Job Summary
|
Total experience |
18+ years in banking / international payments |
|
Correspondent banking |
10+ years, including building a correspondent banking and cross-border payments capability from scratch |
|
Greenfield |
At least one bank or EMI launch where the correspondent network, nostro structure and SWIFT footprint were created from zero |
|
Core banking |
Hands-on with treasury/nostro accounting and payments integration in a core banking platform |
|
Seniority |
Expert; owns the cross-border workstream end to end |
About the programme
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.
Build the bank's international payments capability from nothing: correspondent selection and due diligence, nostro/vostro structure, SWIFT membership and connectivity, ISO 20022 CBPR+ and gpi, sanctions and travel-rule controls, FX and liquidity management. In Year 1 you design the model and run cross-border through the sponsor's correspondent service; in Year 2 you bring SWIFT and the correspondent network in-house and lead the first CSP attestation.
Key Responsibilities
- Define the cross-border payments strategy and operating model: currencies and corridors, direct correspondents vs. sponsor service, nostro structure, cut-offs, pricing and FX model.
- Lead correspondent selection and onboarding: RFPs, Wolfsberg CBDDQ due diligence (both directions), KYC of correspondents, account opening, RMA exchange, SLA and cut-off agreements, periodic reviews and de-risking.
- Own the SWIFT programme: BIC and membership, Alliance or service-bureau decision, SWIFTNet connectivity, ISO 20022 CBPR+ implementation, gpi (universal confirmations, tracker, case resolution), and the annual Customer Security Programme attestation with the security team.
- Design the cross-border flow inside the payment hub: pacs.008/009, charges, routing, FX, sanctions screening (transaction-level for cross-border), travel-rule data (Regulation 2023/1113), repairs and returns, investigations.
- Build nostro reconciliation (camt.053/054, MT940/950 during any coexistence), intraday liquidity monitoring, funding and FX settlement processes with Treasury.
- Set up the compliance framework for correspondent relationships with AML/Sanctions: OFSI/OFAC/EU list handling, SEPBLAC expectations, FATF guidance on correspondent banking, escalation and exit procedures.
- Run testing and go-live: SWIFT test environments, correspondent test payments per corridor, end-to-end reconciliation, incident and investigation procedures.
- Maintain the correspondent network: performance, cost, concentration risk, contingency correspondents; prepare board and regulator reporting on cross-border risk.
Skill Requirements
- 10+ years in correspondent banking and cross-border payments at a bank or EMI, of which a substantial part in implementation and set-up rather than operations only.
- Demonstrable greenfield experience: created a correspondent network, nostro structure and SWIFT footprint for a new institution, including the first CSP attestation.
- Expert knowledge of SWIFT: membership and BIC processes, FIN and ISO 20022 CBPR+ message sets, gpi, RMA, Alliance products or service bureaus, CSP controls.
- Hands-on with Wolfsberg CBDDQ, correspondent KYC/due diligence, sanctions screening design and the EU travel rule for funds transfers.
- Nostro accounting and reconciliation, intraday liquidity and FX settlement mechanics; integration with core banking and treasury systems.
- Experience of euro settlement paths (T2, TIPS, EBA Clearing) sufficient to design the interplay between domestic and cross-border flows.
- Familiarity with Spanish and EU regulatory context: Banco de España, SEPBLAC, EBA guidelines, PSD2/PSD3.
Strongly preferred
- Experience with a Spanish or Latin American correspondent footprint (USD/EUR corridors to LatAm are likely early volumes).
- Payment hub product experience (Volante, Finastra GPP, ACI) or fintech cross-border platforms; SWIFT Transaction Manager exposure.
- Trade finance or FX product knowledge; LEI and purpose-code enrichment programmes.
Certifications
- SWIFT certifications (e.g., SWIFT Certified Specialist tracks) valued; ACAMS or ICA sanctions/AML certification strongly preferred; ISO 20022 training certificates.
Languages
- Spanish: professional (C1) - counterpart to Spanish regulators and Treasury.
- English: fluent (SWIFT, correspondents, international documentation).
What success looks like in the first 12 months
- Cross-border model approved and Year-1 flows live through the sponsor's correspondent service with full reconciliation.
- SWIFT membership secured, BIC active in directories, connectivity design and CSP control framework agreed.
- First 2-3 correspondents contracted with due diligence completed and nostros opened for Year-2 go-live.
- Sanctions and travel-rule controls certified by Compliance; zero regulatory findings on cross-border.