Director of Business Systems & Applications

Busey Bank•Leawood, KS

About The Position

The Director of Business Systems and Applications is a strategic, operational and technical leader responsible for the performance, integration, and evolution of Busey’s applications, ensuring alignment with business objectives. This role oversees all core banking systems, digital platforms, and other integrated third-party platforms and applications to ensure seamless integration, operational stability, regulatory compliance, and scalability to support continued growth. The Director will also work closely with senior stakeholders to identify, recommend, develop and implement cost-effective technology solutions.

Requirements

Extensive business application and financial operations process experience
Demonstrated leadership, management and decision-making skills.
A strategic, long-term thinker.
Strong understanding of Bank policies and regulations related to project management, system administration and change management.
Proven track record of effectively working with cross-functional teams to align strategies and implement efficiencies to enhance Busey’s user experience.
Strong understanding of core banking systems and data flows, integrations, payments processing, and vendor management within a complex, multi-platform environment
Proficiently operate in a dynamic, fast-paced and collaborative environment, exhibiting a strong work ethic, organizational agility and a consistently positive attitude.
Demonstrated interpersonal and problem-solving skills, focusing on accountability, time management, prioritization, negotiation, and issue resolution.
Team-oriented with high curiosity and strong organizational & collaboration skills, ability to interface and foster relationships throughout all levels of the business
Proven ability to communicate complex information clearly and concisely that is tailored to the audience.
Expertise in strategically framing problems as opportunities.
Passionate about continuous improvement.
Expertise in analyzing and enhancing current processes to achieve measurable results.
Excellent interpersonal skills, including active listening, empathy and conflict resolution.
Proven ability to communicate effectively with people from all levels and backgrounds, both verbally and in writing.
Expertise in identifying and analyzing industry trends, and recommending best practices and emerging technology solutions to management.
Demonstrated experience in regulated financial institution environment.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, Management Information Systems, Finance, or related area or equivalent experience.
A minimum of 5 years of experience in people or team management with a proven dedication to service-oriented leadership.
A minimum of 10 years of hands-on experience in managing, implementing and enhancing business processes, applications and integrations within the Banking industry.
A minimum of 10 years of experience in project management, including planning, execution and successful delivery of complex projects within the Banking industry.
Demonstrated expertise in enabling high-performing teams, incorporating industry best practices, fostering a learning culture and promoting continuous improvement.
Proven track record of strategically utilizing technology to translate complex business requirements into innovative and effective technology solutions.

Responsibilities

Lead, mentor, and develop the Business Systems and Applications team.
Define and execute a forward-looking application and integration strategy aligned with Busey’ business growth and digital transformation initiatives.
Partner with executive leadership and key business stakeholders to identify, recommend develop, prioritize, and implement cost-effective technology solutions.
Partner with senior leadership to identify technology needs and plan the activities related to the procurement, development and implementation of applications to enhance and optimize technology solutions and processes.
Ensure performance, resiliency, and optimization of core processing and related downstream systems.
Serve as primary relationship owner for key strategic partners including core system, digital banking, and ancillary systems.
Manage service delivery, SLAs, contract negotiations, and issue resolution with key strategic vendors.
Lead vendor selection and onboarding for new business application solutions.
Develop and implement key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of business applications.
Monitor KPIs to track progress and identify areas for improvement.
Ensure applications meet regulatory requirements; partner with Audit, Risk and Compliance teams on audits, exams, vendor risk assessment, and business continuity and disaster recovery planning.
Implement best practices for incident management, change and release management, and system monitoring and alerting.
Communicate effectively with technical and non-technical audiences.
Partner with the EPMO and other technology teams to plan, execute, and complete projects on time and within budget.
Manage projects directly as needed.
Remain current on Fintech trends and changing regulatory standards.
Identify and mitigate risks to applications, data and projects.
Implement a framework to monitor and report on business application utilization and effectiveness.