Lead Product Owner of Sales – Payments & FinTech

SteerBridge•Washington, DC

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

SteerBridge Strategies is seeking an experienced Payments Platform Product Owner to lead the definition, prioritization, implementation, and continuous enhancement of our payment products and capabilities. This role combines deep knowledge of the payments ecosystem with strong product management skills and hands-on implementation leadership. The ideal candidate understands how modern payment platforms operate — from card issuing, acquiring, digital wallets, ACH, RTP, FedNow, and embedded finance to fraud, compliance, settlement, reconciliation, and customer experience. They are equally comfortable working with executives to define strategy and with engineering teams to deliver production-ready capabilities. This individual will own the product roadmap, translate business needs into detailed requirements, and lead cross-functional implementation efforts to deliver scalable payment solutions.

Requirements

Must be authorized to work in the U.S.
Must be eligible and able to pass a federal background check.
Local to the Vienna, VA / DMV metro area or willing to relocate; hybrid schedule with regular on-site presence required.
10+ years of progressive experience in payments, FinTech, or financial services.
5+ years of Product Owner or Product Manager experience or business capabilities focus.
Experience implementing payment solutions in production environments.
Strong Agile/Scrum experience.
Experience writing user stories and acceptance criteria.
Experience working directly with engineering teams.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities.
Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business, or related field.

Nice To Haves

Background supporting FinTech companies through high-growth stages, strategic partnerships, or successful exits — including experience with acquisitions, integration, and scaling operations in a post-acquisition environment.
Experience with federal payments modernization, government disbursement systems, or VA/DoD financial technology programs.
Familiarity with modular, API-driven payment ecosystem design including ACH, real-time payment networks, virtual card disbursements, prepaid card programs, and digital wallet integrations.
Understanding of improper payment prevention frameworks, audit traceability requirements, and financial accountability standards for government payment programs.
Existing network of relationships across payment networks, card brands, issuing banks, and enterprise financial technology partners.

Responsibilities

Own the product roadmap for one or more payment products and help guide the teams on implementations.
Define product vision aligned with company strategy.
Prioritize features based on customer value, revenue opportunity, regulatory requirements, and technical feasibility.
Develop business cases for new payment capabilities and a roadmap for future business models.
Analyze industry trends and competitive offerings and create a payments platform strategy for growth.
Identify opportunities for innovation and automation.
Serve as the subject matter expert for payment capabilities including credit card, debit card, and prepaid card programs.
ACH, Real-Time Payments (RTP), FedNow, and wire transfers.
Card processing, payment gateways, tokenization, digital wallets, and merchant services.
Card issuing, BIN sponsorship, settlement and clearing, chargebacks, disputes, and refunds.
Reconciliation, transaction monitoring, fraud prevention, and payment orchestration.
Define or gather business requirements from stakeholders.
Translate requirements into user stories with detailed acceptance criteria.
Develop process flows and business workflows.
Document functional and non-functional requirements.
Define APIs and integration requirements with technical teams.
Maintain product backlog.
Prioritize sprint work.
Lead vendor onboarding and payment processor integrations.
Lead banking integrations and network certification.
Oversee configuration management and User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
Lead pilot launches and production deployments.
Provide hypercare support.
Maintain working knowledge of Card Network Rules (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover).
NACHA Rules, PCI DSS, tokenization, and EMV.
ISO 8583, ISO 20022, and Open Banking APIs.
KYC, AML, and OFAC requirements.
Fraud detection platforms, payment regulations, and FinTech trends.
Work directly with payment processors, issuing processors, and core banking providers.
Work directly with card manufacturers, fraud vendors, and identity providers.
Work directly with payment gateways, banking partners, BIN sponsors, and third-party APIs.
Lead vendor evaluations, implementation planning, issue resolution, and ongoing optimization.