Product Owner / Business Analyst

Job Title: Product Owner / Business Analyst
Location: Knutsford
Salary/Rate: £390 per day
Start Date: Immediate start until 31/12/2025
Job Type: Inside IR35 Contract

Company Introduction

We have an exciting opportunity now available with one of our sector-leading consultancy clients! They are currently looking for a skilled Product Owner / Business Analyst to join their team in Knutsford.

Job Responsibilities/Objectives

You will drive strategic change, leveraging technologies like IBM Sterling File Gateway, Global Payments infrastructure, and Channel Gateway solutions to deliver secure, scalable, and innovative capabilities. This role combines product ownership, business analysis, and change leadership to shape the future of digital payments and data exchange across the bank.

Product Ownership & Strategy:

• Define and prioritise product backlogs for file transfer and payments capabilities.
• Own the roadmap for IBM Sterling File Gateway and related gateway technologies.
• Drive innovation in microservices and API-led architecture for payments and data exchange.

Business Analysis & Change Leadership:

• Identify and analyse business problems and opportunities requiring change.
• Develop and document business requirements and functional specifications.
• Conduct feasibility studies and support business case development.
• Lead operational and process design to ensure successful implementation.

Stakeholder Engagement:

• Collaborate with stakeholders across Payments, Operations, Compliance, and Technology.
• Facilitate workshops, demos, and UAT sessions.
• Communicate complex and sensitive information effectively to diverse audiences.

Technical Oversight:

• Provide subject matter expertise on IBM Sterling, Global Payments (SWIFT, SEPA, CHAPS, FPS), and Channel Gateway technologies (MQ, Kafka, API Gateways).
• Support onboarding of new partners and protocols.
• Monitor performance, troubleshoot issues, and recommend optimisation's.

Agile Delivery & Governance:

• Lead Agile ceremonies including sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives.
• Ensure delivery of features on time and within budget.
• Maintain traceability matrices and support change management activities.
• Take ownership of risk management and control strengthening initiatives.

Leadership Expectations:

• Advise and influence decision-making across business and technology functions.
• Lead collaborative assignments and guide cross-functional teams.
• Demonstrate LEAD behaviours: Listen, Energise, Align, Develop.
• Take ownership of risk mitigation, control enhancement, and policy development.

Required Skills/Experience
The ideal candidate will have the following:

• Proven experience as a Product Owner or Senior Business Analyst in financial services.
• Strong understanding of IBM Sterling File Gateway / Navigator.
• Deep knowledge of corporate and global payments systems.
• Experience with microservices architecture and Kafka.
• Skilled in Agile methodologies and tools (e.g., JIRA, Confluence).
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong business acumen and strategic thinking.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with containerised deployments and cloud-native file transfer solutions.
• Knowledge of ISO 20022 messaging standards.
• Familiarity with data security, encryption, and compliance frameworks (e.g., GDPR, PCI-DSS).
• Certifications in Agile (e.g., CSPO, SAFe PO/PM) or Business Analysis (e.g., CBAP).

If you are interested in this opportunity, please apply now with your updated CV in Microsoft Word/PDF format.

Disclaimer
Notwithstanding any guidelines given to level of experience sought, we will consider candidates from outside this range if they can demonstrate the necessary competencies.
Square One is acting as both an employment agency and an employment business, and is an equal opportunities recruitment business. Square One embraces diversity and will treat everyone equally. Please see our website for our full diversity statement.