EVP, Chief Payments Officer

Vast Bank is looking to hire an EVP, Chief Payments Officer! 

About Vast Bank

Since February of 1982, we've been a financial institution that has served customers in Northeast Oklahoma and beyond. Our deep roots in the community and commitment to personal service have enabled us to grow alongside our customers, creating conveniences and solutions to fit unique problems and lifestyles. For over 40 years, we've built a legacy on personal service, flexibility, strength, and integrity. Now, with bold leadership and a renewed commitment to customer-centricity, we're aiming higher for the next 40 years. New ideas, strong partnerships, and modern technology will accompany a winning culture to deliver more control and a surprisingly easy banking experience.

We're a company that believes in taking care of the people who make working here possible. In addition to competitive compensation, we offer a leading employee benefit package:

• Comprehensive benefits package & 401(k) match
• Professional development- opportunities for advancement! 
• Tuition assistance
• Transit reimbursement
• Paid time off
• & more!

Summary Of Role

The primary responsibility of the Chief Payments Officer is to shape the modernization of a community bank’s payments capabilities and a transformative vision for global payments, embedding this vision into the company’s strategic objectives.

Major Duties and Responsibilities 

• Develops and executes the Bank’s enterprise payments strategy in alignment with the Bank’s strategic plan, risk appetite, financial objectives, and customer needs.
• Provides executive leadership and oversight for the Bank’s payment products, services, platforms, and operational processes, which may include:
  • Automated Clearing House transactions.
  • Domestic and international wire transfers.
  • Real-Time Payments and FedNow® services.
  • Debit and credit card programs.
  • Treasury Management payment services.
  • Merchant payment solutions.
  • Remote and mobile deposit services.
  • Digital wallets and account-to-account payment capabilities.
  • Tokenized deposits and other emerging payment solutions.
  • Check processing and related payment operations.
• Develops and maintains a multi-year payments roadmap that identifies strategic priorities, technology investments, product enhancements, risk considerations, implementation requirements, and anticipated financial outcomes.
• Evaluates market trends, customer needs, competitive activity, regulatory developments, and emerging technologies to identify opportunities to enhance or expand the Bank’s payment capabilities.
• Leads the development, implementation, and ongoing management of new payment products and services.
• Establishes appropriate product-governance processes throughout the payment-product lifecycle, including product development, risk assessment, approval, implementation, monitoring, enhancement, and retirement.
• Partners with Treasury Management, Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, Operations, and other business lines to increase customer adoption and utilization of payment products and services.
• Develops payment-product pricing, revenue, profitability, and growth strategies in collaboration with Finance and applicable business-line leaders.
• Establishes and monitors key performance indicators, key risk indicators, service-level expectations, transaction volumes, revenue, expenses, fraud losses, operational errors, customer adoption, and customer-service outcomes.
• Provides executive oversight of payment operations to promote processing accuracy, timeliness, scalability, resiliency, efficiency, and an effective customer experience.
• Identifies opportunities to automate payment processes, improve straight-through processing, reduce manual intervention, strengthen controls, and increase operational efficiency.
• Partners with Technology and Information Security to ensure payment platforms are secure, resilient, appropriately integrated, and capable of supporting the Bank’s current and future payment strategy.
• Ensures appropriate payment-related business continuity, disaster-recovery, incident-response, and contingency processes are established, tested, and maintained.
• Partners with Enterprise Risk Management, Compliance, BSA/AML, Fraud, Information Security, and Legal to identify, assess, monitor, and mitigate payment-related risks.
• Maintains a strong understanding of applicable payment laws, regulations, regulatory guidance, network rules, and industry standards, including, as applicable:
  • NACHA Operating Rules.
  • Regulation E.
  • o Regulation CC.
  • o Uniform Commercial Code Article 4A.
  • Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering requirements.
• USA PATRIOT Act.
  • Office of Foreign Assets Control requirements.
  • Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards.
  • Card-network operating rules.
  • FFIEC and OCC guidance.
  • Consumer-protection requirements.
• Ensures appropriate risk assessments, internal controls, policies, procedures, transaction limits, approval authorities, monitoring processes, and escalation protocols are established for payment products and services.
• Provides executive oversight and strategic direction for the prevention and mitigation of payment fraud, including ACH fraud, wire fraud, check fraud, card fraud, account takeover, digital-payment fraud, and emerging fraud typologies.
• Reviews payment-related fraud trends, losses, control performance, operational incidents, customer complaints, and emerging threats and directs appropriate corrective action.
• Supports internal audits, independent reviews, regulatory examinations, and issue-remediation activities related to payment products, services, and operations.
• Ensures identified payment-related issues are appropriately documented, escalated, remediated, tracked, and reported to management and applicable committees.
• Oversees strategic relationships with payment processors, financial-technology companies, core providers, card networks, correspondent institutions, payment gateways, and other payment-related third parties.
• Participates in vendor selection, due diligence, contract negotiation, implementation, performance monitoring, service-level management, risk assessment, and ongoing third-party oversight.
• Ensures payment-related third-party relationships comply with the Bank’s vendor-management, information-security, compliance, and enterprise-risk-management requirements.
• Develops and manages the payments budget, including operating expenses, vendor costs, technology investments, implementation expenses, and revenue projections.
• Prepares business cases and financial analyses for proposed payment products, vendor relationships, technology investments, and strategic initiatives.
• Provides clear and timely reporting to Executive Management, management committees, and the Board of Directors regarding payment performance, strategic initiatives, operational matters, financial results, risk exposure, fraud trends, and significant issues.
• Builds, leads, and develops a high-performing payments team with clear accountability, appropriate expertise, succession planning, and professional-development opportunities.
• Establishes a culture of collaboration, innovation, disciplined execution, customer focus, regulatory compliance, and effective risk management.
• Promotes effective communication and partnership across departments to ensure payment initiatives are appropriately evaluated, prioritized, implemented, and supported.
• Maintains current knowledge of payment-industry developments, technological advancements, regulatory expectations, fraud trends, and evolving customer needs.
• Must comply with applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to, the Bank Secrecy Act, the Patriot Act, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Knowledge & Skills 

