Sr Principal Product Manager - Developer Portal & Experience

Job Purpose

ACI Worldwide is seeking a Senior Principal Product Manager to lead the strategy, design, and execution of ACI’s Developer Portal and Developer Experience (DevX) platform supporting Connetic, ACI’s next-generation payments ecosystem. This role is responsible for building a best-in-class developer platform that enables internal teams, partners, and external customers to discover, integrate, test, and operate payment APIs and services with speed and confidence. You will define how developers onboard, build, test, and scale integrations across ACI’s cloud-native and enterprise payment platforms. This is a high-impact, hands-on strategic IC role requiring deep expertise in API platforms, developer tooling, and cloud-native architectures, along with the ability to influence cross-functional teams globally.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

Product Strategy & Vision

• Define and drive the product vision, roadmap, and execution strategy for ACI’s Developer Portal and Developer Experience platform.
• Establish a multi-year strategy for developer enablement, including API discovery, onboarding, sandbox environments, and self-service capabilities.
• Identify opportunities to accelerate partner and customer adoption through world-class developer tooling and experiences.
• Develop business cases and success metrics tied to API consumption, developer adoption, and ecosystem growth.

Developer Portal & Platform Ownership

• Own end-to-end product capabilities for the Developer Portal, including: API catalog and documentation (OpenAPI, SDKs, code samples), Self-service onboarding, identity, and access management, Sandbox environments and test harnesses, API lifecycle visibility (versioning, deprecation, usage insights).
• Define standards for consistent, intuitive, and scalable developer experiences across all ACI payment products.
• Enable seamless integration journeys for internal teams, fintech partners, and enterprise customers.

API & Cloud-Native Platform Enablement

• Partner with engineering to define product requirements for: API gateways, API management, and service exposure, Cloud-native developer tooling and environments, CI/CD integration for developer workflows, Event-driven and microservices-based API ecosystems.
• Ensure the platform supports multi-cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP) and hybrid deployments.
• Drive adoption of modern API standards (REST, event streaming, webhooks, GraphQL where needed).

Payment Developer Ecosystem Alignment

• Enable developers to integrate across payment capabilities, including: Cards, real-time payments, wires, and ACH, Fraud, risk, and value-added services.
• Ensure developer platform aligns with: Security and compliance requirements (PCI-DSS, OAuth2, Zero Trust), Data privacy and regional regulations.
• Partner with payment product teams to ensure consistent API design, usability, and documentation quality.

Customer, Developer & Partner Engagement

• Engage directly with: External developers and fintech partners, Enterprise integration teams, Internal engineering teams.
• Gather insights on developer pain points and integration friction and translate them into product enhancements.
• Champion developer-first thinking across the organization.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Collaborate with: Platform and application engineering, API governance and architecture teams, Security and compliance, Developer relations (DevRel), marketing, and documentation teams.
• Influence adoption of API-first and developer-first design principles across ACI.
• Act as a connector across product, engineering, and go-to-market for developer-facing capabilities.

Operational Excellence & Metrics

• Define and track success metrics such as: Developer onboarding time, API adoption and usage growth, Time to first successful transaction, Developer satisfaction (NPS, feedback loops).
• Drive continuous improvement through analytics, instrumentation, and feedback cycles.
• Identify opportunities to improve developer productivity and reduce integration costs.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications (Education, Experience, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 10 - 15 years of experience in Product Management, API platforms, Developer Platforms, or related areas.
• Proven experience building or managing developer portals, API platforms, or developer experience products.
• Strong knowledge of: API technologies (REST, OpenAPI, OAuth, API gateways), Developer tooling and workflows (SDKs, CLI tools, sandbox environments), Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and microservices architectures.
• Experience operating in cloud-native and hybrid environments.

Competencies

• Strong product instincts with a passion for developer experience and usability.
• Deep technical fluency in APIs, cloud platforms, and distributed systems.
• Systems thinker with ability to design end-to-end developer journeys.
• Exceptional ability to influence without authority across complex organizations.
• Data-driven mindset with focus on adoption, engagement, and outcomes.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in payments, fintech, or B2B platform ecosystems.
• Familiarity with PCI-DSS, secure API design, and identity/access management (OAuth2, OIDC).
• Experience scaling external developer ecosystems or partner platforms.
• Background in developer relations (DevRel) or deep customer-facing API experience.

Work Environment

Hybrid work environment. Majority of time spent on PC (Phys. Req.). Travel as needed for customer and stakeholder engagement.

Core Capabilities:

We seek colleagues who embody our core capabilities — these shape our culture and enable us to make a meaningful impact together: Ensure Accountability, Drives Results, Customer Focus, Cultivate Innovation, Collaborates, Courage.

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the US on a full-time basis. This position does not offer sponsorship for employment visa status or work permit now or in the future.

In return for your expertise, we offer opportunities for growth, career development, and a competitive compensation and benefits package—all within an innovative and collaborative work environment. Are you ready to help us transform the payments ecosystem? To learn more about ACI Worldwide, visit our web site at www.aciworldwide.com or careers.aciworldwide.com, requisition #19258

ACI Worldwide is an AA/EEO employer in the United States, which includes providing equal opportunity for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities, and an EEO employer globally.

Important Notice About Recruitment Scams: Job seekers should be aware of ongoing recruitment scams where individuals or organizations impersonate legitimate companies to offer fake job opportunities. These scams often involve requests for personal information, payments, or interviews through unofficial channels. Please be cautious and verify any communications claiming to be from our company (www.aciworldwide.com / @aciworldwide.com). The ACI Worldwide recruitment team will always follow official channels and will never request payment.

Key skills/competency

• Product Strategy
• Developer Portal
• Developer Experience
• API Management
• Cloud-Native Architectures
• API Technologies
• Developer Tooling
• Cross-Functional Leadership
• Customer Engagement
• Product Management