinguishes our Project Leads is not just their project management pedigree - it is their judgement, their resilience, and their ability to get things done in ambiguous, fast-moving environments. They act as delivery leads, trusted advisors, and problem-solvers, often simultaneously, and they take genuine pride in bringing projects home.

Key Responsibilities:

• Accountable for the full project lifecycle: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, control, budgeting, and closure
• Ensuring project goals and deliverables are clearly defined, communicated, and understood by all responsible parties
• Building, maintaining, and tracking a Mid-Level Project Plan that serves both as a quality gate for RedCompass Labs management and a measure of client delivery
• Facilitating client workshops to present, validate, and achieve consensus on business approaches, requirements, plans, and timelines
• Asking incisive questions, surfacing unstated assumptions, and resolving conflicts constructively
• Developing and maintaining contingency and recovery plans as required
• Acting as a bridge between project, business, operations, and technical teams - without bias
• Ensuring risks and issues are identified, tracked, actioned, and mitigated promptly to protect the delivery schedule
• Supporting the Programme Manager in delivering the project as part of a wider portfolio
• Managing stakeholder expectations with regard to deliverables, timelines, and any impacts to go-live
• Producing clear, balanced internal and external status reports for all levels of management
• Owning project reporting end-to-end - to the client and internally at RedCompass Labs - with accuracy, consistency, and appropriate judgement

What We Are Looking For:

• Proven experience leading global or cross-functional teams
• Strong planning, reporting, and budget management capabilities
• A sharp analytical mind with the ability to work through complex challenges independently and offer well-reasoned options
• Confidence and polish in senior stakeholder engagement
• Experience working alongside vendors and technical or development teams
• The ability to read a client environment quickly and build the right relationships within it
• Excellent time management and the composure to re-prioritise under pressure without losing momentum
• Clear, authoritative communication - written and verbal - with the ability to adapt style and register for different audiences
• A pragmatic, decisive approach to problem-solving
• A working knowledge of the payments landscape

Desirable:

• Familiarity with payment schemes (SEPA, SCTInst, UKFP, and others)
• Understanding of Clearing and Settlement Systems (e.g. Euro1, Step2, TARGET2, BACS, STET, Equens, Bundesbank)

Qualifications (not essential ):

• PRINCE2 or equivalent project management certification.
• Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Experience at a tier 1 consultancy (Accenture, Deloitte, PwC, Bain, or equivalent) also highly valued

What We Offer

• Work on high‐impact financial technology projects that shape the future of payments and AI‐driven innovation
• Join a trust‐based, transparent, and collaborative culture where your voice matters and ideas influence outcomes
• Enjoy real ownership and autonomy in how you approach challenges, deliver work, and grow your expertise
• Be part of a diverse and inclusive global team across Canada, the UK, Europe, and Asia, where fairness and meritocracy guide every decision
• Collaborate daily with senior industry experts and leaders, accelerating your professional development
• Experience a human, respectful, and well‐structured recruitment and onboarding journey designed around clarity and mutual fit
• Grow through continuous learning, cross‐functional work, and exposure to both consulting and product‐building environments
• Join a company that values integrity, curiosity, and continuous improvement, and empowers you to make meaningful impact from day one.

Your package:

• Competitive salary + up to 10% performance-based annual bonus
• Life insurance and Group Income Protection
• Private health and dental insurance for you and your family
• Pension: 4% employer contribution + 4% employee (with the option to increase)
• 28 days' annual leave plus public and bank holidays
• Hybrid working: 60% office-based annually at our London office, 1 Royal Exchange, London EC3V 3DGUp to 10% of annual earnings as a personal performance bonus

RedCompass Labs is committed to promoting and supporting a diverse and inclusive workplace, ensuring fair and equitable treatment for all. This fuels innovation and enables us to work better together with each other and for our clients.