Role Summary
The Service Delivery Lead Cards is responsible for the end-to-end technology delivery and service performance of SBC's card issuing portfolio, with a primary focus on the Card Management System (CMS) replacement program and all change/BAU initiatives impacting credit and debit cards.
The role oversees solution implementation, integration and delivery using 3rd-party platforms (CMS, rewards, xPay / tokenisation, card collections, switching, digital channels) and ensures changes are delivered safely, on time and with minimal disruption to the existing card business.
Working closely with the Retail Service Delivery Head Unsecured Lending, the Service Delivery Lead Cards acts as the day-to-day owner of the card technology delivery agenda running program/portfolio governance, coordinating vendors and internal teams, and ensuring the cards business has reliable, compliant and scalable technology to support its growth.
Key Responsibilities
- Owns end-to-end delivery for the Cards portfolio (CMS and beyond)
- Leads the planning and delivery of all IT change for the cards portfolio, including the CMS replacement program, scheme/xPay initiatives, regulatory changes, risk/fraud controls and business enhancements.
- Manages the integrated delivery plan, dependencies and milestones across internal teams and external vendors to ensure scope, timeline and budget are met.
- Drives execution of the CMS replacement program for Cards
- Acts as day-to-day delivery lead for the cards workstream of the CMS replacement across requirements, solution design sign-off, vendor build/configuration, integration, testing, cutover and hyper-care.
- Coordinates closely with Architecture, Operations, Cards Business, Risk, and vendors to deliver each phase / migration wave with minimal customer and business disruption.
- Ensures migration run-books, rehearsal plans, rollback strategies and hyper-care models are robust and well-tested.
- Leads solution delivery using 3rd-party card platforms
- Ensures that 3rd-party products (CMS, rewards, tokenisation/xPay, card collections, disputes, digital channels) are implemented as coherent end-to-end solutions and not as isolated systems.
- Works with solution architects and vendors to confirm integration patterns, non-functional requirements (performance, availability, resilience) and operational support needs.
- Reviews and signs off solution designs and change requests from a delivery and service impact perspective.
- Coordinates testing, certification and go-live readiness
- Owns the testing and go-live readiness for card delivery functional, regression, integration, performance and scheme/xPay certification (Mastercard, Visa, Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc.), working with testing teams, vendors and business users.
- Ensures test environments, test data, and defect management are well-run and that exit criteria are clearly defined and met before production deployment.
- Leads pre-cutover checkpoints and go/no-go forums from the BU IT delivery side.
- Manages BAU service performance and production stability for Cards
- Acts as the primary BU IT point of contact for card production issues, root cause investigations and major incident coordination (alongside Service Management and vendors).
- Monitors service SLAs/OLAs for card platforms and drives corrective actions / continuous improvement with vendors and internal teams.
- Ensures that changes are scheduled and implemented in a way that protects critical card business periods and customer experience.
- Runs portfolio and stakeholder governance for Cards
- Manages regular cards delivery governance forums (work-in-progress meetings, steering committees, risk/issue reviews) with Cards Business, Operations, Risk, Architecture and vendors.
- Provides accurate, timely reporting on delivery progress, risks, issues and dependencies to the Retail Service Delivery Head Unsecured Lending and other stakeholders.
- Supports preparation of materials for ExCo / Board committees related to card technology delivery, as required.
- Leads vendor management from a service & delivery perspective
- Works with Procurement and Vendor Management to run effective operational governance with card technology vendors (CMS provider, scheme/tokenisation partners, integrators).
- Tracks vendor delivery commitments, SLAs and escalation paths; drives remediation when performance falls short.
- Ensures vendor plans and bank plans are aligned, with clear ownership of deliverables on both sides.
- Supports risk, compliance and regulatory alignment
- Ensures card technology changes and operations are in line with internal policies and external regulations (e.g., BSP, AMLA, data privacy, PCI DSS).
- Partners with Risk, Compliance and InfoSec to ensure that card solutions have appropriate controls and audit trails, and that regulatory commitments are delivered on time.
- Builds and develops the Cards delivery team
- Leads, mentors and develops a team of delivery managers, project managers, business analysts and test leads focused on cards.
- Sets clear expectations, provides coaching and feedback, and supports career development and succession planning within the cards delivery team.
- Promotes a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement in how card delivery is executed.
It is accepted and understood that the employee may perform other related tasks which may be assigned from time to time.
JOB QUALIFICATIONS
Years of Work Experience
- 812 years of experience in IT delivery / program or project management in banking or payments, with significant exposure to card issuing platforms and projects.
- Proven experience leading end-to-end delivery of at least one major card technology initiative (e.g., CMS implementation/migration, scheme/xPay enablement, card platform replacement or large-scale card portfolio migration).
Educational Attainment / Required Course
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, or related field.
- Postgraduate qualifications in IT, business, or project management are an advantage.
Preferred Certifications
- Project / Program Management: PMP, Prince2, Agile/SAFe, or equivalent.
- IT Service Management: ITIL or similar.
- Awareness training / certifications related to PCI DSS, cyber security, or data privacy are a plus.
Field of Specialization
- Cards & Payments domain (issuer side):
- Credit and debit cards lifecycle (origination, activation, servicing, renewals/reissues, blocks/closures).
- Card transactions, authorisation, clearing & settlement, chargebacks, disputes, and fraud/collections touchpoints.
- Experience working with Mastercard and Visa, and ideally xPay (Apple Pay, Google Pay) / tokenization projects.
- Technology delivery using 3rd-party platforms:
- Card Management Systems and related platforms (rewards, tokenisation, switching, collections, disputes, digital channels).
- Integration and testing of vendor solutions into bank ecosystems.
Knowledge and Skills Requirement
- Strong project and program delivery skills planning, RAID management, status reporting, stakeholder management.
- Good understanding of solution design and integration concepts (APIs, messaging, middleware, batch processing) sufficient to challenge vendors and architects constructively.
- Solid vendor management skills understanding of contracts/SOWs, SLAs, performance metrics and escalation.
- Strong problem-solving and analytical skills; able to navigate complex dependencies and constraints.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills; able to converse with both business and technical teams and present clearly to senior stakeholders.
- High level of ownership, resilience and attention to detail, particularly around cutovers and high-risk implementation events.
