Banking Services Department Manager (Director, Enterprise Payment Operations)

M&T Bank•Amherst, NY

7d•Onsite

About The Position

Responsible for the leadership, oversight, and optimization of all bank-wide payment processing functions. This role ensures the safe, efficient, and compliant execution of payment operations across multiple rails, including ACH, wire transfers, real-time payments, Zelle and digital assets. The Director drives operational excellence, risk management, and continuous improvement while supporting strategic payment initiatives and client service delivery.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree and a minimum of 11 years’ relevant work experience or in lieu of degree, a combined minimum of 15 years’ higher education and/or relevant work experience
Minimum of 4 years’ managerial work experience
Strong understanding and practical skills in process improvement
Strong analytical skills
Strong, demonstrated leadership skills
Effective communication skills.
Experience managing multiple tasks for various projects and/or assignments
Understanding and experience managing budget and/or finances of a unit or multiple units

Nice To Haves

Deep knowledge of: ACH, wire, real-time payments, & digital assets, payment lifecycle, settlement, and exception handling and regulatory and compliance requirements related to payments
Experience with operational transformation, process improvement, or automation initiatives
Operational excellence and execution focus
Risk and control discipline
Experience with payments orchestration layer a plus

Responsibilities

Lead end-to-end payment operations across all payment types: ACH (consumer and commercial), Domestic and international wires, Real-time payments (RTP, FedNow), Zelle, Digital assets (stablecoin)
Ensure timely, accurate, and efficient processing aligned with service level agreements (SLAs)
Oversee daily operations of multiple sites, workflow management, and capacity planning
Responsible for all financial planning and performance across multiple cost centers
Identify and implement process improvements, automation, and workflow enhancements
Drive operational efficiency, cost reduction, and scalability initiatives
Establish and monitor performance metrics (KPIs, SLAs, error rates, throughput)
Lead root cause analysis and corrective action efforts for operational issues
Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and industry rules, including: NACHA operating rules, ISO requirements, Wire transfer regulations (Reg E, UCC), BSA/AML, OFAC, and fraud prevention protocols
Maintain strong internal controls, audit readiness, and governance practices
Partner with Risk, Compliance, and Audit to address findings and mitigate risks
Oversee payment fraud detection, escalation, and resolution processes
Ensure high-quality service delivery for internal and external clients
Manage issue resolution, exception handling, and escalations
Partner with Treasury Management, Commercial Banking, and Retail teams to support client needs
Improve client experience through operational excellence and responsiveness
Partner with technology teams to support payment platforms, system enhancements, and upgrades
Ensure operational readiness for new payment products and services
Support implementation of new technologies (automation tools, APIs, workflow systems)
Participate in payment modernization initiatives
Lead, mentor, and develop a team of payment operations professionals
Establish clear goals, performance expectations, and development plans
Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and operational excellence
Manage staffing, training, and talent planning
Oversee third-party service providers and payment processors
Monitor vendor performance against contractual SLAs
Support vendor selection, onboarding, and ongoing relationship management
Ensures quality standards are maintained in accordance with Bank, Division and Department policy and all activities of the department are completed in compliance with defined processes and regulations.
Work with senior management within and outside of Banking Services and has input to the overall strategic planning of the Division.
Identify initiatives that support the bank’s strategic imperatives and specific Banking Services objectives – this includes looking at newer technologies that help grow the business lines supported.
Maintain M&T internal control standards, including timely implementation of internal and external audit points together with any issues raised by external regulators as applicable.