Sr. Director, Core Banking Strategy & Transformation; Center of Excellence

Sr. Director, Core Banking Strategy & Transformation (Center of Excellence)

Location: Remote

Eligibility Requirement: Candidates must reside in one of the following states:
Arkansas (AR), Missouri (MO), Oklahoma (OK), Kansas (KS), Florida (FL), Georgia (GA), Tennessee (TN), or Texas (TX)

Compensation: $200K–$275K base + bonus + profit sharing. Up to $350K/year total compensation.

The Senior Director of Core Banking (Center of Excellence) will lead the fundamental re‑imagining of the bank’s operational core
, transforming technology from a business constraint into a primary engine for growth
.

This role is central to architecting the organization for its next phase—building an Enterprise Digital Backbone that supports a $40B future. The leader will drive the modernization of a complex, multi‑core banking ecosystem while aligning business strategy, technology platforms, and organizational structure.

• Mission: Transform core banking into a scalable, modern, and business‑aligned ecosystem
• Objective: Build an Enterprise Digital Backbone that enables speed, agility, and innovation across all banking domains

• Lead the deconstruction of a 30-year-old monolithic core environment into modular, scalable components
• Drive the transition of:
• CQRS (Command Query Responsibility Segregation)
• Reduce point‑to‑point integrations and enable loosely coupled, domain‑driven services
• Own the strategy and optimization of core platforms (Fiserv, Signature, Thought Machine Vault, TSYS, FIS, etc.)
• Establish and maintain a capability roadmap aligned with enterprise and product strategy
• Drive platform simplification, reuse, and scalability
• Manage vendor relationships across key core providers
• Transition the organization from a platform‑centric to a domain‑based, business‑aligned model
• Establish best practices across:
• CI/CD and release management
• Capacity planning and prioritization
• Workflow governance and execution frameworks
• Build a scalable structure supporting both:
• “Keep the lights on” operations
• New product and platform innovation

• Act as the bridge between business, product, and technology teams
• Ensure all initiatives align with both:
• Immediate business needs (growth, revenue)
• Define and track ROI and IRR metrics for platform investments

• Partner with Information Security to enforce best practices across platforms
• Ensure compliance with:
• Regulatory requirements
• BSA/AML standards
• PCI and Non‑Public Information (NPI) protections
• Own resilience strategy including:
• Business continuity
• Disaster recovery

• Lead a team of ~40 (4–6 direct reports)
• Redesign organizational structure for scale and efficiency
• Coach and develop talent to align with evolving technical and business needs
• Play a key role in leadership succession planning

• 15+ years in banking, financial services, or fintech
• 10+ years of relevant experience across technology, operations, or platform leadership
• 5+ years of leadership experience managing teams
• Deep expertise across core banking platforms and multiple lines of business

• Strong understanding of:
• CQRS patterns
• Distributed systems and modern integration patterns
• Experience modernizing legacy monolithic systems into modular architectures
• Knowledge of:
• Customer 360 / Operational Data Stores
• Transaction processing systems
• Experience building observability practices (telemetry, tracing, monitoring)

• Proven ability to:
• Address scalability constraints in legacy environments
• Balance modernization with ongoing delivery
• Align infrastructure investments to business outcomes
• Experience navigating complex environments with multiple stakeholders
• Track record of improving:
• Speed to market (target: 50% reduction in lead time)
• System reliability (target: 99.99% uptime)
• Strong cross‑functional collaboration skills
• Ability to influence without direct authority in complex organizations

• Experience across multiple institutions or environments
• Background with core providers (Fiserv, FIS,…