Payment Services (Senior Hire)

Morgan McKinley; Singapore; On-site; SGD 300,000 - 420,000; Full time

Job summary

Morgan McKinley seeks a senior executive to establish and scale a new regulated payments business in Singapore. You will drive licensing, governance, and commercial builds, leveraging an extensive banking network for correspondent banking and PSP relationships.

The role envisions a potential Executive Director seat on the licensed entity’s Board, subject to approvals. You will lead multi-currency payment flows, oversee financial crime controls, and partner with Group leadership to ensure

Qualifications

• 8+ years of leadership experience in payments, transaction banking, or regulated payment institutions.
• Active network with banks, PSPs, clearing houses and liquidity providers.
• Deep knowledge of SWIFT messaging standards (MT/MX) and cross-border settlement.
• Experience with a licensed payments entity license application or senior managerial responsibility.
• Proven ability to build commercial partnerships with strong governance and fiduciary judgment.

Responsibilities

• Lead banking infrastructure and partner rail expansion across SWIFT, RTGS, ACH.
• Oversee regulatory licensing processes and AML/CFT policy design.
• Interface with regulators during licensing reviews and audits as an Executive Director candidate.
• Collaborate with Group leadership to ensure regulatory discipline and operational resilience.

Skills

Leadership in payments

Regulated payments expertise

SWIFT MT/MX knowledge

Banking relationships network

Governance and risk awareness

Job description

An established financial services group is launching a new regulated payment services institution focused on scalable, multi-currency cross-border payment rails and global settlement solutions.

We are seeking a senior transaction banking or fintech executive to lead the setup, licensing, and commercial scaling of this regulated business from ground zero. This is a high-impact, dual commercial and corporate governance mandate: the ideal candidate should come with an established banking network to build correspondent banking and PSP relationships, optimize global payment routing, spearhead the regulatory licensing process, and—subject to regulatory approval—serve as a Director on the Board of the licensed operating company.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Banking Infrastructure & Partner Rail Expansion

• Build and scale redundant, high-availability payment routing architectures across SWIFT, local real-time gross settlement (RTGS) networks, and domestic automated clearing houses (ACH).
• Optimize FX liquidity, nostro/vostro balances, cut-off times, and treasury float to lower per-transaction unit economics and eliminate cross-border settlement delays.
• Structure multi-currency payment flows across SWIFT and local RTGS/ACH networks; optimize FX spreads, cut-off times, and intraday float

3. Licensing & Regulatory Governance

• Lead or co-lead the entity’s regulatory license application (Payment Service Provider / Payment Institution) in close partnership with internal legal counsel and external advisors.
• Translate statutory requirements into operational policies, anti-money laundering (AML/CFT) frameworks, sanctions screening, and transaction-monitoring workflows.
• Act as the primary, credible executive interface with financial regulators and supervisory bodies during licensing reviews and audits.

4. Statutory Directorship & Fiduciary Accountability

• Step into a formal Executive Director seat on the newly formed licensed entity’s Board of Directors (subject to regulatory approval and fit-and-proper clearance).
• Take legal and fiduciary responsibility for ensuring all business operations, customer safeguarding, and commercial partnerships comply with relevant licensing conditions, statutory laws, and corporate governance standards.
• Collaborate closely with Group executive leadership, Compliance, Risk, and Audit committees to maintain operational resilience and regulatory discipline.

Requirements:

• At least 8 years of leadership experience within payments, transaction banking, correspondent banking, cash management, or regulated payment institutions.
• An active network of established relationships with commercial banks, non-bank PSPs, clearing houses, and liquidity providers.
• Deep, practical knowledge of SWIFT messaging standards (MT/MX), cross-border correspondent settlement, clearing mechanisms, and local payment rails.
• Hands-on involvement in a payment institution license application or demonstrable experience operating as a senior approved person/manager within a regulated financial framework.
• Proven ability to build commercial partnerships from the ground up, paired with the judgment, integrity, and risk awareness required of a statutory company director.