Emerging Payment Products Manager

About the job
Payments Canada is at the forefront of the Canadian payment ecosystem. Our purpose is to make payments easier, smarter and safer for all Canadians. Every day we are working diligently to ensure your payments are cleared and settled. In 2024 alone, our systems cleared approximately $107 trillion or $424 billion each business day! If you are passionate about payments and want to help ensure that these financial transactions in Canada are carried out safely and securely, working with us is for you!

| Who we are

We Are a Public Purpose, Non-profit Organization Situated At The Center Of Canada’s Payment Ecosystem. We Own And Operate Payment Systems That Process Hundreds Of Billions Of Dollars’ Worth Of Payment Transactions Every Business Day. We Convene Ecosystem Participants To Discuss Their Multiple And Diverse Interests And Ideas And To Navigate Industry-level Challenges. We Adhere To a Set Of Values That Are Our North Star

Inspire trust, build community and enable change.

Payments Canada — where our country connects: Payments Canada — Who we are

| Our culture

With our people in mind, we have created a culture that fosters authenticity, collaboration, innovation and development. We empower one another, make meaningful contributions that not only impact the organization, but our country! We develop and nurture meaningful connections that drive innovation in our ecosystem. We are Payments Canada!

Do you want to make payments easier, smarter and safer for Canada? Join us today!

You need to work here if

You love working with passionate, ambitious and collaborative colleagues.
You want to be challenged and lead unique initiatives.
You want to grow, develop and become a subject matter expert in your field.
You want your work to make an impact in your community and country.

Come and join us — where payments meet purpose!

| What we are looking for

Emerging Payment Products Manager is a functional expert and player-coach role within the RTR Products team at Payments Canada, entrusted with driving the execution and advancement of complex product initiatives across the entire RTR portfolio. Operating as a senior member of the team, you will collaborate extensively across multiple cross-functional squads (Interoperability, Commercial Growth, and Platform Strength) to ensure alignment and foster an environment of product evolution and continuous improvement.

Your contributions will be instrumental in advancing Payments Canada’s strategic vision and proactively shaping the future landscape of real-time payments in Canada.

| A day in the life

The responsibilities as the Emerging Payment Products Manager will include but are not limited to:

Strategic Vision and Execution

Analyze existing data and actively shape the direction of key product development and management files from their earliest stages.
Oversee the entire product lifecycle, from initial idea generation and market research to post-launch analysis and strategic decision-making for real-time payment initiatives.
Drive the early phases of product development, leveraging research, internal insights, member feedback, regulatory mandates, and stakeholder perspectives to uncover pain points and define compelling value propositions.
Assume ownership of the end-to-end process for resolving business issues and managing product delivery. This requires strict adherence to the stage-gate product development process, embedding compliance, business controls, and a strong risk management mindset (including the monitoring of Key Risk Indicators or KRIs) within the product’s remit.
Successfully drive product strategy and big-picture thinking. This requires the ability to operate with a high degree of autonomy, demonstrating initiative and strategic foresight with minimal direction or oversight from senior resources. The successful candidate will be expected to independently identify trends, analyze market opportunities, and develop product roadmaps that align with the company’s overall business objectives. This includes not only the conceptualization of new payment products but also the strategic evolution and enhancement of existing offerings.
Play a pivotal role in the annual corporate planning cycle, actively contributing to the strategic direction of real-time payments product management.
Drive the comprehensive development and submission of corporate planning business cases, articulating the strategic rationale, market opportunity, and projected impact of proposed initiatives. For unplanned pre-discovery or discovery phase initiatives, proactively drive their progression, identifying early opportunities for innovation and growth.
Liaise effectively with the Enterprise Management Project Office (EMPO) and relevant resource managers to accurately determine and secure necessary resourcing for all initiatives. This involves detailed planning and negotiation to ensure adequate allocation of personnel and expertise.
Prepare compelling and concise materials to seek and secure leadership approvals for proceeding with initiatives, ensuring alignment with corporate objectives and strategic priorities.

Relationship Management

Proactively build and maintain strong, collaborative relationships with all internal divisions of Payments Canada, fostering a spirit of partnership and shared objectives.
Establish and sustain effective engagement with Payments Canada members, regulatory bodies, and other critical stakeholders across the broader payments ecosystem. This includes understanding their needs, concerns, and strategic priorities to ensure alignment and collaboration.
Represent Payments Canada as the RTR and Emerging SME and share expertise and thought leadership on working groups, forums, and other events.
Lead and coordinate ideation, special assignment or issue resolution workshops, as required, ensuring active participation from both internal teams and external stakeholders, fostering collaboration, gathering diverse perspectives, and driving consensus on key initiatives.

Mentorship and Guidance

Mentor, coach, and provide constructive feedback to junior resources to foster their professional growth and development.
Establish and champion best practices and consistent standards for product documentation and overall team discipline. This includes defining templates, guidelines, and review processes to ensure high-quality and consistent outputs.

