Product Manager - Direct Debit & Alternate Payments

Xplor

3d • Remote

About The Position

Xplor Pay is building the payments infrastructure of the future — embedded, intelligent, and designed for the verticals we serve. As Product Manager for Direct Debit & Alternate Payments, you will own the end-to-end product strategy and execution for our UK (Bacs) and EU (SEPA) Direct Debit rails, while simultaneously leading our expansion into Open Banking, account-to-account (A2A), and emerging payment methods across the UK and European markets.

Requirements

• 3+ years of product management experience in fintech, payments, or financial services.
• Deep hands-on knowledge of Bacs Direct Debit (UK) — scheme rules, mandate management, AUDDIS/ARUDD processing, indemnity claims.
• Solid understanding of SEPA Direct Debit, payment rails, and EU clearing cycles.
• Demonstrated experience with Open Banking — either as a PM building PIS/AIS products or in a closely adjacent commercial or technical role.
• Fluency in PSD2, PSD3 (in progress), and UK Open Banking regulatory frameworks.
• Track record of shipping B2B or embedded payment products from discovery through to production at scale.
• Excellent written and verbal communication — able to write crisp PRDs, present to executives, and explain complex payment flows to non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong commercial instinct: comfortable with unit economics, pricing models, and revenue forecasting.
• Must have full working rights in the UK.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with Variable Recurring Payments (VRP) or Request-to-Pay (RtP) in the UK.
• Exposure to SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) or SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA).
• Familiarity with GDPR data handling requirements as they apply to payment data.
• Prior experience in a scale-up or multi-market fintech environment.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve the product roadmap for Bacs Direct Debit (UK) and SEPA (EU), balancing merchant experience, operational efficiency, and regulatory compliance.
• Reduce failure rates, improve reconciliation flows, and drive down cost-per-transaction through product-led initiatives.
• Partner with Compliance and Legal to ensure adherence to UK FCA rules, EU PSD2/PSD3, GDPR, and scheme rules from Bacs, SEPA, and Pay.UK.
• Work with the Commercial team to package and price Direct Debit as a competitive embedded payment option for Xplor's vertical SaaS partners.
• Lead the product development of Open Banking payment initiation (PIS) and account information (AIS) services under UK Open Banking standards and EU PSD2/PSD3 requirements.
• Define the roadmap for A2A payments, Variable Recurring Payments (VRP), and Request-to-Pay (RtP) as these rails mature in the UK and EU.
• Evaluate and integrate alternate payment methods (e.g., iDEAL, Bancontact, SEPA Instant, PayTo equivalents) relevant to Xplor's merchant base.
• Define quarterly and annual plans for the Direct Debit and Alternate Payments portfolio; maintain and communicate a rolling 12-month roadmap.
• Conduct competitive analysis across incumbent acquirers, neo-banks, and specialist payment providers operating in UK/EU markets.
• Present strategy, progress, and investment cases to the Embedded Payments executive leadership team.
• Drive agile delivery with cross-functional squads — engineering, design, data, and QA — using clear PRDs, user stories, and acceptance criteria.
• Build strong relationships with external scheme operators, banks, and open banking infrastructure providers.
• Serve as the internal centre of excellence on UK/EU payment rails — educating sales, customer success, and commercial teams.
• Monitor product health via dashboards covering transaction volumes, failure rates, settlement times, and revenue contribution.
• Embed AI tools into every stage of the product lifecycle: use LLMs for rapid synthesis of merchant interview transcripts, competitor teardowns, and PRD first drafts; use AI coding assistants to prototype flows and validate API responses without full engineering overhead.
• Champion AI adoption within the Embedded Payments product team — document effective prompting patterns, share workflows, and help upskill peers.
• Use AI-powered analytics tools to monitor performance dashboards, surface anomalies in transaction data, and generate plain-language summaries for stakeholder updates.
• Stay current with the evolving AI tooling landscape relevant to product management — proactively evaluate and propose new tools that can increase team velocity.

Benefits

• Paid Parental Leave benefit programs
• #GiveBackDays/Commitment to social impact – 3 extra days off to volunteer and give back to your local community
• Ongoing dedication to Diversity & Inclusion initiatives such as D&I Council, Global Mentorship Program
• Access to free mental health support
• Flexible working arrangements

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed