Johannesburg: Senior Payment Specialist posted by Sabenza IT & Recruitment

We are looking for an experienced and driven Senior Payment Specialist (Functional) to join our high-performing digital banking team. In this role, you will play a critical part in shaping, analysing, and delivering payment solutions for mission-critical core banking systems across regions.

Key Responsibilities

       Analyse and understand complex business requirements related to payment processing, compliance, and integrations.

       Translate business needs into functional specifications and ensure alignment with technical teams.

       Design and validate payment flows, ensuring regulatory compliance, scalability, and resilience.

       Collaborate with development and architecture teams on integration strategies using APIs, SWIFT gateways, and microservices.

       Work closely with QA and business users for UAT planning, testing, and validation.

       Drive continuous improvements in payment processing, monitoring, and STP rates.

       Support client workshops, documentation, and knowledge transfer activities.

Must-Have Skills & Experience

       Strong foundational knowledge of Core Banking systems and architecture.

       Expertise in Payments domain, including:

o   SWIFT, ISO 20022, TCIB, Cross-border payments

o   CMA regulations and country-specific compliance

o   Full Payment Lifecycle, types of payments, and STP/Non-STP flows

       Deep understanding of payment integration with external systems and gateways (e.g., SWIFT, ISO 20022).

       Experience conducting GAP analysis, understanding customer requirements, and delivering functional documentation.

       High-level technical knowledge of:

o   APIs & Microservices architecture

o   Java, SQL, Oracle/SQL Server

o   Unix/Linux scripting

       Familiarity with country-specific regulatory and compliance requirements in the payments space.

Good-to-Have

       Functional knowledge of Treasury products such as:

o   FX, Money Markets (MM), Fixed Income

       Experience with real-time or high-volume payment systems (RTGS, ACH, etc.)

       Exposure to Agile methodologies, CI/CD pipelines, and financial system migrations.

If you’re a payment expert passionate about driving functional excellence in digital banking, we want to hear from you.