Senior Advisor to Head of Assets & Cards – Cards & Payments

Job Title: Senior Advisor to Head of Assets & Cards – Cards & Payments

Employment type: Contract (On-site)

Contract length: 6 - 12 months

Location: Riyadh, KSA

PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT

We are seeking a seasoned banking professional to serve as a trusted advisor to the Head of Assets & Cards, supporting the development and execution of the business strategy across lending, cards, and payments. This role requires a unique blend of strategic thinking, commercial acumen, and hands-on execution to drive growth, profitability, and market leadership.

Core Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

• Partner with the Head of Assets & Cards to shape and execute the strategic roadmap for the business.
• Lead and oversee the implementation of key initiatives across retail assets, cards, payments, and digital propositions.
• Identify market opportunities, customer needs, and emerging trends to drive portfolio growth and enhance customer value propositions.
• Monitor business performance, portfolio health, profitability, and key KPIs, providing actionable recommendations to achieve targets.
• Drive cross-functional collaboration across Product, Risk, Finance, Operations, Technology, and Marketing teams to ensure successful delivery of strategic programs.
• Prepare executive-level business cases, strategic reviews, and management presentations for senior leadership.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with external partners, payment schemes, fintechs, and other strategic stakeholders.

Knowledge and Experience:

• Deep knowledge of the Saudi banking and payments market.
• A strong track record across retail assets, cards, payments, digital propositions, portfolio performance, and transformation in the Saudi market.
• A highly strategic yet execution-oriented leader who can seamlessly translate vision into results.
• You will possess strong KSA market expertise, executive presence, and a proven ability to deliver growth and transformation across Assets & Cards businesses.
• Demonstrated success in both strategy development and execution of large-scale business initiatives.
• Strong understanding of retail lending products, cards, payments, and digital banking ecosystems.
• Excellent analytical, communication, stakeholder management, and leadership skills.

Mandatory Skills:

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Business Administration, Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field (Master's preferred).
• Previous experience within Banking, Digital Payment & Card solutions or the FinTech industry.
• Regional experience, including working in a faced-paced matrix organisation.
• Excellent communication skills in English (written, verbal, and presentation); Arabic preferred.

Preferred Skills:

• The ability to analyse data, troubleshoot payment issues, optimize processes, and make data-driven decisions.
• Good understanding of payment systems, digital platforms, system workflows, security basics, and industry technologies.
• An understanding of regional regulations across financial services or payment networks.