Sr Director, Horizontal Product Operations

Job Description:

The Horizontal Product Management Operations Leader will define, institutionalize, and scale a unified Product Management methodology across CSI’s vertical product lines, including Core Banking, Payments, Financial Crimes, and Open Banking. This role drives cross-product alignment, governance, KPI standardization, sales integration, audit readiness, internal workflow automation, and AI-driven acceleration to build a scalable, bank-grade product organization.

This role operates horizontally across all product domains to ensure consistency, speed, regulatory alignment, commercial impact, and intelligent automation.

What You’ll Do

Enterprise Product Management Methodology & Governance

• Design and implement a standardized Product Management framework across the lifecycle (discovery → prioritization → delivery → lifecycle management).

• Establish enterprise-wide product governance, including intake, stage gates, business case validation, roadmap alignment, and change management controls.

• Embed product lifecycle standards across Core Banking, Payments, Financial Crimes, and Open Banking.

• Define clear ownership models and decision rights across Product, Engineering, Operations, and Compliance.

• Institutionalize backlog hygiene, roadmap transparency, and quarterly prioritization cadences.

• Standardize product documentation artifacts (PRDs, BRDs, API specifications, risk assessments, etc.).

Horizontal Alignment Across Product Lines

• Ensure consistent adoption of the product methodology across:

  • Core Banking

  • Payments (ACH, Wires, Cards, RTP)

  • Financial Crimes (KYC, AML, Fraud)

  • Open Banking / API Platforms

• Drive cross-product dependency management and integration strategies.

• Reduce silos by establishing shared product forums, councils, and governance rituals.

• Align platform strategy with digital channel needs (web, mobile, partner integrations).

KPI Framework & Product Performance Management

• Define and implement standardized KPIs across product lines (revenue contribution, adoption, NPS, operational efficiency, risk/compliance, SLAs).

• Build executive-ready product dashboards for enterprise reporting.

• Introduce OKR-based performance management across product teams.

• Establish ROI tracking for product investments and automation initiatives.

Digital Product & Sales Integration

• Partner with Digital teams to ensure seamless customer journeys across channels.

• Create structured intake processes for Sales and Relationship Managers.

• Build feedback loops across Sales, Customer Success, and Product.

• Support go-to-market strategies (pricing, packaging, value messaging).

• Align roadmap prioritization with enterprise deals and commercial opportunities.

• Drive cross-functional product bundling strategies across verticals.

Audit, Risk & Regulatory Engagement

• Serve as the Product organization’s primary liaison with Internal Audit, Compliance, Risk, and Regulators.

• Ensure product development adheres to bank-grade SDLC, change management, and documentation standards.

• Implement controls for model governance, AML alignment, and API risk controls.

• Lead remediation efforts and continuous improvement initiatives stemming from audits.

• Maintain traceability from regulatory requirement → product design → implementation → monitoring.

Internal Workflow Automation & Operational Excellence

• Partner with Product Line leaders to identify and prioritize automation opportunities across the product lifecycle and operations.

• Work with Operations and Technology to reduce manual processes in onboarding, payments, and compliance workflows.

• Implement tooling for intake, prioritization, release tracking, change management, and KPI reporting.

• Promote API-first and automation-first product architecture and delivery practices.

AI-Driven Product Management & Scalable Innovation

• Embed AI-native capabilities into the Product Management lifecycle to accelerate discovery, prioritization, delivery, and monitoring.

• Leverage AI for intelligent backlog prioritization using revenue impact, risk exposure, customer signals, and operational performance data.

• Enable predictive KPI monitoring via anomaly detection across revenue, adoption, SLAs, and fraud metrics.

• Establish RAG-enabled product knowledge systems to centralize regulatory requirements, artifacts, and institutional memory.

• Help transition the organization from process-driven execution to model-driven product intelligence.

What Success Looks Like

• A unified product methodology is adopted consistently across all product lines.

• Clear governance, decision rights, and prioritization cadences that reduce friction and improve speed-to-market.

• Standardized KPIs and dashboards that enable executive visibility and measurable outcomes.

• Stronger Sales/Product integration and a more predictable intake-to-delivery pipeline.

• Improved audit readiness, documentation quality, and regulatory traceability.

• Increased automation and AI-driven acceleration across product operations and lifecycle workflows.

What You Bring (Qualifications)

• Proven experience leading Product Management operating models and governance across multiple product domains.

• Demonstrated success driving alignment across cross-functional stakeholders (Product, Engineering, Ops, Compliance, Risk, Sales).

• Strong understanding of regulated / bank-grade product development practices, audit readiness, and change management.

• Experience establishing and scaling KPI/OKR frameworks, executive dashboards, and performance reporting.

• Track record of leading operational excellence, tooling, and workflow automation initiatives.

• Comfort operating as an enterprise leader influencing without direct authority.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience across one or more domains: Core Banking, Payments, Financial Crimes (KYC/AML/Fraud), Open Banking/APIs.

• Experience implementing API-first and platform governance approaches.

• Familiarity with applying AI to product lifecycle workflows (prioritization, knowledge systems, monitoring/analytics).

• Experience with enterprise PM tooling (e.g., Aha! Jira/Confluence, Productboard, ServiceNow intake workflows, BI dashboards).

Work Style

This role is highly cross-functional and requires strong executive communication, stakeholder management, and comfort operating in ambiguity while building scalable structure.

As a forward-thinking software provider, Computer Services, Inc. (CSI) helps community and regional financial institutions solve their customers’ needs through open and flexible technologies. In addition to its award-winning core banking platform, these include the latest in lending, digital banking, payments, financial crime prevention and cybersecurity. Building on its 60-year track record of personalized service, CSI is shaping the future of banking and empowering its customers to rival their competition. For more information about CSI, visit www.csiweb.com 

CSI provides rewarding and challenging career opportunities for our employees. When determining your pay, we consider various factors such as your skills, qualifications, experience and location. Along with a competitive salary, this position includes eligibility for incentive awards based on both individual and business performance. We also offer a comprehensive range of benefits. To learn more about our benefits, visit: Benefits Summary

CSI is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, physical and mental disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. If you need an accommodation during the recruitment process, please email us at recruiter@csiweb.com and we will work with you to meet your accessibility needs.

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Visa Sponsorship: We are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for sponsorship now or in the future.