Blackhawk Network Celebrates One-Year Anniversary of India Strategic Development Centre

Located in Bengaluru, Blackhawk Network’s India Strategic Development Centre (SDC) is celebrating its one-year anniversary since launching in November 2019. The SDC-a key driver of innovation for branded payments provider Blackhawk-focuses on delivering omni-channel payment products and the core enterprise roadmap that powers the organization’s consumer and partner ecosystems. Among the top initiatives of the SDC are mobile payments, a global data lake, internationalization of incentives products, consolidation of multiple settlement systems and global expansion of its retail and online commerce product offerings.

India’s FinTech ecosystem has witnessed major developments over the past year which have strengthened the country’s position as a FinTech hub. During the pandemic, Blackhawk has continued to build its SDC workforce, with a focus on providing career opportunities to engineers, product managers and program managers by recruiting beyond traditional methods-allowing the company to tap into the region’s diverse talent pool.

“Our SDC’s one-year milestone underscores Blackhawk’s commitment to Bengaluru as a critical hub of innovation within our global product and technology organization,” said Talbott Roche, CEO and President of Blackhawk Network. “As an industry pioneer, we are proud to carry on our legacy of disruption through the important work of our SDC team in delivering innovative payment solutions that will shape the future of global branded payments.”

Radhakrishna Venketeshwaran, VP – Head of Strategic Development Centre, Product & Engineering, Blackhawk Network, added, “As we expand our India team of 150+ employees to deliver complex programs worldwide, we will continue to invest in their career development to grow and excel. We have hired an exceptionally talented team that contributes to our dynamic, innovative, creative and collaborative culture, and I thank them for all of their hard work and efforts throughout our first year.”

Bengaluru was selected as the preferred location for Blackhawk’s SDC owing to its deep talent pool and alignment with Blackhawk’s ‘follow the sun’ model. The location allows for agility and provides optimal proximity to Blackhawk’s customers and partners around the world.

To create a superior and consistent employee experience, Blackhawk has established a robust remote onboarding process for new hires while integrating with the global teams. While the SDC’s hiring strategy remains aggressive, the health and safety of new hires continues to be a top priority.