Head: Card Payments

Lead the card experience behind billions of everyday purchases

We’re looking for a senior leader to take full accountability for our Card Payments business across our Retail and Business Bank — from performance and profitability to reliability, risk and compliance.

Why this role is different

• We’ll give you true business ownership: you’ll lead outcomes end-to-end, not a slice of the process.
• We’ll put you at the intersection of product, operations, risk and client experience — where decisions are visible and matter at scale.
• We’ll expose you to high-trust external partnerships (card networks and major merchants) and the internal influence that comes with running a critical business line.
• We’ll back a culture that values clear thinking, data-informed decisions, and leaders who stay close to the work and take ownership

Our team and our impact

Our Card Payments function sits at the heart of how we serve clients every day. We process transactions at significant national scale — in 2025 we processed 11.1 billion transactions, with 3.0 billion of those being card transactions. We serve a large and growing client base — 24.1 million active clients as of February 2025 — so when we improve card payments, the impact is immediate and meaningful. This role works across Retail and Business Bank, and partners with card networks and major merchants to keep payments simple, reliable and trusted.

Why this role exists

Our card payments capability is central to how our clients pay, get paid and run their lives and businesses. We need a clear business owner who can grow the portfolio, improve success rates, and keep our client experience strong — while steering the full end-to-end value chain with discipline and care.

What you’ll do

• We’ll trust you to grow Card Payments performance and profitability, owning the profit and loss and overall income outcomes
• We’ll rely on you to improve payment “success” — reducing declines, lifting approval rates, and driving practical improvements and campaigns that make a real difference for clients.
• We’ll expect you to lead and develop a high-performing management team and build strong, capable teams across the function.
• We’ll look to you to stay on top of quality across the physical card and the broader card payment experience, spotting issues early and fixing root causes.
• We’ll count on you to manage incidents and escalations decisively, protecting clients and the business while restoring service fast and responsibly.
• We’ll need you to strengthen key external relationships — working closely with Visa and Mastercard, and with major merchants to improve how payments work in the real world.

What we’re looking for

• Honours degree in Business Management or Finance
• 5+ years’ leadership and management experience in a senior role leading a large function or senior specialist leadership in a payments-related area
• Deep knowledge of the payments industry and card payment systems, tools, principles and regulations (including working with payments operators and networks)
• Proven ability to use influence and strong relationships to drive outcomes across multiple stakeholders
• Experience leading large, complex, successful initiatives from planning through delivery
• Strong operational leadership: quality practice, governance, risk management, and commercial and financial discipline
• Confident decision-making with strong analytical and strategic thinking skills, and the ability to use data to guide actions
• A track record of building and developing effective teams and leaders

Knowledge

• Deep knowledge and experience of the Payments industry, as well as card payment systems, tools, principles, regulations.
• Payment systems operators (PSO)
• Application of data analysis to business decisions and actions.
• Quality principles and practice
• Expert knowledge of operational management best practice
• Commercial, business and financial principles and practices. 
• Leading, building and developing effective teams.
• Governance and risk management principles    
• People leadership and management practices and principles

Conditions of Employment