Digital Banking & Payments Director

CONFIDENTIAL Scovai, a forward-thinking leader in the Talent Acquisition & Recruiting sector, is partnering with a prominent financial services organisation to identify an exceptional Digital Banking & Payments Director based in Johannesburg, South Africa. This is a high-impact, director-level opportunity for a seasoned product and payments leader to own and drive the digital banking strategy across one of South Africa's most dynamic financial environments. Operating on a hybrid working model, the successful candidate will take full P&L ownership of the digital banking and payments product portfolio, shaping the roadmap from ideation through to scaled delivery.

In this role, you will lead the end-to-end payments infrastructure strategy, champion open banking and API-first initiatives, and forge transformative fintech ecosystem partnerships that accelerate growth and innovation. You will oversee mobile banking platform evolution, ensure rigorous regulatory compliance across SARB, PASA, and NCA frameworks, and collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to embed digital transformation at the core of the business. Your leadership will be instrumental in building and mentoring high-performing product teams operating within agile delivery models.

This is a rare opportunity to sit at the intersection of financial innovation and strategic leadership in South Africa's rapidly evolving payments landscape. With the rise of real-time payments, open finance, and embedded banking, you will have the platform and mandate to define what next-generation digital banking looks like — making a measurable impact on customers, partners, and the broader fintech ecosystem.

Deep, practical knowledge of the South African payments ecosystem and regulators (SARB, Payments Association of South Africa, industry clearing houses)

Experience leading ISO 20022 migrations and implementing real‑time/instant payments rails

Proven track record in digital product monetization, pricing strategy and revenue optimisation for payments and banking products

Applied data analytics and machine‑learning experience for fraud detection, personalization and pricing in payments

Extensive vendor management and cloud‑native platform delivery experience, including large‑scale third‑party integrations and SRE/DevOps practices