Project Manager - Capital Markets

Alquemy Search & Consulting; Toronto; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Alquemy Search & Consulting seeks an experienced Payments Technical Project Manager to support a major ISO 20022 initiative within a Global Markets environment. The role leads complex payments technology projects from planning through implementation and stabilization, collaborating with business, technology, operations, risk and third parties to deliver secure and reliable payment solutions.

The ideal candidate combines strong project delivery leadership with practical payments technology

Qualifications

• 10+ years of project or program management experience.
• Experience delivering complex technology projects end-to-end.
• Strong cross-functional leadership without direct reporting.
• Experience with Agile, Waterfall or hybrid delivery.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management.
• Ability to drive issues through to resolution.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end project delivery, including scope, timelines, milestones, dependencies, resources and budgets.
• Establish project governance, reporting and decision-making processes.
• Coordinate delivery across business, technology, operations, architecture, testing, security and control teams.
• Lead testing strategies and UAT, including defect management.
• Plan cutover, rollback and contingency plans for implementations.
• Provide clear, concise and timely project status reporting.

Skills

Payments

Project management

Cross-functional leadership

ISO 20022

APIs

Testing & UAT

Regulatory controls

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Payments Technical Project Manager to support a major ISO 20022 initiative within a Global Markets environment.

The successful candidate will lead complex payments technology initiatives from initial planning through implementation and post-production stabilization. This role will work closely with business, technology, operations, architecture, risk, compliance, security and third-party teams to deliver secure, resilient and reliable payment solutions.

The ideal candidate combines strong project management and delivery leadership skills with a practical understanding of payments technology, systems integration, testing, operational readiness and regulatory controls.

Key Responsibilities

Project & Delivery Leadership

• Own end-to-end project delivery, including scope, timelines, milestones, dependencies, resources and budgets.
• Establish project governance, reporting and decision-making processes.
• Manage risks, issues, assumptions and dependencies, escalating and resolving challenges as required.
• Coordinate delivery across business, technology, operations, architecture, testing, security and control teams.
• Track project progress against timelines, quality standards and agreed outcomes.
• Manage scope and change control throughout the project lifecycle.

Payments Technology Delivery

• Lead technology projects involving payment processing, clearing and settlement, payment platforms, APIs, messaging, reconciliation and operational tools.
• Work with architects and engineering teams to understand system interfaces, integration patterns and technical dependencies.
• Support initiatives involving domestic, cross-border, real-time and account-to-account payments.
• Coordinate technology changes involving payment gateways, fraud and sanctions screening, customer channels, data platforms and third-party providers.
• Ensure payment exceptions, investigations, returns, repairs and reconciliation requirements are addressed as part of solution delivery.

Testing & Implementation

• Develop and manage comprehensive test strategies covering system integration, end-to-end, performance, resilience, security and UAT.
• Coordinate test environments, test data, defect management and business sign-off.
• Ensure payment volumes, message formats, settlement behavior and reconciliation processes are appropriately tested.
• Lead implementation planning, including cutover, communications, rollback and contingency plans.
• Manage post-implementation reviews, hypercare and transition to business-as-usual support.
• Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders and cross-functional delivery teams.
• Translate complex technical information into clear business impacts, options and recommendations.
• Manage vendors and third-party partners, including deliverables, milestones, risks and dependencies.
• Facilitate workshops and help resolve competing priorities.
• Provide clear, concise and timely project status reporting.

Required Qualifications & Experience

Must Have

• 10+ years of project or program management experience, preferably within financial services or payments.
• Proven experience delivering complex technology projects from initiation through implementation.
• Strong experience managing cross-functional teams and delivery partners without direct reporting authority.
• Demonstrated experience managing project risks, issues, dependencies, governance and senior stakeholder reporting.
• Strong understanding of production implementation, operational readiness and post-release support.
• Experience working with Agile, Waterfall or hybrid delivery methodologies.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to prioritize competing demands, make clear recommendations and drive issues through to resolution.

Preferred Experience

• Experience with domestic or cross-border payments.
• Knowledge of ISO 20022, SWIFT, real-time payments, payment gateways or account-to-account payments.
• Experience with clearing and settlement processes.
• Exposure to fraud detection, sanctions screening, payment reconciliation or payment investigations.
• Experience with cloud platforms, microservices, APIs or event-driven architectures.
• Experience working with major technology vendors or payment processors.
• PMP, PRINCE2, AgilePM, Scrum or similar project/delivery certification.