Position is Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm with ability to work additional hours as needed.

Incumbent should reside within the Arvest 4 State Footprint (AR, KS, MO, OK) in order to be considered with a preference in Northwest Arkansas.

Summary:

Job Summary

The Automation Opportunity Advisor serves as the vital bridge connecting business units, software engineering, quality and operations teams to drive workflow automation across foundational business processes. Operating under general guidance, the Advisor translates rules-based business workflows into technical requirements, solution designs, and prioritized Agile backlogs. The Automation Opportunity Advisor leverages evolving automation technologies to align stakeholders, optimize operational efficiency, mitigate risk, and deliver measurable time and cost savings.

Responsibilities
• Facilitate the end-to-end delivery of automation projects. Serve as the cross-functional stakeholders' point of contact, lead concurrent projects, establish project plans, mitigate risks, and coordinate key automation deliverables to ensure project timelines are met.
• Research and document existing rules-based, single-team workflows by reviewing Standard Operating Procedures, observing task execution, and interviewing Subject Matter Experts to establish clear current-state process maps.
• Translate documented current-state rules-based, single-team workflows into technical future-state process designs and business requirements. Collaborate with developers and quality validation partners to create Solution Design Documents.
• Facilitate routine Agile/Scrum cadences (standups, sprint planning, retrospectives) for workflows, dynamically prioritizing and adjusting sprint backlogs to navigate unexpected work, clear blockers, and escalate critical impediments to senior team members to ensure on-time delivery.
• Build and refine the project backlog by translating business requirements into actionable user stories and testable acceptance criteria, continually prioritizing work items to align effort with the highest-impact automation initiatives.
• With guidance from a manager or senior associate, assess and quantify the financial value, time savings, capacity creation, risk reduction and level of effort of proposed single-team automation opportunities using financial ROI modeling.
• Coordinate communication and maintain alignment between operational project teams and the automation development team. Lead routine review sessions, document feedback, and secure stakeholder sign-offs throughout the development lifecycle.
• Evaluate dashboard metrics for enhancement opportunities while triaging live operational issues alongside operations support; document change requests and prioritize resolutions across both streams.
• Develop multi-tiered project documentation and communication tailored to distinct audiences: technical specifications for developers, process-specific details for business partners, and executive-level status updates for senior leaders.
• Maintain and expand foundational knowledge of core automation tools (e.g., Robotic Process Automation [RPA], basic Optical Character Recognition [OCR], and low-code workflow platforms) to identify appropriate solutions for single-stream business processes.
• Understand and comply with bank policies, laws, regulations, and the bank's BSA/AML Program, as applicable to job duties. This includes, but is not limited to, completing compliance training, adhering to internal procedures and controls, reporting any known violations of compliance policies, laws, or regulations, and reporting any suspicious customer and/or account activity.
• Other duties and special projects may be assigned.

Responsibilities:

Experience
• Required: 3 years of relevant experience, preferably within an automation, process improvement or business analyst role.
• Preferred: Experience within the banking or financial services industry.
• Proven ability to manage complex projects and solve problems, with documented success in leading initiatives independently and influencing technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Knowledge of Scrum and Agile methodologies.
• Familiarity with process-mapping principles and translating business workflows into structured technical requirements.
• Demonstrated analytical capability with the ability to learn and apply financial ROI models, FTE hours-saved calculations, and risk-mitigation metrics under guidance.
• Relevant work experience may be substituted for the Bachelor's degree requirement.
• Relevant military experience is considered for veterans and transitioning service members.

Credentials
• Preferred: Lean Six Sigma certification

Education
• Required: Bachelor's degree

Working Conditions
• Incumbents must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties.
• Must be able to start work on time, maintain regular work attendance, be physically present at the assigned work location, and occasionally work overtime or outside of regular business hours.
• This job typically requires an individual to be able to observe details (including the ability to perceive color and the ability to identify clear near and far objects), to communicate and exchange accurate information. It may occasionally require the individual to physically move, remain in a stationary position, and position themselves to reach for objects.
• Must be able to operate standard office equipment and use office applications for communication, information and document transmission, and content, document, and report creation.
• The essential duties of this job occasionally require the associate to lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.
• Ability to travel overnight, unaccompanied, within the United States via automobile and air is required, on occasion.
• The noise level in the work environment is typically low to moderate.

Grade 16

Pay Range: $74370 - $92965 per year