SVP – Corporate Development — Payments Portfolio

The mandate

A recent strategy review exposed a board-approved inorganic agenda requiring disciplined execution within a multinational-owned diversified financial-services platform. The immediate arena is the payments portfolio during a capital-allocation reset. For mandate 032, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The SVP – Corporate Development operating perimeter covers approximately A$3,600 million in assets under oversight, with activity spanning several payments portfolio customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The SVP – Corporate Development Financial Services remit carries direct influence over roughly 275 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a SVP – Corporate Development who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the payments portfolio. The SVP – Corporate Development Financial Services seat must resolve a capital-allocation reset, while preserving the underlying strengths of the payments portfolio. For mandate 032, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The SVP – Corporate Development’s first year on the payments portfolio is expected to end with proprietary pipeline, integration logic and value realisation. In mandate 032, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a newly created SVP – Corporate Development — Payments Portfolio seat approved as part of the next operating model; it is not an incumbent replacement. The board is running a planned 4–6 month search so the appointee can join ahead of the next capital and talent cycle. Current leaders retain their existing accountabilities until the payments portfolio remit is formally activated. Confidentiality protects organisation design choices while the board compares external and adjacent-sector talent.

What you will own

• Set the SVP – Corporate Development value-creation thesis for the payments portfolio, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately A$3,600 million in assets under oversight, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the SVP – Corporate Development Financial Services organisation of about 275 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the payments portfolio economics and execution constraints created by a capital-allocation reset, with SVP – Corporate Development-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one SVP – Corporate Development operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the payments portfolio; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Show end-to-end ownership of a material platform or value stream, including budget, talent and measurable operating outcomes in mandate 032.
• Build the SVP – Corporate Development’s three-year succession and capability plan for the payments portfolio, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Financial Services organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the payments portfolio baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to a board-approved inorganic agenda requiring disciplined execution, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal SVP – Corporate Development portfolio and organisation choices for the payments portfolio, install the new operating cadence, fill critical leadership gaps and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity or customer value.
• Months 10–12: Demonstrate a repeatable payments portfolio trend against proprietary pipeline, integration logic and value realisation, lock the following year’s capital and talent plan, evidence control sustainability and present a credible three-year value case with downside actions.

What the board will measure

• Delivery of the SVP – Corporate Development’s agreed first-year payments portfolio value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A SVP – Corporate Development forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the payments portfolio’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the SVP – Corporate Development mandate’s highest-priority payments portfolio risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical payments portfolio talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the SVP – Corporate Development’s direct reports.
• A quantified SVP – Corporate Development-owned improvement in the payments portfolio operating constraint behind a capital-allocation reset, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 032: no unresolved high-severity escalation older than 30 days and no material surprise withheld from its agreed governance forum.

The person

You are currently a SVP Corporate Development, M&A Director or Strategy Executive in a multinational-owned Financial Services or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the payments portfolio, your SVP – Corporate Development track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from banking, insurance, payments, wealth or regulated fintech will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this SVP – Corporate Development brief.

As a SVP – Corporate Development candidate, you bring 22–28 years of progressive Financial Services or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 22-28 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of A$2,100 million and led an organisation of at least 200 people.

For mandate 032, the board wants two transitions: a difficult payments portfolio portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a capital-allocation reset. As the prospective SVP – Corporate Development for this payments portfolio, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 032 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The SVP – Corporate Development must be based in Sydney; international relocation is supported, but this Financial Services role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of SVP Corporate Development, M&A Director or Strategy Executive, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Financial Services governance forum.
• Proven SVP – Corporate Development ownership of at least A$2,100 million and leadership of no fewer than 200 employees in a comparable payments portfolio context.
• One completed Financial Services or adjacent-sector example of a board-approved inorganic agenda requiring disciplined execution with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from banking, insurance, payments, wealth or regulated fintech; experience that is purely functional and lacks SVP – Corporate Development-level payments portfolio consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Sydney location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 032.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated SVP – Corporate Development package is A$380,000–500,000 base + annual incentive, calibrated to the final payments portfolio scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 032 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The SVP – Corporate Development appointment in Sydney, centred on the payments portfolio, offers regular exposure to the chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 032.

Confidentiality

Client identity is withheld at this stage and will be disclosed under mutual confidentiality after an initial fit discussion for mandate 032. Rounded ranges and blended context prevent this document from being used to triangulate the organisation for mandate 032.