Product Strategist

Job Title:  Product Strategist
Location:  Vienna, VA
Work schedule:  hybrid, onsite 3 days a week
Pay Rate:  open to W2 and established 1099''s
Position Type:  multiyear contract

We are currently seeking a Product Strategist for a long term contracting position located in Vienna, VA.  Candidates will work a hybrid schedule, onsite 3 days a week (2 days remote).  We are able to work with W2 and established 1099 candidates.

This role requires someone with at least 5 years of experience with payments or fintech exposure, strong coordination and tracking experience, hands on ADO experience, and stakeholder-heavy program execution experience.

We are looking for a vendor and merchant onboarding operations coordinator for a payments/debit card “Offers, Events & Incentives” program.  Candidates will act as the operational project coordinator to ensure merchants and vendors move smoothly through intake, approvals, compliance/risk review, onboarding setup, and launch readiness.  You’ll work across product, marketing, legal, risk, compliance, operations, analytics, and external vendors, while tracking everything in Azure DevOps (ADO).  The role is less about building systems and more about driving execution, managing onboarding pipelines, removing blockers, ensuring compliance and readiness, and reporting status to leadership.  This is a program operations and vendor onboarding PM and compliance-aware coordination role in a payments ecosystem.

Basic Description
This contractor role supports the Events, Offers & Incentives (EOI) team by managing and coordinating the end-to-end onboarding and operational readiness of vendors and merchants participating in debit card offers, incentives, and events. The role focuses on ensuring merchants move efficiently from intake through approvals, onboarding, and launch within the card ecosystem.  The position works cross-functionally with internal teams and external vendors to support a consistent, compliant, and scalable onboarding experience. Execution is supported through disciplined work management using Azure DevOps (ADO) to track progress, manage dependencies, and support timely delivery.

Responsibilities

• Support the end-to-end vendor and merchant onboarding process for debit offers, incentives, and events.
• Coordinate merchant and vendor opportunities from initial intake through approvals, onboarding, and launch readiness.
• Partner with internal stakeholders (product, marketing, operations, legal, risk, compliance, and analytics) to ensure onboarding requirements are met.
• Serve as a point of coordination for external vendors and merchants, supporting alignment on scope, timelines, and operational needs.
• Track onboarding activities, milestones, risks, and dependencies using Azure DevOps (ADO).
• Maintain accurate visibility into the vendor and merchant pipeline, including status, blockers, and readiness.
• Support standardized onboarding processes, documentation, and communications to improve consistency and efficiency.
• Prepare clear summaries and materials for leadership updates, vendor reviews, and program status reporting.
• Review and interpret performance data (engagement, redemption, usage) to support prioritization and operational decision-making.
• Capture decisions, track action items, and support follow-through across internal teams and external partners.

• Experience supporting vendor or merchant onboarding, operations, or partnership management in payments, offers, loyalty, or related programs.
• Familiarity with cross-functional onboarding processes involving legal, risk, compliance, and operations.
• Strong working experience using Azure DevOps (ADO)
• Ability to review performance data and support data-informed prioritization and recommendations.
• Working in financial services, banking, payments, or fintech environments.

• Strong organizational and execution skills with attention to detail.
• Clear and professional communication skills for working with internal teams and external vendors.
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Collaborative, proactive, and solution-oriented approach to problem-solving.

• Experience in debit, credit, payments, or card-based programs, including vendor or merchant onboarding.
• Direct experience working with external vendors, merchants, processors, acquirers, or payment partners.
• Familiarity with enterprise intake, approval, compliance, risk, and governance processes.
• Educational background in a related field such as Business, Finance, Operations, Information Systems, or Marketing.
• Strong PowerPoint skills with the ability to create clear, operationally focused, executive-ready materials

System One, and its subsidiaries including Joulé and Mountain Ltd., are leaders in delivering outsourced services and workforce solutions across North America. We help clients get work done more efficiently and economically, without compromising quality. System One not only serves as a valued partner for our clients, but we offer eligible employees health and welfare benefits coverage options including medical, dental, vision, spending accounts, life insurance, voluntary plans, as well as participation in a 401(k) plan.

System One is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, family care or medical leave status, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

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Ref: #851-Rockville-S1