Banking Payment Lead

Role overview

KPMG Australia is expanding its Technology Advisory offering by creating a dedicated Payments Practice with coverage that also extends into wider banking and emerging digital asset topics. The firm is looking for a seasoned advisor who can help define the practice, develop its market offering, win and deliver complex client work, and support the growth of a strong team.

This position calls for someone with substantial payments expertise, broader banking knowledge, and a strong consulting pedigree. You will need to be credible with senior leaders across issuers, acquirers, schemes, processors, payments infrastructure businesses, and retail, commercial, and corporate banks. A strong understanding of where digital assets, tokenisation, and stablecoins are headed, and how they connect with payments and banking, is also important.

The role is highly hands-on and combines practice development, business growth, and client delivery leadership.

Primary focus areas

The practice will mainly concentrate on payments, supported by adjacent banking capabilities and future-facing digital asset themes. Both commercial and technology dimensions are expected to be covered through an advisory approach.

• Card and account issuing: issuing strategy, credential management, digital issuance, tokenisation, issuer economics, and fraud and risk operating models.
• Switching and processing: transaction switching, authorisation, clearing and settlement, scheme integration, and payments messaging standards.
• Payments infrastructure and modernisation: core platform strategy, modernisation programmes, instant and real-time payments, payment hubs, and messaging standard migrations.
• Merchant acquiring and acceptance: acquiring strategy, acceptance propositions, orchestration, and merchant lifecycle design.
• Cross-border and correspondent payments: cross-border strategy, modernisation of correspondent banking, and new rails for international value movement.
• Regulatory and scheme compliance: payments regulation, scheme requirements, open banking, and operational resilience in payments.
• Digital assets and tokenisation: tokenisation of money and real-world assets, on-chain settlement, and the overlap between traditional and digital asset infrastructure.
• Stablecoins and programmable money: advice on stablecoin issuance, adoption, and integration into banking and payments propositions, including programmable payment use cases.
• Central bank digital currencies: wholesale and retail CBDC readiness, interoperability with commercial bank money, and impacts on operating models.
• Embedded finance and open ecosystems: banking-as-a-service, embedded payments and lending, and platform or marketplace propositions.
• Banking adjacencies: core banking transformation, digital banking, lending, open banking, open finance, broader digital transformation, and risk, regulation, and resilience.

Key responsibilities

• Define the strategy, offerings, and value propositions for the Payments Practice, aligned to the broader Technology Advisory agenda and related banking and digital asset capabilities.
• Create reusable advisory assets, accelerators, and thought pieces across payments, banking, and emerging digital asset topics.
• Hire, coach, and grow a consulting team spanning business and technology skill sets.
• Represent KPMG at industry events and conferences and contribute to market-facing thought leadership.
• Generate and close opportunities across established banks, challenger banks, payments processors, schemes, fintechs, payments infrastructure providers, and digital asset companies.
• Use an existing network of senior stakeholders in banking and payments to build a pipeline of advisory and transformation work.
• Own proposals, pricing, and commercial negotiations for complex, multi-disciplinary assignments.
• Develop trusted relationships with CIOs, COOs, Heads of Payments, Heads of Transaction Banking, Heads of Digital, and Chief Product Officers.
• Lead payments and banking strategy, target operating model, and transformation engagements.
• Oversee major modernisation and digital transformation programmes from current-state assessment and option analysis through to implementation support and assurance.
• Serve as the senior subject-matter advisor for payments, with credibility in adjacent banking areas and emerging digital asset themes.
• Maintain quality, risk, and commercial discipline across the engagement portfolio.

Candidate profile

The ideal candidate has more than 12 years of combined experience across management consulting and banking or payments roles, preferably in a Big 4 firm, a top-tier strategy practice, or a specialist financial services consultancy. Experience at Director, Senior Manager, or equivalent level is expected, whether leading client engagements or working within in-house banking or payments functions.

You should bring deep knowledge in at least two of the following areas: issuing, switching, and payments infrastructure, plus wider banking experience such as core banking, digital banking, lending, or open banking. You will also need strong commercial and strategic judgement together with technical fluency in architecture, APIs, and messaging standards, enough to advise senior clients at both the strategic and architectural level.

Experience with digital assets, tokenisation, and stablecoins is important, and a practical understanding of their role in payments and banking is expected. A history of originating and delivering large advisory and transformation engagements, including multi-million-dollar work, is also required.

Additional experience with digital asset, tokenisation, stablecoin, or CBDC initiatives; real-time payments and messaging standard migrations; embedded finance or banking-as-a-service; regulated change programmes; and building or scaling a consulting practice would be highly valued.

Personal qualities

• Entrepreneurial approach and motivation to build a practice rather than join a fully formed team.
• Executive presence with the ability to influence senior leaders across both business and technology.
• Curious, forward-looking mindset and comfort working at the intersection of established banking and emerging digital assets.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to attract, develop, and retain talent.
• Collaborative working style and the ability to work across multiple service lines to produce integrated client outcomes.

Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree is required.
• An MBA or other relevant postgraduate qualification is preferred.
• Professional certifications are considered an advantage.

Additional information

KPMG is a global professional services firm with broad industry experience and a focus on helping clients solve difficult problems, manage change, and unlock growth.

The company values collaboration, diversity of thought, and a supportive team environment where professionals can do meaningful work in an inclusive and equitable culture.

KPMG also offers flexible ways of working, including flexible hours and locations, along with benefits such as paid parental leave, career breaks, retail discounts, health and wellbeing initiatives, learning and development opportunities, and salary packaging options.

Support is available during recruitment for candidates who need adjustments or extra assistance.

Every career path at KPMG is different, and the organisation looks forward to supporting growth within the firm.