Product Manager - Direct Debit & Alternate Payments

About the opportunity Xplor Pay is building the payments infrastructure of the future — embedded, intelligent, and designed for the verticals we serve. As Product Manager for Direct Debit & Alternate Payments, you will own the end-to-end product strategy and execution for our UK (Bacs) and EU (SEPA) Direct Debit rails, while simultaneously leading our expansion into Open Banking, account-to-account (A2A), and emerging payment methods across the UK and European markets. What You'll Do Direct Debit Product Ownership (UK & EU) - Own and evolve the product roadmap for Bacs Direct Debit (UK) and SEPA (EU), balancing merchant experience, operational efficiency, and regulatory compliance. - Reduce failure rates, improve reconciliation flows, and drive down cost-per-transaction through product-led initiatives. - Partner with Compliance and Legal to ensure adherence to UK FCA rules, EU PSD2/PSD3, GDPR, and scheme rules from Bacs, SEPA, and Pay.UK. - Work with the Commercial team to package and price Direct Debit as a competitive embedded payment option for Xplor's vertical SaaS partners. Open Banking & Alternate Payments - Lead the product development of Open Banking payment initiation (PIS) and account information (AIS) services under UK Open Banking standards and EU PSD2/PSD3 requirements. - Define the roadmap for A2A payments, Variable Recurring Payments (VRP), and Request-to-Pay (RtP) as these rails mature in the UK and EU. - Evaluate and integrate alternate payment methods (e.g., iDEAL, Bancontact, SEPA Instant, PayTo equivalents) relevant to Xplor's merchant base. Roadmap & Strategy - Define quarterly and annual plans for the Direct Debit and Alternate Payments portfolio; maintain and communicate a rolling 12-month roadmap. - Conduct competitive analysis across incumbent acquirers, neo-banks, and specialist payment providers operating in UK/EU markets. - Present strategy, progress, and investment cases to the Embedded Payments executive leadership team. Delivery & Stakeholder Management - Drive agile delivery with cross-functional squads — engineering, design, data, and QA — using clear PRDs, user stories, and acceptance criteria. - Build strong relationships with external scheme operators, banks, and open banking infrastructure providers. - Serve as the internal centre of excellence on UK/EU payment rails — educating sales, customer success, and commercial teams. - Monitor product health via dashboards covering transaction volumes, failure rates, settlement times, and revenue contribution. AI-Augmented Product Practice - Embed AI tools into every stage of the product lifecycle: use LLMs for rapid synthesis of merchant interview transcripts, competitor teardowns, and PRD first drafts; use AI coding assistants to prototype flows and validate API responses without full engineering overhead. - Champion AI adoption within the Embedded Payments product team — document effective prompting patterns, share workflows, and help upskill peers. - Use AI-powered analytics tools to monitor performance dashboards, surface anomalies in transaction data, and generate plain-language summaries for stakeholder updates. - Stay current with the evolving AI tooling landscape relevant to product management — proactively evaluate and propose new tools that can increase team velocity. This role is fully remote across the UK, with occasional meet-ups at our Newcastle office. You must have full working rights. What would make me a good candidate? We are looking for curious and empathetic people. We also love to hear from people who are motivated by meaningful work, resonate with our four core values, have a positive outlook, are comfortable with ambiguity and thrive working in an ever-evolving and complex environment. We are inspired by meeting big picture thinkers and doers, people who can be both tactical and strategic, aim high and put people first in everything they do. Required Technical Skills & Experience : - 3+ years of product management experience in fintech, payments, or financial services. - Deep hands-on knowledge of Bacs Direct Debit (UK) — scheme rules, mandate management, AUDDIS/ARUDD processing, indemnity claims. - Solid understanding of SEPA Direct Debit, payment rails, and EU clearing cycles. - Demonstrated experience with Open Banking — either as a PM building PIS/AIS products or in a closely adjacent commercial or technical role. - Fluency in PSD2, PSD3 (in progress), and UK Open Banking regulatory frameworks. - Track record of shipping B2B or embedded payment products from discovery through to production at scale. - Excellent written and verbal communication — able to write crisp PRDs, present to executives, and explain complex payment flows to non-technical stakeholders. - Strong commercial instinct: comfortable with unit economics, pricing models, and revenue forecasting. Desirable - Experience with Variable Recurring Payments (VRP) or Request-to-Pay (RtP) in the UK. - Exposure to SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) or SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA). - Familiarity with GDPR data handling requirements as they apply to payment data. - Prior experience in a scale-up or multi-market fintech environment. At Xplor, we believe the best innovation and ideas happen at the intersections of our differences — across cultures, generations, disciplines, and lived experiences. So even if you do not tick every box, we still encourage you to apply.