Who you are

• The ideal candidate brings deep contextual knowledge of card payments delivery models and can quickly establish operating rhythm, visibility, and accountability in a fast-moving, matrixed environment
• This role requires strong ecosystem knowledge rather than hands-on configuration expertise
• Working knowledge of the card payments ecosystem, including networks, issuers, processors, and certification dependencies
• Experience supporting issuer-led card program implementations with shared accountability across multiple parties
• Understanding of certifications, endpoint readiness, production readiness gates, and their impact on critical path delivery
• Ability to recognize external dependency risks even when not directly managing technical execution
• Experience working within global, matrixed organizations and influencing outcomes through structured escalation and alignment
• 8–12+ years of experience in payments, card programs, or financial services implementations
• Proven experience coordinating network–issuer–processor delivery models
• Demonstrated success operating at program or portfolio level under tight regulatory or market deadlines
• Strong stakeholder management and executive communication skills
• Ability to quickly assess program maturity and implement structured operating rhythm

What the job involves

• We are seeking a Program Coordination Lead to provide program-level oversight, risk transparency, and executive-ready reporting for a time-sensitive payments implementation
• This role operates across multiple internal teams and external ecosystem partners, ensuring clarity, alignment, and proactive risk management while preserving existing project management ownership and client decision rights
• Act as the central coordination point across internal stakeholders and external partners, ensuring streamlined communication and consolidated status visibility
• Integrate updates from parallel workstreams into clear, consistent, and outcome-oriented program reporting
• Maintain a holistic view of program health, identifying interdependencies, sequencing impacts, and critical path risks
• Proactively identify risks, blockers, and external dependency impacts before they escalate
• Drive mitigation strategies in partnership with workstream owners
• Ensure issues are clearly articulated, appropriately escalated, and resolved with a focus on delivery outcomes
• Represent client priorities, constraints, and timeline commitments across all internal and partner discussions
• Translate complex, multi-party delivery updates into concise, executive-ready status reports
• Provide clear visibility into status, risks, dependencies, and next steps
• Establish program operating cadence within days of engagement
• Coordinate around North America-specific requirements and regulatory timelines
• Minimize cross-region friction and time-zone related delays
• Work closely with the existing Project Manager while maintaining clear role boundaries and preserving PM execution ownership
• Reinforce accountability without assuming task-level direction or execution control