Product Owner Cards | Banking

General Description

Join a leading digital-first banking organization in Abu Dhabi undergoing a large-scale transformation across its Cards and digital banking products.

We are looking for an experienced Product Owner – Cards to take end-to-end ownership of Credit and Debit Card products, driving product vision, roadmap, customer journeys, backlog prioritization, and delivery across the full Cards lifecycle.

This is a specialist Cards Product Owner position rather than a general Digital Banking, Financial Services, Payments, or FinTech Product Owner role. We are specifically looking for professionals who have recently performed a dedicated Cards Product Owner / Cards Product Manager role within a bank, ideally within a leading UAE or GCC banking environment.

The successful candidate will bring hands-on experience across Credit and Debit Cards, card issuance and lifecycle management, card servicing, Visa/Mastercard schemes, digital wallets and tokenization, card controls, rewards, authorization, settlement, and related Cards capabilities.

This is a 3-month contract role (extendable) with full onsite presence in Abu Dhabi.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the product vision, strategy, roadmap, and backlog for Credit and Debit Card products
• Drive end-to-end Cards product development from discovery and requirements through design, development, UAT, launch, and continuous improvement
• Own customer journeys across the Cards lifecycle, including application, issuance, activation, servicing, card controls, limits, replacement, renewal, and closure
• Lead new Cards product launches, enhancements, propositions, features, pricing, and customer experience improvements
• Work closely with Visa, Mastercard, and other card schemes on mandates, certifications, compliance, and new capabilities
• Drive digital Cards capabilities including tokenization, digital wallets, Apple Pay / Google Pay / Samsung Pay, contactless payments, and card controls
• Translate Cards business requirements into epics, user stories, acceptance criteria, and prioritized backlog items
• Partner closely with Engineering, Architecture, Operations, Risk, Compliance, Fraud, Finance, UX/UI, Marketing, and external processors/vendors
• Support Cards capabilities across authorization, clearing and settlement, reconciliation, fraud controls, disputes/chargebacks, and rewards/loyalty
• Lead backlog refinement, sprint planning, UAT, release readiness, production rollout, and post-launch optimization
• Track Cards product KPIs, customer adoption, transaction performance, and commercial outcomes.

Required Skills & Experience

• Strong recent experience as a Product Owner / Product Manager specifically responsible for Cards within a bank
• Proven hands-on ownership of Credit and/or Debit Card products and their end-to-end lifecycle
• Experience working within a major bank, ideally in the UAE or GCC; experience with organizations such as ADIB, Emirates NBD, FAB, ADCB, Wio Bank, Mashreq, DIB, RAKBANK, or similar banking institutions is highly desirable
• Strong knowledge of card issuing, card lifecycle management, card servicing, card controls, limits, and card customer journeys
• Experience working with Visa and/or Mastercard, including scheme requirements, mandates, certifications, and compliance
• Knowledge of authorization, clearing, settlement, reconciliation, disputes/chargebacks, and fraud management
• Experience with digital wallets, tokenization, contactless payments, and mobile wallet provisioning
• Experience with rewards, loyalty, cashback, card propositions, and/or co-branded Cards would be advantageous
• Strong Product Ownership capability across roadmaps, backlog management, epics, user stories, acceptance criteria, Agile/Scrum, Jira, UAT, and releases
• Strong stakeholder management across Business, Technology, Operations, Risk, Compliance, Fraud, and external Cards ecosystem partners

Important Candidate Profile Requirement

This role requires a Cards specialist rather than a generalist banking or financial services Product Owner.

Candidates should have recently held direct ownership of Cards products within a banking environment. General Digital Banking, Payments, FinTech, Crypto, BaaS, or Financial Services Product Ownership experience without recent dedicated bank-side Cards ownership will not be sufficient for this position.

Engagement Details

Engagement Type: Contract / Freelance

Duration: 3 Months (Extendable)

Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Work Setup: Full Onsite