Job Summary
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Total experience |
18+ years in banking technology / operations |
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Payments experience |
10+ years designing and implementing payment systems for banks in Spain or the euro area |
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Greenfield |
At least one bank or payment-institution launch from zero (licence to go-live) |
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Core banking |
Hands-on with a core banking platform (Temenos Transact, Finastra, Thought Machine, Mambu or similar) and its payments integration |
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Seniority |
Expert; owns the SEPA / domestic payments workstream end to end |
Greenfield digital bank being licensed in Spain (ECB / Banco de España) with a payments-first proposition: instant account opening, SEPA SCT / SCT Inst, Bizum, tokenised cards, cross-border via correspondents. Year 1 launches on sponsor-bank and processor rails; Years 2-3 bring SWIFT, credit, and direct participation in Iberpay / T2 / TIPS.
Location: Madrid (hybrid); travel to Spanish and EU sites as required. Working languages: Spanish (professional) and English (professional). Contract: full-time, 24-36 month programme with permanent conversion possible.
Role summary
Own the design, build, certification and launch of the bank's SEPA and domestic payments capability in Spain: SCT, SCT Inst, SDD, Bizum and Verification of Payee, first through a representative (sponsor) bank on Iberpay's SNCE and later as a direct participant settling in T2 and TIPS. You are the person who knows how Spanish payments actually clear and settle, what Iberpay's homologation tests look for, and what the Instant Payments Regulation demands of a PSP on day one.
Key Responsibilities
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Define the target payments architecture (payment hub, ISO 20022 canonical model, scheme adapters, liquidity, reconciliation, investigations) and the sponsor-bank access model for Year 1, with a documented migration path to direct participation in Iberpay SNCE, T2 and TIPS.
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Lead EPC scheme adherence (SCT, SCT Inst, SDD Core/B2B, VoP), Creditor Identifier, EPC Directory Service registration and the Verification of Payee integration (requester and responder) through the sponsor or Iberpay's RVM.
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Run the sponsor-bank onboarding and certification tests: message formats, cycles and cut-offs, R-transactions (rejects, returns, recalls), SCT Inst end-to-end under 10 seconds, contingency scenarios; later the Iberpay homologation and Eurosystem (T2 / TIPS) certification as direct participant.
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Ensure compliance with the Instant Payments Regulation (send/receive SCT Inst, price parity, VoP on every credit transfer, daily sanctions screening of the customer base), PSD2/PSD3 SCA, SEPA Regulation and Banco de España reporting (payment statistics, EBA fraud reporting).
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Design liquidity and prefunding management against the sponsor and, later, T2/TIPS positions; define cut-off calendars and 24/7 operating procedures for instant payments.
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Own reconciliation (camt.053/054), investigations (camt.056/029), exception handling and the daily payments operations model with the operations team.
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Lead Bizum enablement (as represented entity, later as participant) and the interplay with SCT Inst.
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Drive the November EPC rulebook release cycle and Iberpay/Eurosystem release re-testing; maintain the payments product roadmap (SDD as creditor, request-to-pay, digital euro readiness).
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Act as the bank's counterpart to the sponsor bank, Iberpay, Banco de España payment systems teams and the EPC; prepare regulatory and scheme documentation.
Skill Requirements
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10+ years in payments implementation for banks operating in Spain or the euro area, including at least one end-to-end SEPA programme (SCT and SDD) and one SCT Inst / instant payments implementation.
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Direct working knowledge of Iberpay SNCE (subsystems, homologation process, participant types), Eurosystem settlement (T2 RTGS/CLM, TIPS, ESMIG connectivity) and EBA Clearing (STEP2, RT1).
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Proven greenfield experience: a bank, neobank or payment institution launched from scratch in the EU, including licence-driven constraints and sponsor/agency access models.
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ISO 20022 expertise: EPC implementation guidelines, pain/pacs/camt message sets, R-transactions, VoP scheme messages; ability to read and write test packs.
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Core banking integration experience: posting, balance/hold management, statements, cut-over and reconciliation with a modern core.
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Certification testing leadership: scheme and CSM test cycles, evidence packs, defect triage with external parties on fixed calendars.
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Deep familiarity with Instant Payments Regulation (EU) 2024/886, PSD2/PSD3, SEPA Regulation 260/2012, Banco de España payment-systems oversight and reporting.
Strongly preferred
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Bizum participation or integration experience; STMP/Redsys knowledge for the card-linked flows.
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Experience with a payment hub product (Volante, Finastra GPP, ACI, Form3, Temenos Payments Hub) or a cloud-native build.
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Digital euro, request-to-pay or open-banking PIS experience.
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Prior work with Cecabank or a large Spanish bank as representative entity.
Certifications
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No mandatory personal certification; the following are valued: SWIFT/ISO 20022 training certificates, PMP/PRINCE2 or SAFe for delivery leads, AWS/Azure fundamentals for cloud-native builds.
Languages
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Spanish: native or C1 (regulatory and scheme documentation is in Spanish).
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English: professional working proficiency (vendor and EU documentation).
What success looks like in the first 12 months
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Sponsor-bank onboarding tests passed and SCT / SCT Inst live with VoP on 100% of outbound payments at launch.
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Bizum live; SDD as debtor bank live; three consecutive clean month-end reconciliations.
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Zero scheme non-conformities in the first November rulebook release.
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Direct-participation programme (Iberpay, T2, TIPS) scoped, test slots booked and business case approved.
Other Requirements
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10+ years in payments implementation for banks operating in Spain or the euro area, including at least one end-to-end SEPA programme (SCT and SDD) and one SCT Inst / instant payments implementation.
-
Direct working knowledge of Iberpay SNCE (subsystems, homologation process, participant types), Eurosystem settlement (T2 RTGS/CLM, TIPS, ESMIG connectivity) and EBA Clearing (STEP2, RT1).
-
Proven greenfield experience: a bank, neobank or payment institution launched from scratch in the EU, including licence-driven constraints and sponsor/agency access models.
-
ISO 20022 expertise: EPC implementation guidelines, pain/pacs/camt message sets, R-transactions, VoP scheme messages; ability to read and write test packs.
-
Core banking integration experience: posting, balance/hold management, statements, cut-over and reconciliation with a modern core.
-
Certification testing leadership: scheme and CSM test cycles, evidence packs, defect triage with external parties on fixed calendars.
-
Deep familiarity with Instant Payments Regulation (EU) 2024/886, PSD2/PSD3, SEPA Regulation 260/2012, Banco de España payment-systems oversight and reporting.
Strongly preferred
-
Bizum participation or integration experience; STMP/Redsys knowledge for the card-linked flows.
-
Experience with a payment hub product (Volante, Finastra GPP, ACI, Form3, Temenos Payments Hub) or a cloud-native build.
-
Digital euro, request-to-pay or open-banking PIS experience.
-
Prior work with Cecabank or a large Spanish bank as representative entity.
Certifications
-
No mandatory personal certification; the following are valued: SWIFT/ISO 20022 training certificates, PMP/PRINCE2 or SAFe for delivery leads, AWS/Azure fundamentals for cloud-native builds.
Languages
-
Spanish: native or C1 (regulatory and scheme documentation is in Spanish).
-
English: professional working proficiency (vendor and EU documentation).
What success looks like in the first 12 months
-
Sponsor-bank onboarding tests passed and SCT / SCT Inst live with VoP on 100% of outbound payments at launch.
-
Bizum live; SDD as debtor bank live; three consecutive clean month-end reconciliations.
-
Zero scheme non-conformities in the first November rulebook release.
-
Direct-participation programme (Iberpay, T2, TIPS) scoped, test slots booked and business case approved.