Chief Information Officer

Tompkins Community Bank•Passau, New York

About The Position

The Chief Information Officer is a senior technology executive responsible for aligning enterprise technology strategy with Tompkins’ mission, business objectives, risk appetite, and regulatory expectations. This role provides strategic leadership for information technology, digital transformation, data governance, core banking platforms, technology operations, and vendor partnerships. The CIO ensures secure, reliable, scalable, and cost-effective technology services that enhance the client experience, strengthen operational efficiency, support prudent innovation, and enable continued growth in a highly regulated financial services environment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, or a related field required; advanced degree preferred.
Minimum of 15 years of progressive technology leadership experience, including senior leadership responsibility.
Significant experience in banking or regulated financial services required; community, regional, or mid-size bank experience preferred.
Strong knowledge of core banking platforms, digital channels, cybersecurity, data governance, and regulatory expectations.
Demonstrated success leading enterprise technology transformations, including core or platform upgrades, digital banking, cloud migrations, and data or analytics initiatives.
Proven ability to lead complex initiatives, manage risk, and deliver results in a highly regulated environment.
Excellent communication skills with the ability to engage executives, regulators, the Board, business partners, and technology teams.
Strong financial acumen and sound business judgment.

Nice To Haves

advanced degree preferred
community, regional, or mid-size bank experience preferred

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a 3–5-year technology strategy and multi-year roadmap aligned with enterprise goals, innovation priorities, risk appetite, and total cost of ownership.
Partner with executive leadership and business line leaders to prioritize technology initiatives and deliver measurable business outcomes.
Present technology plans, risk posture, and performance updates to executive leadership and Board-level committees.
Lead a high-performing IT organization that attracts, develops, and retains talent while promoting accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Own the IT governance framework, including technology policies, standards, procedures, controls, and regulatory alignment.
Partner with the Chief Information Security Officer to support a robust and compliant cybersecurity program.
Ensure compliance with FFIEC guidance, GLBA, privacy requirements, and applicable regulatory expectations.
Oversee third-party technology risk management and coordinate with Audit and Risk Management on examinations, audits, remediation, and resiliency planning.
Lead core banking system strategy, optimization, vendor relationships, and support of mission-critical platforms.
Oversee digital banking platforms, payments, lending systems, internal applications, networks, endpoints, and cloud or hybrid infrastructure environments.
Ensure 24/7 reliability, availability, performance, and scalability across core systems and technology operations.
Establish enterprise architecture standards, manage application portfolio rationalization, and maintain disciplined change, release, and patch management practices.
Modernize customer-facing channels with a focus on usability, security, accessibility, and an improved client experience.
Build and advance a data strategy covering governance, quality, lineage, master data, reporting, and analytics.
Evaluate fintech partnerships and support responsible use of emerging technologies, including AI and automation, when they provide clear business value.
Drive process reengineering across operations to reduce cycle times, errors, and cost.
Own the IT budget and multi-year capital plan, optimizing run versus change spend and tracking benefits realization and ROI for major programs.
Negotiate and manage strategic vendor relationships, contracts, service-level agreements, commercial controls, and vendor risk expectations.
Develop and implement technology policies, procedures, and operational practices that support efficiency, compliance, and sustainable performance.
Build, develop, and retain a high-performing technology team while strengthening communication between IT and business partners.