Client Implementation Manager (Card Issuing)

Accountabilities

• Manage card issuing implementations end to end, from project planning and kickoff through launch, hypercare, and formal closure.

• Build and maintain project plans, milestones, timelines, dependency maps, risk registers, and issue trackers.

• Serve as the primary point of contact for clients, providing clear progress updates and managing expectations across stakeholders and competing priorities.

• Lead client kickoff meetings, regular progress reviews, post-launch discussions, and other implementation touchpoints.

• Coordinate delivery across engineering, product, compliance, risk, support, and other internal teams to maintain momentum and resolve blockers.

• Guide clients through card program configuration, including BIN ranges and structures, product codes, card profiles, limits, fees, and authorization parameters.

• Support technical onboarding covering issuing APIs, environments, system configuration, credentials, webhooks, and user access.

• Coordinate dependencies involving BIN sponsors, card schemes, card bureaux, and third-party vendors, including certification, personalization, production, and fulfillment.

• Lead user acceptance testing by preparing card lifecycle and transaction test plans, coordinating test card provisioning, tracking defects, and validating results.

• Coordinate go-live activities, including cutover planning, readiness checks, go/no-go criteria, and post-launch hypercare.

• Work with Compliance and relevant stakeholders to ensure implementations address applicable requirements, including PCI DSS, SCA/PSD2, and Visa and Mastercard rules.

• Maintain complete project documentation, meeting records, decisions, configuration details, status reports, and sign-offs to support audit and compliance requirements.

• Complete project handovers to Support, ensuring known issues, configurations, and relevant documentation are transferred effectively.

• Use AI tools and LLMs where appropriate to streamline project plans, meeting summaries, status updates, and documentation while validating outputs for accuracy.

Requirements

• 3+ years of experience in implementation, project management, or client delivery within fintech, banking, payments, or a related environment.

• Practical knowledge of card issuing, including card programs, BIN structures, card lifecycle events, authorization flows, and issuer processing concepts.

• Understanding of card issuing platform configuration, technical integration, and the dependencies involved in launching card programs.

• Working knowledge of REST APIs and technical client onboarding processes.

• Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple implementations simultaneously while maintaining attention to detail.

• Excellent written and spoken English, with the ability to communicate effectively with technical teams, clients, and senior stakeholders.

• Confidence leading client-facing meetings, managing expectations, and communicating project risks and dependencies.

• Strong analytical and structured problem-solving skills, including the ability to investigate issues through to root cause.

• High standards for documentation, record-keeping, compliance, and operational accuracy.

• Collaborative approach and comfort working across engineering, product, compliance, risk, support, and external partners.

• Curiosity about technology, financial services platforms, integrations, and digital products.

• Strong sense of ownership and accountability, with a commitment to taking projects from concept through successful delivery.

• Comfortable working in a remote, distributed environment across multiple time zones.

• Preferred experience includes implementing card issuing or issuer-processing platforms, working for an issuer, BIN sponsor, processor, program manager, or card-focused fintech.

• Additional valuable experience includes debit, credit, prepaid, commercial, or virtual card products; scheme certification and BIN registration; digital wallets and network tokenization; settlement, reconciliation, disputes, and chargebacks.

• Familiarity with project and collaboration tools such as Jira, Confluence, Asana, or Smartsheet is beneficial.

• Consultancy or professional-services experience managing multiple clients is a plus.

• Project management certification such as CSM, PRINCE2 Foundation, CAPM, or equivalent is advantageous.

Benefits

• Remote working opportunity from India within a distributed international team.

• Consultant engagement focused on payments and fintech implementations.

• Opportunity to work on complex card issuing and financial-services technology projects.

• Exposure to cross-functional collaboration across engineering, product, compliance, risk, support, and external partners.

• Opportunity to work with multiple clients and varied card program configurations.

• Scope to develop expertise across card issuing, APIs, payment infrastructure, and fintech delivery.

• Opportunity to use modern AI and LLM tools to improve project delivery and operational efficiency.

• Collaborative environment emphasizing technical excellence, problem-solving, communication, adaptability, and ownership.

• Potential exposure to international payment schemes, vendors, processors, and other ecosystem partners.