IT Director - Digital Assets Delivery

Western Alliance Bancorporation • Phoenix, AZ

34d

About The Position

We're seeking a technology leader to build and scale Western Alliance Bank's Digital Assets Technology team - a new platform driving the bank's vision to deliver Digital Wallets, Stablecoin, and Crypto-as-a-Service for institutional and retail clients. As an IT Director you'll lead the delivery of technology solutions leveraging partnerships with other technology teams (e.g. Architecture, Infrastructure, Engineering, and Support), business teams and leaders, strategic partners, and third-party technology providers. Additionally, you'll collaborate with internal business partners to proactively address ongoing customer needs and ensure rapid resolution to open issues. In this role you'll foster a collaborative environment with focus on continuous improvement and delivery of working software. As an IT Director I you'll drive the strategic planning for the delivery of products and services as well as evaluate Technology and set standards. Working in this role, you'll be accountable to recommend improvements to established business processes as well as to continue to deliver high value in execution. You also be accountable for creating comprehensive project plans as well as to remove any impediments and track overall project performance, specifically to analyze the successful completion of business short-term and long-term goals. Manage large matrixed teams across multiple domains working on complex problems and solutions. Develop user manuals, as well as policies, procedures, and safety protocols for presentation to larger IT and the enterprise. Participate in building the IT organization's strategy for employee development, retention, resource allocation, talent management, performance management, and achieve a diverse and engaged workforce as well as recruit, train, and evaluate staff member's work. Participate in the annual budget planning and management process as well as business cases reviews, execution plans, and operating plans for their teams. Ensure adequate risk management and cyber security processes and controls are established and maintained in alignment with the risk appetite for the Bank as well as any applicable regulatory and enterprise risk management expectations. Build and scale the Digital Assets engineering organization, defining structure, operating model, and technical direction for wallets, tokenization, and custody platforms. Lead Agile delivery teams developing customer-facing portals and API-first platforms enabling asset issuance, transfer, and reconciliation. Own the technology roadmap, balancing innovation with enterprise standards for safety, security, and compliance. Champion engineering, people, and process excellence, embedding strong SDLC governance, DevSecOps, and Continuous Delivery practices. Design and integrate Crypto-as-a-Service capabilities and Stablecoin settlement models with core banking and payments systems. Partner with Product, Operations, Sales, Risk, and Compliance to align digital-asset priorities with business objectives. Improve engineering productivity and automation through modern development tools and Generative AI applications. Manage vendor relationships, ensuring strategic alignment.

Requirements

• 10+ years of related experience or similar field.
• Bachelor's degree in related field required.
• Previous leadership experience required.
• Intermediate to advanced knowledge of general Financial Services or Banking is preferred.
• Intermediate to advanced knowledge of applicable regulatory and legal compliance obligations, rules and regulations, industry standards and practices.
• Strong experience in API design, microservices, and customer-facing UI development (React, Angular, or equivalent).
• Understanding of digital wallets, stablecoin architectures, custody models, and crypto compliance frameworks (KYC/AML, chain monitoring, reconciliation).
• Proven ability to build new teams, attract talent, and foster a culture of innovation and accountability.
• Experience implementing Agile and DevOps practices with strong SDLC controls and traceability.
• Strong collaboration skills with Product, Operations, and Risk functions to translate innovation into regulated environments.
• Familiarity with Generative AI tools for engineering efficiency and automation of business operations.
• Excellent executive communication, stakeholder influence, and leadership presence.
• May require up to 25% travel

Responsibilities

• Manage large matrixed teams across multiple domains working on complex problems and solutions.
• Develop user manuals, as well as policies, procedures, and safety protocols for presentation to larger IT and the enterprise.
• Participate in building the IT organization's strategy for employee development, retention, resource allocation, talent management, performance management, and achieve a diverse and engaged workforce as well as recruit, train, and evaluate staff member's work.
• Participate in the annual budget planning and management process as well as business cases reviews, execution plans, and operating plans for their teams.
• Ensure adequate risk management and cyber security processes and controls are established and maintained in alignment with the risk appetite for the Bank as well as any applicable regulatory and enterprise risk management expectations.
• Build and scale the Digital Assets engineering organization, defining structure, operating model, and technical direction for wallets, tokenization, and custody platforms.
• Lead Agile delivery teams developing customer-facing portals and API-first platforms enabling asset issuance, transfer, and reconciliation.
• Own the technology roadmap, balancing innovation with enterprise standards for safety, security, and compliance.
• Champion engineering, people, and process excellence, embedding strong SDLC governance, DevSecOps, and Continuous Delivery practices.
• Design and integrate Crypto-as-a-Service capabilities and Stablecoin settlement models with core banking and payments systems.
• Partner with Product, Operations, Sales, Risk, and Compliance to align digital-asset priorities with business objectives.
• Improve engineering productivity and automation through modern development tools and Generative AI applications.
• Manage vendor relationships, ensuring strategic alignment.

Benefits

• We offer all the important things you'd want - like competitive salaries, an ownership stake in the company, medical and dental insurance, time off, a great 401k matching program, tuition assistance program, an employee volunteer program, and a wellness program.
• In addition, you'll have the opportunity to bolster your business knowledge, learning the ins and outs of how successful companies operate and manage their finances, giving you invaluable hands-on experience to help grow your career!

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Industry: Credit Intermediation and Related Activities