Head of Payment

Head of Payment – Card Platform - up to £125k

London

Senior Leadership Role

Permanent

A well established UK bank is seeking a Head of Payment to lead the strategic direction and transformation of its core Payments technology estate.

This is not a pure programme management role. It is a platform ownership position with responsibility for defining the roadmap, leading a multidisciplinary team and shaping the evolution of payments capability within a regulated banking environment.

The Role

You will own the multi year vision and roadmap for the bank’s payments platforms, ensuring they remain secure, resilient and aligned to wider business strategy.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading a payments technology team across BAU and change

• Overseeing a significant cards platform transition programme

• Simplifying and automating legacy payment processes

• Reducing manual intervention and operational risk

• Managing supplier relationships and commercial arrangements

• Owning a platform budget circa £2 to £3 million

• Engaging confidently with senior stakeholders to shape direction

This role sits at the intersection of technology, operations and executive leadership. You will act as a trusted advisor on payments platform strategy while ensuring delivery commitments remain on track.

Scope

The remit covers core banking payments including:

• Cards issuing platforms

• UK payment schemes such as Faster Payments and CHAPS

• International payment flows and correspondent banking

• Integration with AML, fraud and sanctions services

• Vendor and third party platform integration

This is core banking payments. It is not merchant acquiring or payment gateway optimisation.

About You

You will bring:

• Strong experience managing payments platforms within a regulated bank

• Familiarity with UK payment schemes and scheme connectivity

• Experience leading engineering or technology teams

• Proven ability to define and execute a multi year roadmap

• Strong supplier and budget management experience

• The confidence to engage with Director and C level stakeholders

A technical background in development, systems engineering or architecture would be advantageous, as technical credibility is important in shaping platform direction.

Why Apply

This is an opportunity to take genuine ownership of a bank’s payments platform strategy in a stable, well capitalised environment.

You will have visible impact, executive exposure and the ability to shape the next phase of payments evolution within a trusted banking brand.

For a confidential discussion, please get in touch.