Experience 
Minimum of 10+ years of experience Digital Payments and Products, FinTech and Banking.

Education/Certifications/Licenses Bachelor’s Degree in Management Business Management, Finance, Banking or related field. 

Interpersonal Skills 
A significant level of trust and diplomacy is required to be an effective subject matter expert in the position. In-depth dialogues, conversations and explanations with customers, direct and indirect reports and outside vendors of a sensitive and/or highly confidential nature is a normal part of the day-to-day experience. Communications can involve motivating, influencing, educating and/or advising others on matters of significance.

Role Important Behavioral Skills 

• Strong communication skills to develop good working relationships and to promote cooperation and compromise among various departments.
• Display the ability to research and comprehend a high level of knowledge in current and developing regulations.
• Ability to develop and maintain effective working relationship at all levels by proactively participating and contributing to a positive work environment, controlling emotions and temperament, and exhibiting courteous, respectful, and professional behavior.
• Ability to quickly adapt to changing environments, processes, and technologies. Technological ability and willingness to work remotely from home as required.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Ability to maintain composure under pressure or adverse circumstances, using effective strategies for managing personal stress.
• Ability to maintain personal and work direction when faced with ambiguity.

ADA Requirements 

Physical Requirements 

Is able to bend, sit, and stand in order to perform primarily sedentary work with limited physical exertion and occasional lifting of up to 10 lbs. Must be capable of climbing / descending stairs in an emergency situation. Must be able to operate routine office equipment including computer terminals and keyboards, telephones, copiers, facsimiles, and calculators. Must be able to routinely perform work on a computer for an average of 6-8 hours per day, when necessary. Must be able to work extended hours or travel off site whenever required or requested by management. Must be capable of regular, reliable, and timely attendance. 

Working Conditions 

Must be able to routinely perform work indoors in climate-controlled shared work area with minimal noise. 

Mental and/or Emotional Requirements 

Must be able to perform job functions independently or with limited supervision and work effectively either on own or as part of a team. Must be able to read and carry out various written instructions and follow oral instructions. Must be able to complete basic mathematical calculations, spell accurately, and understand computer basics. Must be able to speak clearly and deliver information in a logical and understandable sequence. Must be capable of dealing calmly and professionally with numerous different personalities from diverse cultures at various levels within and outside of the organization and demonstrate highest levels of customer service and discretion when dealing with the public. Must be able to perform responsibilities with composure under the stress of deadlines / requirements for extreme accuracy and quality and/or fast pace.  Must be able to effectively handle multiple, simultaneous, and changing priorities. Must be capable of exercising the highest level of discretion on both internal and external confidential matters. 

EEO Statement 
It is the policy of Vast Bank to afford equal opportunity in all phases of employment without regard to an individual’s race, color, creed, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital status, ancestry, sexual orientation, unfavorable military discharge for qualified individuals with disabilities, and for qualified disabled veterans and veterans of the Vietnam era, to the extent required by applicable local, state and federal law.