Cognizant

Associate Director, Consulting Lead - Payments Domain Practice

Cognizant$165K — $195K *
Business Services
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 12+ years in consulting or transformation leadership roles
  • Strong payments domain expertise and influence over senior stakeholders
  • Proven track record leading consulting engagements from start to finish
  • Experience in business development and client presentations
  • Ability to build consulting offerings and reusable assets
  • Strong knowledge of operating models, digital transformation, and AI-led change
  • Excellent executive communication and stakeholder management skills
  • Bachelor's degree required, MBA or advanced degree preferred

Responsibilities

  • Define and execute the vision for the Payments Domain Practice
  • Serve as a trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders with industry insights
  • Partner with sales teams to shape opportunities and support proposals
  • Develop differentiated consulting offerings and thought leadership assets
  • Ensure quality and consistency across all engagements
  • Build and mentor a high-performing consulting team
  • Stay ahead of payments trends and translate insights into market perspectives

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
  • Retirement savings support and paid time off
  • Learning and development opportunities
  • Leadership training
  • Collaborative and growth-oriented consulting environment
Full Job Description
Associate Director, Consulting Lead - Payments Domain Practice

Location: New York, New Jersey, USA

Work Mode: Hybrid (3 days/week at client location)

About the Role

We are seeking a senior consulting leader to build and scale our Payments Domain Practice. As a Consulting Lead, you will drive strategic growth, shape market-facing offerings, and lead high-impact transformation programs for clients across the payment's ecosystem.

This role combines domain expertise, advisory leadership, business development, and delivery oversight, with a strong focus on creating measurable business outcomes and long-term client value.

Your Key Responsibilities
• Define and execute the practice vision, including offerings, target markets, growth strategy, and capability roadmap.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders by bringing industry insights, operating model expertise, and transformation recommendations.
• Partner with sales and account teams to shape opportunities, develop proposals, and support RFP/RFI pursuits.
• Develop differentiated consulting offerings, frameworks, accelerators, and thought leadership assets.
• Provide oversight across engagements to ensure quality, consistency, commercial discipline, and measurable outcomes.
• Build and mentor a high-performing consulting team, driving capability development, knowledge sharing, and career growth.

Stakeholder Management
Collaborate with cross-functional teams across consulting, delivery, technology, and operations.

Thought Leadership
Stay ahead of payments trends, regulatory developments, and emerging technologies; translate insights into market-facing perspectives.

Payments Domain Expertise (Core to Role)
  • Payment modernisation initiatives and Payment Hub implementation
  • ISO 20022 readiness (impact assessment, migration, testing, cutover)
  • Payment rail integration (real-time payments, ACH, wires, cards, SWIFT, cross-border, open banking/APIs)
  • Partner onboarding, integration, certification, and operational readiness
  • End-to-end payments transformation across product, operations, risk, compliance, and technology

Required Qualifications
  • 12+ years of experience in consulting, advisory, or transformation leadership roles
  • Strong Payments domain expertise with ability to influence senior stakeholders
  • Proven success leading consulting engagements from opportunity through delivery
  • Experience in business development, proposal creation, and client presentations
  • Demonstrated experience building consulting offerings and reusable assets
  • Strong understanding of operating models, digital transformation, data, and AI-led change
  • Excellent executive communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills
  • Bachelor's degree required; MBA or advanced degree preferred

Preferred Experience
• A senior consulting leader with strong domain credibility and executive presence, who can translate market needs into scalable offerings, drive growth, and deliver complex transformation programs while developing high-performing teams.
  • Experience building or scaling a consulting practice or domain capability
  • Hands-on Payment Hub transformation experience (routing, validation, reconciliation, exception handling)
  • Deep expertise in ISO 20022 migration and payment formats
  • Experience with global payment networks, processors, or ecosystem partners
  • Exposure to fintech, vendor onboarding, and integration programs
  • Experience in AI, analytics, automation, or platform modernisation initiatives
  • Strong commercial acumen (pipeline, revenue, margin, utilisation)
  • Experience mentoring senior consultants and operating in global, matrixed environments

Compensation & Benefits
  • Base Salary Range: USD $165,000 - $195,000
  • Eligible for performance-based incentives/bonus (as applicable)
  • Comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, and wellness programmes
  • Retirement savings support and paid time off
  • Learning & development opportunities and leadership training

Work Environment
  • Hybrid model with 3 days/week at client site
  • Collaborative, inclusive, and growth-oriented consulting environment
  • Opportunity to work on large-scale transformation programmes across global clients

Application Deadline

30 July 2027

About Cognizant

TriZetto is Powering Integrated Healthcare Management. With technology solutions touching more than half the U.S. population today, TriZetto is uniquely positioned to drive the convergence of core benefit administration, care management and constituent engagement. TriZetto provides premier information technology solutions that enable payers and other constituents in the healthcare supply chain to improve the coordination of benefits and care for healthcare consumers.

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Learn more about Cognizant
Size
340,400 employees
Market Cap
$28.7 billion
Industry
Net Income
$1.3 billion
Founded
1994
5 Year Trend
+6.5%
Revenue
$16.6 billion
NASDAQ

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