Cards Manager Operations

ing; Lombardia; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

ING Bank N.V. is seeking a Cards Operations Manager to lead end-to-end card operations across debit, credit, prepaid and business cards in Italy. You will govern the operations value chain, drive continuous improvement and data-driven initiatives to improve service quality and customer outcomes.

You will coordinate with Product, IT, Data, Risk, Compliance and external partners to ensure regulatory alignment, resilience and timely remediation, while fostering a customer‑led, AI‑aware culture.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in cards, payments or banking operations.
• Proven ability to manage critical situations and set priorities.
• Fluency in Italian and English, written and spoken.
• Knowledge of end-to-end card lifecycle, disputes and fraud processes.
• Experience with analytics, automation and AI capabilities in operations.
• Strong leadership and stakeholder communication skills.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and manage escalation.

Responsibilities

• Provide visible leadership to Cards Operations, set priorities and allocate capacity.
• Own end-to-end integrity, efficiency and customer outcomes of card operations.
• Own the operational risk and control framework and drive remediation of gaps.
• Act as Operations reference for card-related matters across cross-functional programs.
• Maintain governance for Cards Operations and coordinate critical incidents and resilience measures.
• Contribute to transformation roadmap focusing on simplification, automation, analytics and AI.
• Ensure governance of outsourced activities and third parties.

Skills

Card operations

Governance

Analytics

AI literacy

Stakeholder mgmt

Risk management

Card lifecycle

Italian fluency

English fluency

Vendor governance

Education

Degree in Economics/Finance/Business Admin/Engineering/Law

Tools

Card processing platforms

Analytics tools

Job description

ING Bank N.V. is looking for a Cards Operations Manager

Activities :

• Contribute to the development and continuous improvement of the end-to-end operating model for ING payment card products, covering debit, credit, prepaid and business cards across their full lifecycle.
• Govern the operational value chain for card issuance, activation, maintenance, blocking, replacement, disputes, chargebacks, compromised cards and customer servicing, ensuring clear ownership and effective execution.
• Oversee the control environment, reconciliations, service requests, exception management and remediation of material data or processing misalignments.
• Monitor service quality, volumes, backlogs, incidents and operational performance through data-driven governance, advanced analytics and AI-enabled insights, translating evidence into operational priorities and measurable improvement plans.
• Coordinate with Product, IT, Data, Risk, Compliance, Anti-Fraud, Customer Care and other Operations teams, ensuring that operational requirements and the responsible adoption of AI are considered in process changes, regulatory initiatives and card-related programmes.
• Manage the governance of external providers and processors, including service reviews, SLA/KPI performance, escalations, resilience and continuity requirements.

Responsibilities :

• Provide visible and inclusive leadership to Cards Operations, setting clear priorities, allocating capacity effectively and building the capabilities required for sustained performance.
• Hold end-to-end accountability for the integrity, efficiency and customer outcomes of card operations, ensuring performance against service commitments, internal policies, regulatory obligations and customer-protection standards.
• Own the operational risk and control framework, defining risk appetite-aligned priorities, ensuring control effectiveness and driving timely remediation of gaps, incidents and systemic weaknesses.
• Act as the Operations point of reference for card-related matters, contributing operational expertise to cross-functional initiatives, transformation programmes, audits and risk assessments.
• Maintain the governance framework for Cards Operations, coordinating the resolution of critical incidents, systemic risks and customer-impacting issues, and supporting cross-functional remediation to strengthen operational resilience, protect customers and improve business performance.
• Contribute to the transformation roadmap for simplification, automation, advanced analytics and AI-enabled operations, identifying valuable use cases and supporting their responsible implementation to improve customer outcomes, productivity, control effectiveness and operational continuity.
• Ensure effective governance of outsourced activities and third parties, holding providers accountable for performance, information security, operational resilience, regulatory compliance and exit readiness.
• Foster a customer-led, collaborative and accountable culture, translating ING values and the Orange Code into day-to-day leadership, operational practices and measurable outcomes, while supporting the development of digital, data and AI capabilities across the team.

Required skills :

• Significant experience in cards, payments or banking operations, with a proven track record in team leadership, operational governance and delivery of business outcomes
• Demonstrated ability to manage critical situations, set priorities under pressure and address significant operational, customer and reputational impacts
• Degree in Economics, Finance, Business Administration, Engineering, Law or a comparable discipline
• Fluency in Italian and strong command of English, both written and spoken
• Deep knowledge of payment-card operations, the end-to-end card lifecycle, disputes and chargebacks, fraud-related processes, operational risk, controls and third-party governance
• Strong understanding of card-processing and banking platforms, combined with practical AI literacy and experience using analytics, automation and generative-AI capabilities to enhance operational decision‑making, service quality and productivity
• Strong leadership, influencing and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with Operations, Product, IT, control functions and senior stakeholders around shared priorities
• Strategic, data-driven and AI-enabled mindset, with the ability to identify practical use cases, assess value and risk, and translate operational evidence into clear priorities and measurable improvements
• Sound understanding of responsible AI principles, including data quality, model risk, explainability, privacy, human oversight and regulatory considerations in a banking environment
• Proven ability to navigate ambiguity, exercise sound judgement and manage effective escalation and coordination across complex organisational environments

Contract offer:

• Working conditions : Permanent employment contract
• Working hours: Ful