Head of Domestic Payments, Senior Product Manager – Canada in Toronto

Citi is looking for a senior payments leader to take full ownership of Canada's domestic payment product portfolio — spanning real-time, batch, and legacy rails — and define the next chapter of how Citi serves the country's largest corporates and financial institutions. Sitting within Citi's Services organization and reporting to the Canada Payments Head, this role combines strategic product leadership with direct team management, making it one of the most high-impact positions in Canadian transaction banking. The person in this role will set the product vision, manage P&L, and represent Citi at the industry level — shaping the future of domestic payment infrastructure in Canada.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Product Management & Commercial Growth
  • Product Roadmap & Vision: Formulate and execute the 3–5 year strategic roadmap for Canadian domestic payment products, balancing innovation with the resilience of established rails.
  • P&L & Revenue Management: Take full ownership of the domestic payment product revenue, pricing strategies, transaction volume growth, unit economics, and margin expansion.
  • Market Commercialization: Collaborate closely with Sales, Corporate Banking, and Implementation teams to position product capabilities, respond to high-value RFPs, and drive client adoption across Tier-1 corporates and financial institutions.
  • Competitive & Market Intelligence: Continuously assess fintech innovations, open banking developments, and competitor offerings to ensure best-in-class product propositions.
• People Leadership & Agile Delivery
  • Team Leadership & Development: Lead, mentor, and foster the professional growth of a dedicated team of Product Managers and Product Analysts.
  • Culture & Performance: Drive an inclusive, high-performance culture emphasizing deep domain expertise, accountability, customer-centricity, and continuous learning.
  • Cross-Functional Squad Leadership: Act as Product Owner / Business Lead across cross-functional squads comprising Technology, Operations, Risk, Compliance, Legal, and Client Services.
• Rail-Specific Modernization & Lifecycle Management
  • Real-Time Rail (RTR) Execution: Spearhead organizational readiness, technical integration, and commercial launch for Canada’s Real-Time Rail, leveraging ISO 20022 rich data for corporate use cases.
  • ACSS & Batch Optimization: Spearhead modernization of ACSS and continuously enhance EFT capabilities, optimize clearing windows, reduce settlement risk, and ensure high Straight-Through-Processing (STP) rates.
  • Interac Solutions: Expand corporate adoption of Interac e-Transfer to replace traditional manual/paper disbursement workflows.
  • Paper Rationalization & Digital Migration: Manage legacy cheque clearing and image rule frameworks while actively executing client migration programs to electronic and instant rails.
• Industry Advocacy & Regulatory Governance
  • Industry Bodies & Representation: Represent the bank on Payments Canada Committees, Interac working groups, and Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) payment task forces.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Ensure strict adherence to Payments Canada By-laws and Rules, Bank of Canada oversight standards and FINTRAC/AML requirements.
• Risk, Controls & Operational Resilience
  • Risk Governance: Maintain active risk management over product operations, fraud prevention (Positive Pay, verification services), cyber resilience, and compliance frameworks.
  • Incident & Continuity Management: Lead business incident management during clearing disruptions and ensure 24/7/365 business continuity and disaster recovery readiness.

Required Qualifications & Skills

• 15 or more years of experience in financial services or fintech, with at least 10 years focused on transaction banking product management or commercialization.
• At least 5 years of direct people leadership, including managing and developing product teams within complex, matrixed organizations.
• In-depth knowledge of Canada's clearing and settlement ecosystem, including ACSS, Real-Time Rail, and Interac products.
• Demonstrated ability to manage product P&L, build business cases, and design competitive pricing models.
• Ability to engage and influence senior executives, regulators, and industry working groups through clear communication of complex payment concepts.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Engineering, or Computer Science, or equivalent professional experience.

Beneficial Skills & Qualifications

• Master's degree or MBA in a relevant field.
• Experience leading product teams through major payment infrastructure modernization programs, particularly Real-Time Rail or ISO 20022 implementations.
• Broad background spanning marketing, credit, acquisitions, and analytics within a transaction banking or payments environment.

What We Offer

• A hybrid working model with 3 days in the office and 2 days working remotely, giving you flexibility alongside meaningful in-person collaboration.
• Strategic ownership of a high-visibility, commercially significant portfolio with direct influence on Citi's competitive position in the Canadian payments market.
• The opportunity to shape Canada's payment infrastructure evolution, working at the intersection of product, regulation, and technology.
• Leadership of a dedicated product team with the autonomy to build, develop, and inspire talent across the function.
• Access to Citi's global network of payments expertise, enabling cross-market learning and collaboration at scale.
• Ongoing learning and development opportunities to deepen domain expertise and build leadership capability.
• A competitive total compensation package, including financial wellbeing support and benefits tailored to a senior management role.