Senior Product Manager - Card Issuing

Position Overview

We are representing a partner company seeking a Senior Product Manager specializing in Card Issuing based in the United Arab Emirates. This leadership position involves comprehensive oversight of a major migration project transferring active card programs between issuing platforms.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the entire product workstream for migrating existing card programs from the current issuing platform to a new target platform, managing product vision, scope, scheduling, and delivery outcomes.
• Capture and document all current card program configurations such as BIN structures, product codes, card profiles, fees, limits, authorization rules, and scheme parameters, and define corresponding target platform configurations.
• Conduct thorough capability and gap analyses between current and future platforms to decide if functionalities should be replicated, refined, redesigned, or discarded.
• Collaborate with BIN sponsors, card schemes, processors, and partners to handle BIN sponsorship, migrations, licensing, certifications, and necessary approvals.
• Create and implement a detailed migration plan covering phases, segmentation strategies, program sequencing, and decisions regarding card reissuance, recarding, token transitions, and credential continuity.
• Develop customer impact strategies addressing communication plans, timing of reissuance, card-on-file continuance, network tokens, digital wallets, and minimizing user disruptions.
• Specify data migration prerequisites covering cards, accounts, balances, transaction data, ensuring reconciliation, validation, and high-quality data standards.
• Maintain a prioritized backlog with well-defined requirements, acceptance standards, dependencies, and measurable success metrics.
• Work closely with architects, engineers, and delivery teams to evaluate technical feasibility, integration points, sequencing, and cutover needs.
• Manage migration preparation efforts such as test strategy creation, scheme certifications, parallel operations, rehearsal drills, go/no-go criteria, rollback options, and contingency measures.
• Guarantee that migrated programs remain compliant with regulatory, security, and scheme mandates including PCI DSS, SCA/PSD2, and other local regulations.
• Serve as the senior product liaison for client stakeholders across multiple disciplines including product, operations, risk, fraud, and technology, communicating progress and risks to executive audiences.
• Oversee post-migration monitoring, analyzing authorization success rates, decline trends, token continuity, fraud signals, and operational events, and spearhead improvement initiatives.
• Apply AI and large language models prudently to accelerate requirement documentation, configuration mapping, analyses, and reporting with thorough expert validation.

Experience and Expertise Required

• Minimum of 8 years in product management, significantly involving card issuing and payment services.
• Comprehensive practical understanding of card issuing including card program architecture, product and profile configurations, BIN sponsorship, card lifecycle, and issuer processing.
• Direct involvement and ownership in at least one comprehensive migration of live card programs between platforms.
• Well-versed in authorization, clearing, and settlement workflows and the impact of platform configurations on these processes.
• Familiar with Visa and Mastercard scheme rules, certification, BIN management, licensing, and mandatory compliance updates.
• Knowledgeable about network tokenization and digital wallet technologies like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Click to Pay and their migration considerations.
• Aware of regulatory and compliance standards such as PCI DSS, SCA/PSD2, and jurisdiction-specific obligations affecting issuing functions.
• Strong technical proficiency allowing effective collaboration with architects and engineers on APIs, data structures, file formats, and integration trade-offs.
• Proven ability to negotiate and uphold product priority and scope balancing technical, operational, commercial, and regulatory demands.
• Demonstrated aptitude for engaging senior stakeholders and managing conflicting priorities across business and tech teams.
• Experienced in managing high-stakes transitions with structured plans for cutover, rollback, contingency, and risk mitigation.
• Hands-on experience utilizing AI and LLMs in product workflows with sound judgment assuring output quality.
• Comfort operating within international and distributed teams across various time zones.
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and oral, with senior audiences.
• Prior experience with major card issuing platforms or processors is favorable.
• Backgrounds in issuer entities, BIN sponsorship, processors, program managers or fintech working with card programs is advantageous.
• Exposure to various card types including debit, credit, prepaid, commercial, and virtual cards is beneficial.
• Knowledge of ISO 8583, ISO 20022 messaging, EMV personalization, card production, fulfillment, embossing, card bureau processes, and PIN management considered a plus.
• Experience in consulting or professional service environments across multiple clients is an asset.
• Technical or operational consulting, engineering experience is also valued.
• Demonstrated strategic leadership, market insight, entrepreneurial mindset, collaborative spirit, accountability, and full ownership of product processes.

Benefits and Work Environment

• Fully remote employment opportunity.
• Lead a high-complexity and impactful card platform migration within the fintech and payments industry.
• Take senior ownership spanning product strategy, delivery, client relationships, and execution.
• Engage with global clients, card schemes, processors, BIN sponsors, and fintech networks.
• Work on intricate card issuing programs and critical financial technology transitions.
• Participate in a cross-functional team environment involving product, engineering, architecture, operations, risk management, fraud, and client services.
• Leverage AI and large language model tools to enhance modern product management and payments tasks.
• Inclusive workplace welcoming diverse qualified candidates.
• Flexible collaborative arrangements across different geographies and time zones.