Assistant Vice President, IT

The Assistant Vice President (AVP) of IT is a strategic leadership role responsible for the operational excellence, infrastructure reliability, and security posture of the financial institution's technology environment. This individual bridges the gap between high-level strategy and technical execution, overseeing a diverse portfolio that includes enterprise infrastructure, network security, help desk operations, and member/customer-facing core banking systems.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on leader with deep roots in the financial services industry, possessing mastery over tier-1 core banking environments and a strict commitment to ITSM/ITIL frameworks.

Core Responsibilities

Infrastructure & Operations

• Network & Telecom: Oversee the design, maintenance, and uptime of LAN/WAN, cloud architecture, SD-WAN, and hosted VoIP/telecom systems across all retail branches and corporate offices.

• Help Desk & Service Delivery: Manage the enterprise ticketing system, ensuring high internal user satisfaction and strict adherence to Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

• Business Continuity: Lead comprehensive disaster recovery (DR) planning, testing, and execution to ensure 24/7 availability of banking services.

Information Security & Compliance

• Security Posture: Maintain a robust security environment, overseeing firewalls, endpoint protection, SIEM tools, and identity/access management.

• Regulatory Alignment: Ensure the institution remains fully compliant with federal financial regulations (e.g., GLBA, FFIEC standards) and internal/external audit requirements.

• Incident Response: Manage the rapid response strategy for potential security incidents, system outages, or emerging vulnerabilities.

Core Banking & Business Analysis

• Core Systems Oversight: Serve as the primary technical stakeholder for the institution's primary Core Banking platform, including system scripting, release management, automation scheduling, and third-party API integrations.

• Business Analysis: Lead Business/System Analysts in translating departmental needs into technical requirements, ensuring IT initiatives directly align with broader corporate goals.

• ITIL Best Practices: Implement and enforce ITIL/ITSM frameworks to standardize change management, patch deployment, and incident response.

Leadership & Vendor Management

• Team Development: Actively mentor, coach, and develop technical staff, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.

• Executive Communication: Translate complex IT and cybersecurity concepts into clear, actionable terms for non-technical stakeholders and executives.

• Vendor & Risk Management: Lead contract negotiations and manage relationships with key technology partners and Managed Service Providers (MSPs). Make risk-informed decisions to safeguard the institution's assets.

Job Specifications

Education & Certifications:

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, IT, or Business Administration. A Master's degree (MBA or MS in IT Management) is highly desirable.

• ITSM Framework: ITIL 4 Foundation certification is required . Intermediate or Expert levels are a significant plus.

Technical Expertise:

• Core Banking: Minimum of 5 years of hands-on experience administering a major Core Banking Platform (such as Jack Henry/Symitar or equivalent Tier-1 system), including experience with proprietary platform scripting, imaging systems, and core automated job scheduling.

• Network & Infrastructure: Solid understanding of Fortinet/Cisco environments, Microsoft 365 enterprise administration, Azure/AWS cloud environments, and advanced virtualization technologies (e.g., Nutanix).

• Security Operations: Proven experience with MFA deployment, vulnerability management, and log monitoring tools.

Experience & Leadership:

• Management: At least 5 years of experience directly leading multi-disciplinary technology teams (Help Desk, Systems Administrators, and Business Analysts).

• Financial Services: Deep understanding of the financial regulatory landscape and the unique compliance demands of consumer banking environments.

• Strategic Planning: Proven track record of developing 3-year IT roadmaps and managing CAPEX/OPEX budgets exceeding $1M+.