Payments Product Lead: Direct CHAPS & UK Schemes

Our client is a next-generation clearing, agency, and transaction bank operating at the heart of the UK financial system. One of only a handful of principal clearing banks in the country, they launched in 2021 and are building the infrastructure that the future of financial services will run on. What sets them apart is a fundamentally different approach to banking. Unlike traditional banks, they don't lend, leverage, or invest client deposits — all funds are held in full at the central bank. It's a model built on security and stability rather than credit risk, and it's attracting serious attention from corporates, fintechs, and financial institutions who want a safer, smarter way to bank. Their platform spans corporate payments, operating and client money accounts, embedded finance, and a developer API suite — giving businesses the tools to integrate banking directly into their own products and services. Backed by over $185M in funding and growing fast, this is a business with serious pedigree and a genuinely compelling mission.

This is a rare opportunity to own payments product end-to-end at one of the UK's most ambitious financial infrastructure businesses. Our client is moving to direct CHAPS participation — and they need someone who can lead that programme while simultaneously shaping the long-term payments roadmap. You'll sit at the intersection of product, engineering, and regulation, working directly with the Bank of England, Pay.UK, and the FCA, as well as internal infrastructure and engineering teams. This is a build role, not a strategy role. You'll be expected to go from whiteboard to production, translating complex scheme and regulatory requirements into shipped product — and doing it at pace.

What You'll Be Doing

• Own the payments product roadmap end-to-end — from architecting new capabilities to delivering them in an agile, build-led environment.
• Translate the roadmap into clear technical and business requirements for in-house and partner engineering teams, managing delivery capacity to ship on time without sacrificing quality.
• Lead the design and delivery of the direct CHAPS integration, working closely with the Bank of England, Pay.UK, and internal infrastructure teams.
• Act as the internal SME on UK and European payment schemes — Faster Payments, Bacs, CHAPS, and SEPA — with particular depth on CHAPS as the business moves to direct participation.
• Optimise the payments platform — client API and core payment engine — for speed, reliability, and scale.
• Partner with payment schemes, regulators, and correspondent banking partners to design and deliver payment connectivity against tight deadlines.
• Champion the customer at every stage, balancing their needs against a complex and rapidly evolving regulatory and commercial landscape.
• Track emerging trends — stablecoins, tokenised deposits, ISO 20022 cross-border rails, SWIFT alternatives, alternative liquidity models — and shape the roadmap to keep the business ahead of them.
• Serve as the day-to-day point of contact for payments product queries, escalating risks and issues to leadership in a timely manner.

What They're Looking For

• Direct, hands‑on experience at a bank or non‑bank financial institution — PSP, e‑money issuer, or payments fintech. Consulting or vendor‑only backgrounds won't be sufficient on their own.
• A genuine track record of building and architecting payments products in a start‑up or scale‑up environment — you've shipped, not just specced, and you're comfortable going from a blank whiteboard to production.
• Deep, hands‑on knowledge of UK and European payment schemes — Faster Payments, Bacs, CHAPS, SEPA. Direct scheme integration experience, particularly CHAPS, is a strong plus.
• Familiarity with correspondent banking — nostro/vostro structures, SWIFT MT/MX messaging, FX and liquidity flows, and the commercial dynamics of negotiating partner‑bank relationships.
• A genuine point of view on where payments is heading: Real‑Time Payments, the New Payments Architecture, Open Banking, stablecoins, tokenised deposits, and emerging SWIFT alternatives.
• Strong problem‑solving skills and a high degree of independent initiative — you set direction rather than wait for it, and you drive delivery in an agile environment.
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to build credible relationships across engineers, regulators, partner banks, and commercial stakeholders in a fast‑moving firm.