Stakeholder Management and Operations

Coordinate and facilitate key stakeholder meetings, including those involving senior management and executive leadership. This encompasses a comprehensive range of responsibilities: schedule management, agenda planning, meeting material preparation, and minute taking.
Improve and optimize processes, fostering better relationships between different teams involved in the product, and ensuring alignment and securing buy-in across the organization.

| Technical Competencies

Expertise in developing and maintaining strategic roadmap, translating long-term vision into phased, actionable delivery plans.
Must possess the ability to think beyond the immediate launch, demonstrating an understanding of technical scalability, business case development, and long-term operating modes required to successfully grow, and evolve a product.
Demonstrate a strong P and L mindset by developing and defending robust business cases, which requires management and understanding of revenue drivers, operational expenditures (OPEX), transaction costs, pricing strategies, and the costs associated with onboarding and application processes.
Proficiency in defining critical success factors (CSF) and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure product performance.
Highly capable business acumen, with specific experience in digital, payment, and financial technologies.
Demonstrated ability to understand and articulate complex technical architectures, data models, and integrations.
Capable of engaging credibly with engineering leads regarding trade-offs and scalability considerations.
Knowledge of various project delivery methodologies.

| Personal Competencies

Strategic and Analytical Thinker: Embraces complexity, thinks creatively, and understands the multi-faceted impacts of policy decisions. Demonstrates critical reasoning and analytical skills.
Exceptional Communicator: Possesses excellent verbal and written communication skills. Capable of distilling complex concepts, challenges, and performance metrics into clear, concise communications tailored for diverse audiences including peers, executives, external partners, ecosystem users, and regulators.
Effective Influencer and Conflict Mediator: Proven ability to mediate conflicts, particularly those arising between product priorities and resource capacity. A skilled influencer who can guide and collaborate effectively with cross-functional leaders.
Adaptive Leader and Mentor: Exhibits the ability to adjust leadership style based on the maturity and complexity of tasks and the individual needs of team members. Committed to mentoring team members, identifying skill gaps, and providing actionable feedback that fosters professional growth and increases autonomy.
Committed to Continuous Improvement: Dedicated to continuous learning, skills development, and professional growth.

| What you need to be successful

Undergraduate degree in Business, Economics, Finance, or a related discipline.
Minimum of seven (7) to ten (10) years of progressive experience in product management, strategic business analysis, or leading end-to-end product services development, with a demonstrated track record of successfully launching products or initiatives, preferably in the financial services environment.
Proven aptitude and demonstrated experience in identifying market opportunities, developing multi-year strategies, and building scalable solutions to address user needs.
Strong familiarity with the payments landscape, including real-time payments solutions and services. This encompasses an understanding of their technical architectures, use cases, and potential impact on financial services, as well as current market trends, regulatory changes, and competitive forces.
Exceptional communication and influencing skills, with a track record of leading, executing, and delivering impactful cross-functional and cross-industry initiatives.
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced and often ambiguous environment, demonstrating an entrepreneurial and collaborative spirit from conception to completion.
Experience in developing strategic initiatives and creating detailed roadmaps.
Demonstrated ability to lead, develop, and mentor individuals, including objective setting, providing feedback, and facilitating career development discussions.
Eligibility to successfully complete background checks that will be carried out by Payments Canada, including criminal, credit, identity, employment, and education checks.

| Salary range

Our target starting rate for this role is $119,850.00 with flexibility based on your experience and qualifications. The full salary range and benefits package are detailed below.

Please submit your application by July 3, 2026.

| What’s in it for you?

Flexible, hybrid (remote/office) environment.
Competitive compensation package, including annual variable bonus and defined contribution pension plan with employer matching percentage (if eligible).
Comprehensive health and dental benefit coverage, including mental health coverage, life insurance and a health spending account for you and your dependents (Permanent and temporary employees with contracts 12 months and over).
Paid time off: minimum four weeks paid vacation, sick and personal days, December holiday shutdown and cultural holiday observance days.
26 weeks of paid maternity and parental leave top-up (if eligible)
Rewards and recognition program.
Access to office gym facilities.
Internal and external professional development opportunities.
Fun team and organizational events.
Monthly all staff forums led by our Executive Leadership Team.

| Our Commitment to Fair Hiring

At Payments Canada, we are dedicated to fair, transparent and inclusive hiring. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. Our recruitment process uses automated tools, but not generative AI, to objectively screen and evaluate applications and confirm that a candidate’s qualifications meet job requirements.

It is important to remember that these tools support, but do not replace, human decision-making. Our trained recruitment professionals and hiring managers always make the final hiring decisions.

| Our diversity, inclusion and equity commitment

At Payments Canada, we are committed to making everyone feel they can be themselves and thrive at work. We will continue to build on a foundation of respect and appreciation for diversity in all forms and collectively create an inclusive and equitable culture where our differences are valued.

We are committed to employment equity and actively encourage applications from women, Aboriginal people, persons with disabilities and visible minorities. If selected for an interview, please advise us if you require special accommodation by emailing hrinfo@payments.ca.

We thank all applicants for their interest in this opportunity. Preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents. Only selected candidates will be contacted for an interview.

Benefits found in job post

Pension plan