Product Owner, Payments Infrastructure

A reputable financial technology company is seeking a high-caliber Product Owner to own the backlog for its payments infrastructure, turning clearing network, routing, and reconciliation requirements into clear delivery priorities for engineering.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and prioritize the product backlog for the payments infrastructure team
• Translate business and regulatory requirements into clear, actionable user stories
• Maintain a roadmap that reflects both delivery capacity and business priority
• Define requirements for transaction routing logic and clearing network integrations
• Work with engineering to validate routing rules against real transaction flows
• Document routing edge cases and their resolution
• Own the backlog for automated reconciliation tools, including exception handling and reporting
• Coordinate with Finance and Operations to confirm reconciliation logic matches operational needs
• Prioritize reconciliation fixes based on operational impact
• Run backlog grooming and sprint planning sessions with engineering
• Present roadmap and delivery updates to internal stakeholders
• Manage competing priorities across finance, operations and engineering

Role Requirements

Experience & Background

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Computer Science or a related field
• 5–8 years of experience including direct Product Owner or Product Manager experience in fintech or payments
• Prior exposure to clearing or settlement networks, or transaction routing systems, is required
• Hands-on experience writing user stories that engineering can build from without ambiguity

Functional & Technical Skills

• Ability to read API or system documentation for routing and clearing integrations
• Understanding of settlement cycles and reconciliation processes
• Structured backlog prioritization using frameworks such as RICE or MoSCoW
• Comfort translating regulatory or operational requirements into technical scope

Expert in Tools

• Jira and Confluence for backlog and documentation management
• Excel for data-driven prioritization
• PowerPoint for stakeholder presentations

Soft Skills & Culture

• Very good English and Arabic
• Prioritize tasks effectively and confidently decline low-value requests when needed
• Stay organized and maintain a clear and up-to-date backlog

Nice to Have

• Direct experience with a GCC RTGS or clearing system
• Background in reconciliation automation projects
• Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)
• Experience working in a startup or scale-up delivery environment where processes are still being built