Director, Product – Payments Strategy London FTC
We are seeking an experienced Director, APN Payments Strategy, to play a pivotal role in shaping the future state of the Account Pay Out Network (APN) for Western Union. This is a full-time 12-month fixed term contract with a potential to be extended.
This strategic position is responsible for defining the end state vision, identifying best-in-class solutions, and guiding the evolution of our APN to ensure it is unified, scalable, and future-ready. The successful candidate will drive innovation, operational excellence, and continuous optimisation across our top payment corridors, directly impacting the business platform growth and strategic market positioning.
Western Union powers your pursuit.
Role Responsibilities
1. Establish a clear vision for the APN’s future, outlining the structural, operational, and technological requirements for a best-in-class platform focus on business revenue, product innovation and customer experience.
2. Conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the current APN, benchmarking against industry leaders to identify strengths and areas for development.
3. Lead a detailed gap analysis across the top 16 remittance corridors, highlighting areas where current capabilities fall short of strategic objectives.
4. Develop actionable recommendations for unifying and scaling the APN, ensuring alignment with future business needs and regulatory standards.
5. Examine the current APN system for readiness to support future growth, innovation, and operational resilience. Define suitability and whether there is a need for a new system or a channel orchestration layer to enhance optimization, flexibility, and innovation across APN network
6. Define and implement key performance indicators (KPIs) and objectives and key results (OKRs) to drive partner performance and ensure the APN meets strategic goals.
Role Requirements
7. 8+ years of experience in product, portfolio, program, or strategy role within the financial technology industry, preferably with payments domain focus
8. Undergraduate or graduate degree in business, economics, or related field.
9. Proven experience in payments strategy, product management, or network optimisation within a financial service or fintech environment.
10. Demonstrated ability to conduct complex network assessments, perform gap analysis, and develop strategic improvement proposals.
11. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a track record of driving measurable results.
12. Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities, including experience collaborating with cross-functional teams.
13. Technical aptitude to design and oversee the implementation of channel orchestration or similar scalable infrastructure components.
14. Familiarity with regulatory requirements and industry best practices for global payments networks.
Benefits include:
15. 25 days annual leave – plus 8 public holidays
16. Comprehensive life & medical cover – including dependents
17. Contributory pension plan
Western Union values in-person collaboration, learning, and ideation whenever possible. Our Hybrid Work Model enables employees to divide their time between working from home and working from an office location. The expectation is to work from the office a minimum of three days a week.