Sr Product Manager

Position Description

The Senior Product Manager, Core Payment Infrastructure & Platform Expansion is responsible for defining and executing the strategy, roadmap, and delivery of ACI's next-generation payment processing infrastructure and ecosystem growth initiatives.

This role will lead the expansion of ACI's payment capabilities through new gateway integrations, processor and acquirer certifications, payment network enablement, alternative payment connectivity, tokenization services, transaction orchestration, and intelligent routing capabilities. The position will also play a critical role in modernizing ACI's payment platform through microservices-based architectures, event-driven orchestration, and scalable transaction processing services designed to support future business growth.

The ideal candidate combines deep payments expertise with strong technical product management skills and experience working across payment networks, acquiring banks, processors, gateways, and software engineering teams. This individual will collaborate closely with Product, Engineering, Architecture, Compliance, Operations, and strategic external partners to deliver innovative payment solutions that improve authorization performance, operational efficiency, platform scalability, and customer experience.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

Product Strategy & Ownership

- Define and execute the product vision, strategy, and multi-year roadmap for payment infrastructure, ecosystem expansion, and platform modernization initiatives.
- Identify market opportunities, emerging payment technologies, and strategic partnerships that drive revenue growth and competitive differentiation.
- Develop business cases, investment recommendations, and commercialization strategies for new payment capabilities and infrastructure enhancements.
- Drive roadmap prioritization decisions aligned to scalability, authorization optimization, merchant experience, operational efficiency, and business growth objectives.

Payment Infrastructure & Platform Modernization

- Partner with Engineering and Architecture teams to design and deliver next-generation payment infrastructure utilizing microservices-based architecture and event-driven orchestration.
- Lead the product strategy for new transaction processing services, orchestration platforms, routing engines, and payment optimization capabilities.
- Define platform requirements focused on scalability, resiliency, performance, security, and operational excellence.
- Champion API-first and cloud-native approaches that accelerate platform innovation and integration velocity.

Gateway, Processor & Network Expansion

- Lead evaluation, onboarding, certification, and launch of new payment gateways, processors, acquiring partners, and payment network capabilities.
- Direct integrations and certifications with acquiring partners, processors, Visa, Mastercard, and other strategic ecosystem participants.
- Own strategy for payment rail expansion including card, ACH, real-time payments, push-to-card, alternative payment methods, and emerging payment technologies.
- Establish repeatable certification and partner onboarding frameworks that reduce implementation timelines and improve speed-to-market.

Card-Not-Present (CNP) & Payment Optimization

- Drive product strategy and enhancements focused on Card-Not-Present (CNP) payment experiences.
- Develop capabilities that improve authorization approval rates, checkout conversion, payment success rates, and merchant economics.
- Partner with networks, acquirers, and processors to identify and implement payment optimization opportunities.
- Manage the roadmap for routing, tokenization, orchestration, credential lifecycle management, and payment intelligence services.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Delivery

- Lead cross-functional teams spanning Product, Engineering, QA, Architecture, Compliance, Operations, UX, and external partners.
- Own end-to-end delivery from ideation and requirements gathering through implementation, production release, and operational readiness.
- Define requirements, epics, features, acceptance criteria, and success metrics for major initiatives.
- Ensure appropriate documentation, release communications, integration guides, and Developer Center content accompany all platform releases.

Executive Communications & Operational Excellence

- Present roadmap progress, platform performance, strategic opportunities, and business outcomes to executive leadership.
- Establish performance measurement frameworks and operational dashboards that provide visibility into transaction performance, authorization trends, platform health, routing effectiveness, ecosystem growth, and certification progress.
- Utilize data-driven decision-making to prioritize investments and continuously improve platform outcomes.
- Monitor industry trends, regulatory developments, payment network initiatives, and competitive market activities to inform future product strategy.

Required Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in Business, Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field.
- 7+ years of Product Management experience supporting payments, fintech, platform products, or financial technology solutions.
- Experience managing payment gateways, processors, acquiring relationships, payment networks, or payment infrastructure platforms.
- Strong understanding of payment ecosystem participants, authorization processing, settlement flows, tokenization, and Card-Not-Present (CNP) payments.
- Experience leading large-scale software initiatives involving multiple stakeholders and cross-functional teams.
- Excellent analytical, communication, presentation, and leadership skills.

Core Capabilities:

We seek colleagues who embody our core capabilities — these shape our culture and enable us to make a meaningful impact together:

- Ensure Accountability: holding self and others accountable to meet commitments.

- Drives Results: consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.

- Customer Focus: building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.

- Cultivate Innovation: creating new and better ways for the organization to be successful.

- Collaborates: building partnerships and working collaboratively with others.

- Courage: stepping up to address difficult issues, saying what needs to be said.

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the US on a full-time basis. This position does not offer sponsorship for employment visa status or work permit now or in the future.

In return for your expertise, we offer opportunities for growth, career development, and a competitive compensation and benefits package—all within an innovative and collaborative work environment.

Are you ready to help us transform the payments ecosystem? To learn more about ACI Worldwide, visit our web site at www.aciworldwide.com or careers.aciworldwide.com, requisition #19969.

ACI Worldwide is an AA/EEO employer in the United States, which includes providing equal opportunity for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities, and an EEO employer globally.

Important Notice About Recruitment Scams

Job seekers should be aware of ongoing recruitment scams where individuals or organizations impersonate legitimate companies to offer fake job opportunities. These scams often involve requests for personal information, payments, or interviews through unofficial channels. Please be cautious and verify any communications claiming to be from our company (www.aciworldwide.com / @aciworldwide.com).

The ACI Worldwide recruitment team will always follow official channels and will never request payment.