Senior Director, Client Processing Manager - Payment OperationsWe9re seeking a future team member for the role of
Senior Director, Client Processing Manager - Payment Operations to join our
Payments Enablement Platform Ops team. This role is located in
Pittsburgh, PA.
About the Role- The Senior Director, Payments Operations - will lead end-to-end operational strategy and execution across the region, covering high-velocity, mission-critical payment flows (domestic, cross-border, real-time rails, high-value payments). This leader will drive operational excellence, client experience, and risk control while accelerating data-driven decisioning, AI-enabled operations, and intelligent automation at scale. The ideal candidate is a transformative operator with deep payments domain expertise, strong people leadership, and a strategic mindset, passionate about reengineering, simplification, and continuous improvement.
In this role, you9ll make an impact in the following ways:- Regional Leadership and Strategy
- Own the US payments operations strategy, operating model, and performance outcomes; set direction, define success metrics, and ensure alignment with global standards.
- Lead multi-country operations teams, balancing regional nuances with global consistency and scalability.
- Shape capacity planning, workforce strategy, location strategy, and vendor/partner engagement.
- Operational Excellence and Risk Management
- Ensure daily operational integrity across all payment rails with a focus on timeliness, accuracy, resiliency, and client SLAs.
- Strengthen first-line risk and control discipline: incident prevention, rapid issue resolution, root-cause elimination, change control, and regulatory adherence.
- Drive robust operational readiness for new products, market infrastructures, and regulatory changes.
- Data, AI, and Automation
- Build a data-literate culture; define critical data elements, quality standards, and the operational analytics roadmap.
- Implement AI/ML use cases for exception handling, anomaly detection, forecasting, and intelligent workflow orchestration.
- Scale intelligent automation (RPA, orchestration, decision engines) to reduce manual effort, accelerate cycle times, and improve straight-through processing (STP).
- Reengineering and Transformation
- Lead end-to-end process reengineering: eliminate failure demand, simplify controls, standardize workflows, and modernize tooling.
- Champion continuous improvement (Lean/Agile) and measurable uplift in KPIs: STP, cost-to-serve, defect rate, turnaround time, and NPS.
- Partner with Technology and Product to co-create target-state capabilities, ensuring operational design is embedded early in change.
- Client Experience and Stakeholder Management
- Serve as the senior operational point of contact for strategic clients and market infrastructures in the US; handle escalations with urgency and transparency.
- Collaborate with Sales, Product, Technology, Risk, Compliance, and Finance to deliver client outcomes and business growth.
- Represent operations in US governance forums; communicate performance, risks, and transformation progress.
- People Leadership and Culture
- Build and develop high-performing, diverse teams; set clear goals, coach leaders, and foster accountability.
- Promote a culture of client obsession, curiosity, ownership, and collaboration across locations and time zones.
- Invest in upskilling: data literacy, AI fluency, automation tooling, and agile ways of working.
To be successful in this role, we9re seeking the following:- Bachelor9s degree or the equivalent combination of education and experience is required; advanced/graduate degree preferred.
- 15 plus years of total work experience preferred, with at least 5-7 years in management.
- 12 plus years in payments operations or adjacent domains (transaction banking, clearing, real-time payments, cross-border), with 7 plus; years leading large, multi-site teams.
- Proven track record running complex operations with significant daily volumes, tight SLAs, and high regulatory scrutiny in APAC markets.
- Demonstrated success implementing AI/ML and automation in production operations, with measurable KPI improvements.
- Strong data literacy: ability to define data strategies, interpret analytics, challenge insights, and make decisions grounded in evidence.
- Deep understanding of operational risk, control frameworks, business continuity, and regulatory requirements across Americas jurisdictions.
- Experience in process reengineering (Lean/Six Sigma) and agile delivery; comfortable leading transformation programs end-to-end.
- Exceptional stakeholder management and executive communication skills; adept at influencing across Product, Technology, Risk, and front-office.
- Bachelor9s degree required; advanced degree or professional certifications (e.g., PMP, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, data/AI certifications) are a plus.
Technical and Domain Skills
- Payments domain: real-time payments (e.g., FAST/NPP), high-value/RTGS, ACH, SWIFT cross-border, ISO 20022, correspondent banking operations.
- AI/Automation: familiarity with AI/ML operations use cases, RPA/orchestration platforms, NLP for email/case routing, predictive analytics for capacity/incident prevention.
- Data and Analytics: SQL and/or data visualization literacy; comfort with KPI dashboards, anomaly detection, and operational forecasting.
- Tools and Platforms: exposure to case management/workflow tools, incident/change management platforms, and control monitoring systems.
