Product Associate, Operations & Testing

KeyBank • For Those Who Work At Home, OH

6d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Production Associate is responsible for the operational governance, testing, validation, and implementation of payment network releases, pricing changes, and production control processes across merchant services platforms and client-facing applications. This role serves as the primary coordination point between Product, Pricing, Operations, Networks and third-party processors to ensure production changes are implemented accurately, tested thoroughly, and aligned with governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) requirements. The ideal candidate combines strong payments industry knowledge with expertise in release management, operational risk controls, change management, pricing validation, and regulatory compliance.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Systems, Technology, Finance, or related field.
• Minimum 2 years merchant acquiring or merchant services
• Minimum 2+ years of experience in payments, banking operations, production support, release management, or operational risk.
• Experience with payment card network rules and releases (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express).
• Experience coordinating testing, UAT, and production deployments.
• Excellent project management and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong understanding of: Merchant pricing models, Interchange and assessments, Payment processing workflows, Change management methodologies, Operational risk controls
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working with processors such as Fiserv, FIS, Global Payments, Elavon, TSYS, or Worldpay.
• Experience supporting audits, risk assessments, and control testing.
• Knowledge of PCI DSS and card network operating regulations

Responsibilities

• Coordinate release planning across Product, Technology, Operations, Risk, and external processing partners.
• Develop and maintain testing schedules, deployment plans, and production readiness reviews.
• Ensure timely implementation of new network functionality, compliance requirements, fee changes, and operating rule updates.
• Review vendor release documentation and implementation requirements.
• Track external dependencies and ensure partner readiness for production deployments.
• Track release deliverables, dependencies, risks, and issue remediation through deployment completion.
• Govern implementation of pricing, interchange, assessments, network fees, and processor fee changes.
• Develop testing and validation strategies for pricing changes across merchant-facing applications, billing systems, and operational workflows.
• Coordinate user acceptance testing (UAT), regression testing, and production validation activities.
• Investigate and resolve pricing discrepancies prior to production deployment.
• Partner with Pricing and Product teams to ensure pricing changes align with approved business requirements.
• Maintain governance frameworks supporting production change management and operational controls.
• Ensure adherence to internal risk management policies, regulatory requirements, PCI standards, and network mandates.
• Maintain audit-ready documentation for change approvals, testing evidence, and implementation records.
• Monitor control effectiveness and identify opportunities for process improvements.
• Support internal audits, regulatory examinations, and risk reviews.
• Lead production readiness and implementation reviews for high-impact changes.
• Establish deployment, rollback, and contingency procedures.
• Partner with Pricing teams on post-implementation performance and issue resolution activities.
• Develop operational metrics and reporting related to release quality, testing effectiveness, defects, and compliance.

Benefits

• Eligibility for incentive compensation which may include production, commission, and/or discretionary incentives.
• A list of benefits for which this position is eligible.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level