Cards Transformation Program Lead

Role Overview

A prestigious payments consulting firm is partnering with a top bank in Saudi Arabia to appoint a Cards Transformation Program Lead. This senior position is responsible for managing a comprehensive cards transformation program that encompasses the consumer, corporate, and SME segments. The role demands a seasoned consultant with extensive hands-on experience leading large-scale, strategic transformation initiatives from planning through execution to realize sustained commercial and operational gains.

Primary Responsibilities

• Provide decisive leadership to deliver a complex cards transformation project involving multiple integrated streams, ensuring governance frameworks are in place to monitor and mitigate risks, issues, and dependencies.
• Create and manage detailed program roadmaps outlining milestones, responsibilities, deliverables, and success metrics while maintaining project momentum and communication with senior stakeholders.
• Support and drive portfolio strategies aimed at expanding consumer, corporate, and SME card businesses, focusing on growth in spending, customer acquisition and retention, profitability, and CVM.
• Analyze and optimize card portfolio performance utilizing key indicators such as customer activity, spending patterns, digital usage, churn rates, profitability, and campaign results.
• Lead efforts to innovate card products, enhance digital capabilities, and improve customer experience across onboarding, servicing, dispute handling, and ongoing engagement.
• Conduct deep-dive analytics and market research to inform business case development and strategic recommendations, identifying opportunities to improve portfolio economics and operational efficiencies.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including operations, technology, risk, compliance, and analytics to ensure seamless execution and effective change management, including capability building and adoption of new processes.
• Ensure all program activities comply with governance standards, control frameworks, SAMA regulations, and customer requirements, overseeing testing, implementation readiness, and post-launch optimizations.
• Maintain strong relationships with executive leadership, serving as a strategic advisor and facilitating alignment across the organization.

Required Experience & Knowledge

• Minimum 15 to 20 years in management consulting, enterprise program management, cards and payments, banking, and digital transformation.
• Demonstrated success managing multi-workstream transformation programs and complex stakeholder environments.
• Comprehensive knowledge of consumer, corporate, and SME card products, customer value management, loyalty programs, digital banking, and payments industry dynamics.
• Strong skills in program governance, strategic problem solving, business case development, risk management, change management, and data-driven decision making.

Qualifications and Language Skills

• Bachelor’s degree is required; a Master’s degree is preferred.
• Certifications such as PMP, PRINCE2, Agile, or Scrum are beneficial.
• Knowledge of SAMA regulations and regional payments market trends is essential.
• Fluency in both Arabic and English is mandatory.

Additional Information

This is a 12-month contractual engagement based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Interested candidates with proven backgrounds in banking, cards & payments, or FinTech sectors are encouraged to pursue this opportunity.