Interim Payments Specialist

Grant Thornton UK; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Part time

Job summary

Grant Thornton UK is seeking an experienced Interim Payments Specialist to join our Financial Services - Business Risk Services (FS BRS) team. You’ll work on short- to medium-term payments projects for financial institutions, delivering expert advisory, assurance and transformation support.

You’ll explore regulatory change, risk governance, and evolving payment technologies, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams while maintaining independence and high-quality client service.

Qualifications

• Deep knowledge of payments landscape, rails and emerging technologies.
• Experience delivering payments advisory, assurance or transformation.
• Strong understanding of FCA, PSR, PSD2 and open banking frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Deliver market-leading risk, control and governance services for payments in FS BRS.
• Advise clients on regulatory change and operating model adaptations in payments.
• Work on payments advisory, assurance or transformation engagements for financial services clients.

Skills

Payments expertise

Payment schemes & rails

Regulatory compliance

Risk & controls in payments

Digital assets

Job description

Who We Are

At Grant Thornton we're building something bold. We're doing things differently - looking to the future, driving ambitious growth and pioneering positive change in our industry. Providing audit, tax and advisory services, we empower clients through strategic insight, curiosity, and genuine partnership. And we empower our people with real opportunity. Our journey from great to exceptional is well underway. With significant investment behind us and a clear strategy for growth, there's real momentum.

Who We Are

At Grant Thornton we're building something bold. We're doing things differently - looking to the future, driving ambitious growth and pioneering positive change in our industry. Providing audit, tax and advisory services, we empower clients through strategic insight, curiosity, and genuine partnership. And we empower our people with real opportunity. Our journey from great to exceptional is well underway. With significant investment behind us and a clear strategy for growth, there's real momentum. Our Agile Talent Community (ATC) brings together experienced contract professionals who want choice without losing connection. You work where you add the most value, alongside teams who treat you as a partner rather than a placeholder.

Assignment Description

Joining us in Financial Services - Business Risk Services (FS BRS)

Grant Thornton's Financial Services Business Risk Services (FS BRS) team delivers market-leading risk, control and governance services to clients across insurance, banking and investment management. We work alongside financial institutions to help them achieve their strategic goals - whether that means navigating new legislation, responding to regulatory change, or adapting their technology and operating models to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving landscape. Our work spans internal audit (outsource and co-source), finance and risk management, compliance and technology - giving our people broad exposure to some of the most complex and high-profile challenges in financial services today.

If you're an experienced Interim Payments Specialist who's tired of choosing between freedom and meaningful work, there's another route. Within our FS BRS team, you'll be given the opportunity to take on short- to medium-term projects that sharpen your expertise, stretch your thinking, and give you a different angle on familiar challenges - all without locking you into a single path.

Skills We Are Looking For

• Deep expertise in the payments landscape, including a thorough understanding of payment schemes, rails, infrastructure and emerging payment technologies.
• Proven experience delivering payments advisory, assurance or transformation engagements within a professional services or financial services environment.
• Strong understanding of the regulatory environment governing payments, including relevant FCA requirements, PSR obligations, PSD2 and open banking frameworks, and the ability to advise clients on how these apply to their business and operating model.
• Solid understanding of risk and control frameworks within a payments context, including operational resilience, fraud controls, financial crime and third-party risk, and the ability to assess the adequacy of controls across complex payment ecosystems.
• Familiarity with digital assets and their intersection with the payments landscape, including stablecoins, tokenised payments and distributed ledger-based settlement.

Why Consultants choose the ATC

• Work that moves you forward
• When a project fits your skills, we'll get in touch, but you choose whether it's right for you. That means working on engagements that genuinely build your portfolio and expand your expertise.
• The freedom of contracting without the hidden admin
• You're not left to navigate the freelance world alone. Our Agile Talent team helps you understand freelance regulation and connects you with people who broaden your thinking through our teams and clients.
• Community you can actually feel
• Connection shouldn't disappear just because you're contracting. From market insights to wellbeing sessions to networking events, you'll be part of a community designed to make the independent path less isolated and more impactful.

Our culture and values

We have a culture where talented people thrive - where high performance is not just expected but enabled. It's a culture built on clarity, curiosity, and care. One that challenges us to aim higher, where we're encouraged to make the most of an abundance of resources to fuel our own development, and where we support each other to grow, learn, and succeed.

Our open and accessible culture means you'll interact with leaders who are interested in you and everything you bring to our firm. The things that set you apart, we value them. That's why we give you the freedom to bring your whole self to work and pursue your passions inside and outside of work.