Senior Project Manager - Payments & Client Implementations

job summary

We are seeking a Senior Project Manager to lead complex, client-facing payment implementations across our Tier-1 financial services and banking partners. In this role, you will bridge technical and executive stakeholders, managing end-to-end delivery from initial scoping through go-live and platform cutover. If you have deep expertise in card processing ecosystems and a passion for leveraging modern, AI-driven project workflows, we want to hear from you.

location: Telecommute

job type: Contract

salary: $63 - 65 per hour

work hours: 8am to 5pm

education: Bachelors

responsibilities

• Project & Engagement Management
• Lead client-facing projects end-to-end, from initiation through planning, execution, and formal closure.
• Build and manage comprehensive project plans, schedules, resource allocations, milestones, and deliverables.
• Serve as the primary operational liaison between client stakeholders and internal cross-functional delivery teams.
• Facilitate recurring project meetings, including agenda setting, minutes, action item tracking, and structured follow-ups.
• Oversee formal project transition and closure activities, including operational handoffs and post-implementation lessons learned.
• Maintain project workspaces, artifacts, and workflows using tools such as Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Planner, and standard project management platforms.
• Champion process optimization and delivery efficiency through standardized governance, workflow automation, and AI-enabled tools.
• Client & Stakeholder Engagement
• Establish and cultivate trusted relationships with client and internal stakeholders through proactive, transparent communication.
• Manage stakeholder expectations regarding scope, milestones, dependencies, roles, and shared accountability.
• Translate client requirements and strategic objectives into clear, actionable delivery plans for cross-functional teams (Product, Technology, Implementation, Operations, and Sales).
• Foster alignment across distributed teams, ensuring clear ownership, rapid conflict resolution, and consistent momentum.
• Drive a high-touch, solution-oriented client experience by addressing escalations and risks promptly.
• Delivery Assurance & Risk Management
• Maintain proactive oversight of project health, identifying and mitigating delivery risks before they impact schedule, budget, or commitments.
• Establish, actively manage, and communicate RAID (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies) logs and mitigation plans.
• Track critical project decisions, blockers, and open action items through resolution.
• Escalate material delivery risks and scope changes through appropriate governance channels with clear impact analyses and recommended next steps.
• Ensure delivery teams have the tools, specifications, and context required to execute deliverables effectively.
• Reporting & Executive Communication
• Deliver clear, audience-appropriate status reports and executive dashboards tailored to clients, business leaders, and technical teams.
• Provide data-driven delivery insights and project health metrics for executive reviews, steering committees, and Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs).
• Maintain high data integrity across all reporting dashboards, project logs, and governance records to support informed leadership decision-making.

qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business administration, project management, information technology, finance, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• 5 or more years of project management, implementation, client delivery, or related experience, including direct responsibility for leading cross-functional projects.
• Demonstrated experience managing project plans, schedules, milestones, risks, issues, dependencies, and stakeholder communications.
• Proven client-facing experience managing expectations and communicating effectively across both business and technical leadership.
• Industry experience within payments, financial services, fintech, banking, merchant acquiring, card processing, or digital commerce.
• Background experience in financial services and the Tier-1 banking industry.
• Working knowledge of major payment networks and card processing ecosystems, including transaction processing, merchant services, issuer/acquirer operations, or payment technology implementations.
• Knowledge of payment industry stakeholders, including issuers, acquirers, merchants, processors, gateways, and card networks.
• Experience supporting payment product implementations, merchant onboarding, platform migrations, transaction-processing solutions, or technology-enabled client engagements.
• Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), or a comparable recognized project management certification.
• Familiarity with Agile, Waterfall, and hybrid delivery methodologies.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional teams in a matrixed enterprise organization.
• Experience utilizing AI-enabled tools and workflow automation to enhance project reporting, documentation, and delivery efficiency.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Planner, PowerPoint, Excel, and enterprise project management and collaboration platforms.
• Strong written and verbal communication, organizational, problem-solving, and meeting facilitation skills.
• Ability to drive multiple workstreams simultaneously while maintaining rigorous attention to detail, governance documentation, and client commitments.

skills

• Agile
• AI-enabled tools
• collaboration tools
• information technology
• Excel
• PowerPoint
• payment products
• payment networks
• Microsoft Planner
• transaction processing
• attention to detail
• communicate effectively
• Strong written and verbal communication
• organization
• primary point of contact
• problem-solving
• banking
• business administration
• Certified Associate in Project Management
• CAPM
• PMP
• client-facing
• Client-facing experience
• delivery methodologies
• digital commerce
• onboarding
• facilitation skills
• fintech
• governance
• financial services
• finance
• merchant services
• Microsoft Teams
• proactive communication
• project management
• project-management
• project reporting
• project management certification
• project plans
• risks
• schedules
• stakeholder communications
• workflow automation
• project documentation