Scheme Compliance Specialist (Technical SME)

Job Classification

Multi - Discipline Specialist(144252)

TA: Luthando Bower

Closing date:  14 April 2026

Job Family

Career Stream

Leadership Pipeline

Job Purpose

The Scheme Compliance Specialist (Technical SME) is the organisational authority on card scheme compliance, responsible for defining strategy, governance, and technical direction for scheme-related change.This role leads the interpretation of scheme rules, mandates, and operating regulations and guides technical and product teams on how these requirements must be designed, implemented, and embedded across platforms and processes. The role operates at a strategic and hands-on level, influencing architecture, delivery priorities, and risk decisions.

Job Responsibilities

• Own the organisation’s card scheme compliance strategy across issuing, acquiring, and processing .
• Provide Interpretation of scheme rules, bulletins, and mandates
• Act as escalation point for complex or high-risk scheme compliance decisions

Technical Direction & Change Leadership

• Lead the technical interpretation and implementation approach for scheme-driven changes and mandates
• Guide architects and engineering leads on compliant solution designs and acceptable technical patterns
• Review and approve technical impact assessments, solution designs, and implementation plans
• Translate scheme requirements into clear, actionable technical guidance, principles, and controls

Stakeholder & Delivery Enablement

• Partner with Product, Technology, Architecture, Operations, Risk, and Legal at senior level
• Engage with Merchants on complex changes
• Influence delivery roadmaps to ensure timely and compliant implementation of scheme changes
• Support delivery teams throughout the SDLC as the final authority on scheme interpretation

Risk, Audits & Certifications

• Own scheme compliance risk identification, assessment, and mitigation strategies
• Lead responses to scheme audits, certifications, and compliance assessments
• Oversee remediation of findings, violations, or non-compliance issues

Governance, Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Define KPIs, dashboards, and reporting for scheme compliance health and risk exposure
• Maintain a forward-looking view of upcoming scheme changes and technical impacts

Technical Leadership

• Proven ability to guide and challenge system designs for scheme compliance
• Comfortable influencing architecture and engineering decisions without direct authority
• Strong understanding of PCI DSS and platform-level compliance controls

Strategic Thinking & Influence

• Ability to balance risk, delivery timelines, and commercial priorities
• Confident communicator at senior leadership and executive leve
• Decisive, pragmatic, and outcome-oriented
• Participate in Research and Development related to specific.
• Provide problem solving in high impact incidents.
• Engage with vendors related to multiple technologies.
• Meet bank's needs by presenting on the exploitation of the technologies.
• Expand IP beyond own technology speciality.
• Break down components of end to end design and defined logical units of work.
• Raise unallocated or missing components of design with project lead. Validate the individual design components and integrate these into end to end design.
• Ensure test strategy covers full end to end design.
• Provide integration solutions and validate the technical component design.
• Review and approve component designs.
• Consult on the resolution of high impact problem solving across. Participate in Severities (Sev's) and provide expert guidance and solutions on technical problems.
• Provide the application flow.
• Document and maintain the end to end design.
• Build end to end design and release to stakeholders.
• Ensure alignment to IT strategy to architecture roadmaps.
• Upskill all stakeholders. Lead end to end design on project.
• Obtain buy-in for developing new and/or enhanced processes to improve stakeholders' businesses.

Essential Qualifications - NQF Level

Essential Certifications

Minimum Experience Level

10- 15 years experience in an IT environment across infrastructures of which at least 2 years in a senior role from feeder areas

Deep expertise in card schemes (Visa, Mastercard, Amex) and payments ecosystems

Strong understanding of authorisation, clearing, settlement, disputes, fraud, and controls

Advanced ability to interpret scheme regulations and technical mandates

Technical / Professional Knowledge

Behavioural Competencies