Senior Business Analyst - Payments

Job Title: Senior Business Analyst – Payments

Location: Toronto, ON, Canada – Hybrid

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Senior Business Analyst with strong expertise in banking and payment systems to support payment modernization and transformation initiatives. The ideal candidate will have in-depth knowledge of payment processing, card payments, payment messaging standards, and domestic and cross-border payment flows.

The candidate will lead end-to-end business analysis, including requirements gathering, functional documentation, process optimization, stakeholder management, and Agile delivery. Strong payment domain knowledge and the ability to translate complex business requirements into scalable technical solutions are essential.

Key Responsibilities

Business Analysis & Requirements Management

• Lead requirements elicitation, business analysis, gap analysis, and impact assessments.
• Prepare Business Requirements Documents (BRDs), Functional Specifications (FSDs), user stories, and acceptance criteria.
• Translate business requirements into functional solutions in collaboration with development and architecture teams.
• Maintain end-to-end requirements traceability throughout the delivery lifecycle.

Payment Domain Expertise

• Analyze end-to-end payment processing flows, including initiation, authorization, clearing, settlement, and reconciliation.
• Work with card issuing, card acquiring, merchant payments, account-to-account (A2A) payments, and cross-border transactions.
• Apply knowledge of ISO 8583 and ISO 20022 messaging standards.
• Understand payment exceptions, transaction failures, chargebacks, disputes, and payment investigations.
• Support payment modernization, real-time payments, and payment system integration initiatives.

Process Design & Optimization

• Develop end-to-end process flows, business process models, and operational workflows.
• Identify process gaps and recommend improvements to increase efficiency, scalability, and accuracy.
• Support the design of payment solutions, business rules, and operating models.

Agile Delivery & Stakeholder Management

• Collaborate with product owners, business stakeholders, developers, architects, and QA teams.
• Participate in Agile ceremonies, sprint planning, backlog refinement, and requirements reviews.
• Use JIRA and Confluence to manage requirements, user stories, and delivery documentation.
• Support User Acceptance Testing (UAT), defect resolution, and production readiness.
• Mentor junior Business Analysts and ensure high-quality analysis and documentation.

Risk, Security & Compliance

• Incorporate applicable payment regulations, security requirements, and compliance controls into business requirements.
• Understand payment fraud prevention, transaction monitoring, authentication, tokenization, PCI DSS, and relevant AML/KYC requirements.
• Support compliance with applicable payment network rules and regulatory standards.

Mandatory Skills

Candidates must demonstrate strong experience in the following areas:

1. Payment Systems & Banking Domain: Strong hands-on business analysis experience in banking payments, financial services, or fintech.
2. Payment Processing: In-depth understanding of end-to-end payment flows, including authorization, clearing, settlement, and reconciliation.
3. Card Payments: Knowledge of card issuing, acquiring, merchant payments, transaction processing, chargebacks, and disputes.
4. Payment Messaging Standards: Strong knowledge of ISO 8583 and/or ISO 20022.
5. Domestic & Cross-Border Payments: Understanding of payment transfers, payment processing workflows, and international payment transactions.
6. Business Analysis: Expertise in requirements gathering, BRD/FSD preparation, gap analysis, impact analysis, and user story creation.
7. Agile Methodology: Experience working in Agile/Scrum delivery environments.
8. Data Analytics: Ability to analyze payment transaction data, validate requirements, identify discrepancies, and support reconciliation and reporting.
9. Stakeholder Management: Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work across business and technology teams.
10. Tools: Hands-on experience with JIRA, Confluence, and process modelling tools such as Visio or BPMN-based tools.

Good-to-Have Skills

• Experience with real-time payment systems and payment modernization programs.
• Knowledge of payment APIs, microservices, and event-driven architectures.
• Understanding of payment fraud detection, risk management, and transaction monitoring.
• Experience with EMV 3-D Secure (3DS), card tokenization, and payment security controls.
• Exposure to payment reconciliation, settlement exceptions, and operational investigations.
• CBAP, Agile/Scrum, or other relevant professional certifications.

Preferred Background

• Experience working with banks, payment processors, card networks, or fintech organizations.
• Experience supporting large-scale payment transformation or modernization initiatives.
• Ability to lead business analysis activities independently and mentor junior team members.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a Senior Business Analyst with strong banking and payment domain expertise, experience with ISO payment messaging standards, and a proven track record of delivering payment-related technology initiatives in an Agile environment.