Senior Card Specialist

Job description

To provide senior specialist technical ownership of the bank's real-time card and payment processing platforms (currently ACI Postilion, spanning issuing, acquiring, switching, authorisation, tokenisation, fraud interfaces and scheme integration) together with their supporting database, cryptographic and integration layers. Accountable for the end-to-end health of these high-availability platforms, resilience, security, performance, capacity and preventative maintenance. Responsible for controlled change and 24x7 operational support, delivering scheme, regulatory and business change safely under shared Run-the-Bank and Change-the-Bank accountability with peers. Leads incident response and root cause elimination for assigned platforms, acts as technical counterpart to business and vendors, coaches Card Specialists, and builds the documented, transferable platform knowledge that reduces key-person dependency. Bachelor of Information Technology or related Experience 5 years: experience in supporting applications, preferably within banking, financial services, or a similar industry. Experience with core banking systems, peripheral applications, and integration platforms such as ESB or middleware solutions. Experience in managing incidents, troubleshooting, and resolving technical issues within defined SLAs and MTTR targets. Some experience in supporting application upgrades, patches, and releases. Behavioural Competencies: Examining Information Following Procedures Interpreting Data Producing Output Upholding Standards Technical Competencies: Data Integrity Data Management (Administration) Product and Services Knowledge Project Management Reconciling Financial Records Key Focus Areas: Own the platform health baseline: scheduled preventative maintenance, database administration disciplines (backups, transaction log and growth management, capacity thresholds), patch currency and closure of vendor health-check findings. Own observability for the card estate: monitoring tooling, alert thresholds and dashboards; act on early-warning signals before they become service impact. Collaborate with business, product, architecture, and engineering teams to define card technology requirements. Manage integrations with international card schemes (Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay, American Express) and domestic and regional payment networks, including instant and real-time payment rails. Support PCI-DSS and card scheme compliance activities, including evidence preparation and remediation tracking. Perform security reviews and vulnerability remediation Standard Bank Group is a leading Africa-focused financial services group, and an innovative player on the global stage, that offers a variety of career-enhancing opportunities – plus the chance to work alongside some of the sector’s most talented, motivated professionals. Our clients range from individuals, to businesses of all sizes, high net worth families and large multinational corporates and institutions. We’re passionate about creating growth in Africa. Bringing true, meaningful value to our clients and the communities we serve and creating a real sense of purpose for you.