UAT Lead, Payments

Cognizant; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Bonus program (discretionary)

Benefits supporting wellbeing

Job summary

Cognizant in Toronto is seeking a UAT Lead for Payments to drive end-to-end UAT delivery across complex payment initiatives. You will collaborate with product owners, operations, SMEs, technology and partners to ensure solutions are production-ready.

You will own the UAT lifecycle, set scope and strategy, coordinate cross-functional teams, and report executive status, while proactively managing risks and ensuring business readiness before deployment.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional experience in UAT, QA, testing in complex enterprise environments.
• Proven track record leading UAT across large-scale enterprise programs with multiple apps and vendors.
• Strong knowledge of the Canadian payments ecosystem (Interac e-Transfer, wire payments).
• Experience with payment switching and messaging standards (ISO 20022, SWIFT).
• Expertise in end-to-end payment processing including settlement and reconciliation.
• Proven experience with testing methodologies, defect lifecycle, release and risk management, and executive sign-off.

Responsibilities

• Own the complete UAT lifecycle from planning to sign-off.
• Define UAT scope, test strategy, entry/exit criteria, and execution plans.
• Lead cross-functional coordination across business, product, operations, technology, architecture, and vendors.
• Manage testing across multiple upstream and downstream applications and interfaces.
• Provide executive-level status reporting and validate end-to-end processes before production.

Skills

UAT testing

Quality assurance

Testing leadership

Payments domain knowledge

ISO 20022

SWIFT

Defect lifecycle management

Release management

Executive reporting

Business sign-off

Job description

About The Role

As a UAT Lead, Payments, you will make an impact by leading the end-to-end delivery and successful execution of User Acceptance Testing across complex payment initiatives. You will work collaboratively with product owners, business operations, subject matter experts, technology teams, architecture teams, external partners, and vendors to ensure solutions are ready for production.

About The Role

As a UAT Lead, Payments, you will make an impact by leading the end-to-end delivery and successful execution of User Acceptance Testing across complex payment initiatives. You will work collaboratively with product owners, business operations, subject matter experts, technology teams, architecture teams, external partners, and vendors to ensure solutions are ready for production.

In This Role, You Will

• Own the complete UAT lifecycle, including planning, execution, defect management, reporting, business sign-off, and stakeholder communications.
• Define the UAT scope, test strategy, entry and exit criteria, test scenarios, execution plans, and business-readiness requirements.
• Lead cross-functional coordination across business, product, operations, technology, architecture, integration teams, and external partners.
• Manage testing across multiple upstream and downstream applications, interfaces, integrations, and dependent systems.
• Provide executive-level status reporting, proactively manage risks and issues, and validate end-to-end business processes before production deployment.

Work model

We believe hybrid work is the way forward as we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role’s business requirements, this is a hybrid position requiring three to four days a week in a client or Cognizant office in Toronto, Ontario. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance through our various wellbeing programs.

The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. This may change based on the project you’re engaged in, as well as business and client requirements. Rest assured, we will always be clear about role expectations.

What You Need To Have To Be Considered

• 7+ years of professional experience in User Acceptance Testing, quality assurance, testing, or related roles within complex enterprise environments.
• Extensive experience leading User Acceptance Testing across large‑scale enterprise programs involving multiple applications, integrations, vendors, and business teams.
• Strong knowledge of the Canadian payments ecosystem, including hands‑on experience with Interac e‑Transfer and wire payments.
• Experience with payment switching, financial message flows, and messaging standards or concepts such as ISO 20022 and SWIFT.
• Strong understanding of end‑to‑end payment processing, including settlement, reconciliation, exception handling, and upstream and downstream system dependencies.
• Proven experience with testing methodologies, defect lifecycle management, release management, risk management, executive reporting, and business sign‑off.

These will help you stand out

• Experience translating complex business requirements into comprehensive UAT scenarios and execution plans.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple stakeholders across business, product, operations, technology, architecture, and external partners.
• Experience identifying and escalating delivery risks within highly integrated banking or financial services environments.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to present testing status, risks, dependencies, and recommendations to senior stakeholders.
• A collaborative leadership style with the ability to drive accountability across teams without direct authority.

We're excited to meet people who share our mission and can make an impact in a variety of ways. Don't hesitate to apply, even if you only meet the minimum requirements listed. Think about your transferable experiences and unique skills that make you stand out as someone who can bring new and exciting things to this role.

Compensation

We regularly assess market data to ensure we offer a competitive compensation package for our associates. The base salary for this position ranges between $70,000 – $110,000 per year. Where the successful candidate may fall within the range depends on relevant education, work and/or management experience and other business‑related and job‑necessary qualifications. This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual performance‑based bonus, as well as benefits that support your physical, mental and financial wellbeing.