Product Manager – Payments/Acquiring (Consultant)

Product Manager – Payments/Acquiring

About the RoleWe're looking for a Product Manager who deeply understands how acquirer

systems work end to end — not just at the application/UI level, but across the backend

processing stack. You'll own the product lifecycle for our acquiring platform, working

closely with engineering, compliance, risk, and merchant/partner teams to build and evolve

systems that handle real money movement at scale.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the product roadmap across the full acquiring stack — merchant onboarding,

authorization, transaction processing, clearing, settlement, reconciliation, and

chargebacks/disputes.

• Get into the technical weeds: understand message flows (ISO 8583/20022),

switch/routing logic, ledger and settlement engines, and how transactions move

between merchant, acquirer, network, and issuer.

• Own and drive requirements around clearing file generation — including Base II

(Visa) clearing files and Mastercard, Amex clearing files — with a solid grasp of file

structures, record types, and data elements within these scheme files.

• Translate scheme (Visa/Mastercard/RuPay etc.), network, and regulatory

requirements into detailed backend and system-level product specs.

• Partner closely with engineering on system architecture decisions — not just feature

requests — for authorization, capture, clearing, settlement, and refund flows.

• Work with risk and compliance teams on underwriting, fraud, and dispute

management workflows, understanding the backend systems that power them.

• Define and track product/system metrics — approval rates, settlement TAT,

reconciliation breaks, dispute ratios, system latency and uptime.

• Manage relationships with card networks, banking partners, and processors, including

technical/integration discussions on clearing and settlement file exchange.

Requirements

• 4–8 years of Product Management experience with genuine end-to-end exposure to

acquirer systems — able to speak fluently about both the merchant-facing product and

what happens underneath it (switching, ledgers, clearing, settlement, reconciliation).

• Strong knowledge of Visa and Mastercard clearing and settlement files from the

acquirer side, including Base II clearing file generation and Mastercard clearing file

formats, along with the specific data elements/fields within these scheme files (TCR

record structures, data element numbers, mandatory vs. conditional fields, etc.).

• Strong working knowledge of payment message flows and protocols (ISO

8583/20022), authorization/clearing/settlement cycles, and how acquiring processors

integrate with networks and issuers.

• Comfortable reading system/API specs and scheme file specifications, and discussing

architecture trade-offs directly with engineering — this is not a purely front-end/UX

facing PM role.

• Familiarity with card network rules, PCI-DSS, and payment compliance frameworks.
• Strong analytical skills; comfortable working with data and logs to debug transaction,

clearing, and reconciliation issues.

• Excellent stakeholder management across technical and non-technical teams.
• Hands-on experience troubleshooting or reconciling Base II / Mastercard clearing file

mismatches or settlement breaks.

Nice to Have

• Prior experience at a payment aggregator, acquirer, or acquiring bank in a role with

direct exposure to backend clearing/settlement processing systems.

• Exposure to international payment schemes and cross-border settlement.
• Background in engineering or systems design before moving into product.

Skills: acquirer,product management,payment