KPMG is building out its Payments Practice within the Technology Advisory function, with adjacent coverage across broader banking. We are seeking an experienced advisor to help establish, grow, and lead the practice – shaping go-to-market propositions, delivering complex advisory engagements for banking and financial services clients, and building a high-performing team.

The successful candidate will bring deep payments domain expertise combined with broader banking experience and a strong consulting background. They will bring credibility with C-suite stakeholders across issuers, acquirers, schemes, processors, payments infrastructure providers, and retail, commercial, and corporate banks. A forward-looking perspective on digital assets, tokenisation, and stablecoins – and how these intersect with traditional payments and banking – is essential.

This is a hands-on advisory leadership role with significant practice-build, business development, and client delivery responsibilities.

Key Focus Areas

The practice will operate with a clear bias toward payments, complemented by broader banking coverage and forward-looking capabilities in digital assets. Both business and technology perspectives are in scope, delivered through an advisory lens:

Payments (Primary Focus)

• Card & Account Issuing: Issuing strategy, credential lifecycle, digital issuance, tokenisation, issuer economics, and fraud/risk operating models.
• Switching & Processing: Transaction switching, authorisation, clearing & settlement, scheme connectivity, and payments messaging standards.
• Payments Infrastructure & Modernisation: Core payments platform strategy and modernisation, real-time and instant payments, payment hubs, and messaging standard migrations.
• Merchant Acquiring & Acceptance: Acquiring strategy, acceptance propositions, orchestration, and merchant lifecycle.
• Cross-Border & Correspondent Payments: Cross-border strategy, correspondent banking modernisation, and new rails for international value movement.
• Regulatory & Scheme Compliance: Payments regulation, scheme mandates, open banking, and operational resilience in a payments context.

Digital Assets & Emerging Payments

• Digital Assets & Tokenisation: Tokenisation of money and real-world assets, on-chain settlement, and the convergence of traditional and digital asset infrastructure.
• Stablecoins & Programmable Money: Advisory on stablecoin issuance, adoption, and integration into bank and payments propositions; programmable payments use cases.
• Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs): Wholesale and retail CBDC readiness, interoperability with commercial bank money, and implications for payments operating models.
• Embedded Finance & Open Ecosystems: Banking-as-a-Service, embedded payments and lending, and platform/marketplace propositions.

Banking (Adjacent Coverage)

• Core Banking Transformation: Core banking strategy, modernisation roadmaps, simplification, and migration approaches.
• Digital Banking: Digital channels, customer experience, journey design, and digital-first propositions across retail and commercial segments.
• Lending: Lending strategy and transformation across retail, SME, and commercial lending, including origination, servicing, and credit decisioning.
• Open Banking & Open Finance: Open banking propositions, API strategy, data monetisation, and the transition from open banking to open finance.
• Broader Digital Transformation: Enterprise-wide digital transformation, operating model redesign, and adoption of cloud, data, and AI across the bank.
• Risk, Regulation & Resilience: Advisory support on regulatory change, risk transformation, and operational resilience across banking.

Key Responsibilities

Practice Build & Leadership

• Shape the strategy, propositions, and service offerings for the Payments Practice, with banking adjacencies and digital asset capabilities, in line with the wider Technology Advisory agenda.
• Build reusable advisory assets, accelerators, and points of view across payments, banking, and emerging digital asset themes.
• Recruit, mentor, and develop a team of consultants across business and technology disciplines.
• Represent KPMG at industry forums and conferences, and contribute to thought leadership on payments, banking, and digital assets.
• Business Development & Client Relationships
• Originate and convert opportunities across Tier 1/2 banks, challenger banks, payments processors, schemes, fintechs, payments infrastructure providers, and digital asset players.
• Leverage an existing network of senior banking and payments stakeholders to create a pipeline of advisory and transformation engagements.
• Lead proposals, pricing, and commercial negotiation for complex multi-disciplinary engagements.
• Build long-term trusted advisor relationships with CIOs, COOs, Heads of Payments, Heads of Transaction Banking, Heads of Digital, and Chief Product Officers.

Engagement Delivery

• Lead payments and banking strategy, target operating model, and transformation advisory engagements.
• Oversee delivery of large-scale modernisation and digital transformation initiatives – from current-state assessment and options analysis through to implementation oversight and assurance.
• Act as the senior advisor and subject-matter authority across payments domains, with credibility on adjacent banking topics and on emerging digital asset themes.
• Ensure quality, risk, and commercial outcomes across the portfolio of engagements.

Candidate Profile

Essential Experience

• 12+ years of combined experience across management consulting (ideally Big 4, Tier 1 strategy firm, or specialist financial services consultancy) and banking / payments industry.
• Demonstrable experience at Director, Senior Manager, or equivalent level, leading payments or banking engagements, or in-house payments/banking functions.
• Deep payments domain expertise across at least two of: issuing, switching, and payments infrastructure, complemented by broader banking experience across areas such as core banking, digital banking, lending, or open banking.
• Strong blend of business acumen (strategy, operating model, commercials, regulatory) and technology fluency (architecture, APIs, messaging standards) – sufficient to advise senior clients at an architectural and strategic level.
• Informed perspective on digital assets, tokenisation, and stablecoins, and their emerging role in banking and payments.
• Proven track record of originating and delivering multi-million-dollar advisory and transformation engagements in financial services.
• Established network of senior stakeholders across banks, payments providers, and the broader financial services ecosystem.

Desirable Experience

• Direct advisory or delivery experience on digital asset, tokenisation, stablecoin, or CBDC initiatives.
• Exposure to real-time payments, instant payments schemes, and payments messaging standard migrations.
• Experience advising on embedded finance, Banking-as-a-Service, or open finance propositions.
• Experience advising on regulated change programmes in payments and banking.
• Prior experience building or meaningfully scaling a consulting practice or capability.

Personal Attributes

• Entrepreneurial mindset – energised by building a practice rather than joining a fully formed team.
• Executive presence and the ability to influence C-suite stakeholders in both business and technology functions.
• Forward-looking and intellectually curious – comfortable operating at the intersection of established banking/payments and emerging digital asset models.
• Strong people leader who can attract, develop, and retain talent.
• Collaborative – able to work across KPMG service lines (Strategy, Risk, Deal Advisory, Tax) to deliver integrated client outcomes.

• Bachelor's degree required; MBA or relevant postgraduate qualification preferred.
• Relevant professional certifications a plus

KPMG is a professional services firm with global outreach and deep sector experience. We work with clients across an array of industries to solve complex challenges, steer change and enable growth. 

Our people are what make KPMG the thriving workplace that it is and what sets us apart is that we know great minds think differently. Collaborate with a team of passionate, highly skilled professionals who’ve got your back. You’ll build relationships with unique and diverse colleagues who will provide you with the support you need to be your best and produce meaningful and impactful work in an inclusive, equitable culture.

At KPMG, you’ll take control over how you work. We’re embracing a new way of working in many ways, from offering flexible hours and locations to generous paid parental leave and career breaks. Our people enjoy a variety of exciting perks, including retail discounts, health and wellbeing initiatives, learning and growth opportunities, salary packaging options and more.

Diverse candidates have diverse needs. During your recruitment journey, information will be provided about adjustment requests. If you require additional support before submitting your application, please contact the Talent Attraction Support Team.

At KPMG every career is different, and we look forward to seeing how you grow with us.

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