Lead Associate Principal, OTSI Governance and Operations

OCC • Chicago, IL

1d • $111,200 - $156,600 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Lead Associate Principal, OTSI Governance and Operations is a senior individual contributor responsible for driving process maturity, operational discipline, and portfolio governance across the Office of Technology Strategy and Innovation. This role operates with a high degree of independence and serves as the operational backbone of OTSI. Own capacity planning and SLA management for the team's managed work, maintain a structured portfolio view across innovation initiatives and OTSI-centric workstreams, and facilitate cross-functional forums such as the Enterprise Architecture Working Group (EAWG). The incumbent must be confident, professionally resilient, and able to hold their own with strong personalities across all levels of the organization (knowing when to push back, when to escalate, and when to absorb) while maintaining credibility and productive working relationships.

Requirements

• Self-directed, personally accountable, and professionally resilient; holds their own with strong personalities at all levels and knows when to escalate versus resolve independently.
• Experience designing and maturing processes against established frameworks; working knowledge of COBIT, NIST 800-53, and ITIL with ability to identify control gaps and coordinate remediation.
• Experience managing mixed-type technology portfolios with applied capacity modeling, SLA management, and priority-based triage; skilled at facilitating cross-functional governance forums end-to-end.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills with ability to synthesize complex data into clear insights; builds and sustains productive working relationships across organizational levels.
• Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio) — required.
• Confluence and SharePoint for documentation — required.
• Portfolio or project tracking tools (e.g., Jira, ServiceNow, Azure DevOps) — required.

Nice To Haves

• Data visualization and reporting tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI) — preferred.
• Process modeling and diagramming tools (e.g., Draw.io, Visio) — preferred.
• Familiarity with governance and policy management platforms (PolicyTech, Archer) — preferred.
• Experience with workflow automation and process tooling — preferred.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and work experience.
• 5–8 years of progressive experience in Information Technology, with meaningful exposure to IT governance, process improvement, portfolio management, or technology strategy.
• Experience in Financial Services, particularly clearing, exchange operations, or risk management environments.
• Agile/Scrum practitioner experience.
• PMP, ITIL v4 Foundation, Lean Six Sigma (Green Belt or higher), CGEIT, or Agile/SAFe certifications.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end process improvement initiatives across OTSI, applying structured frameworks (e.g., CMMI, ITIL, Lean) to assess current-state maturity and define target-state roadmaps.
• Identify gaps in existing workflows, controls, and processes; design and implement remediation plans with measurable outcomes and defined owners.
• Develop, publish, and continuously refine OTSI policies, procedures, standards, and technology governance protocols in coordination with ITBM, Legal, Security, and Compliance stakeholders.
• Establish and maintain feedback loops to ensure process improvements are sustained post-implementation and that lessons learned are systematically captured.
• Identify and document process control gaps; ensure OTSI processes are evidence-backed and aligned to applicable IT governance frameworks (COBIT, NIST 800-53); coordinate with internal teams to engage remediation support and track findings to closure.
• Own end-to-end facilitation of the Enterprise Architecture Working Group (EAWG) and similar governance forums, including agenda development, pre-read coordination, minutes, action item tracking, and follow-through.
• Serve as a knowledgeable, neutral facilitator for cross-functional working sessions, driving decisions to closure while managing competing priorities and stakeholder perspectives.
• Facilitate cross-functional working sessions with confidence; engage stakeholders at all levels to surface impediments, communicate OTSI's position, and drive decisions to closure.
• Exercise sound judgment on when to escalate versus when to resolve independently.
• Own and maintain a comprehensive, current-state portfolio spanning all OTSI managed work: innovation initiatives, OTSI-centric operational workstreams, recurring service commitments, and ad hoc requests.
• Define and monitor SLAs across OTSI managed work; model team throughput and capacity constraints, apply priority-based triage to incoming requests, and ensure commitments are realistic and defensible.
• Coordinate with initiative owners, sponsors, and delivery teams to maintain portfolio data integrity; surface risks, dependencies, and milestone variances early and with recommended actions.
• Own OTSI KPIs, OKRs, and governance metrics end-to-end (definition, collection, analysis, and reporting) and develop portfolio health dashboards that give OTSI leadership a clear, real-time picture of team performance and workload.
• Monitor adherence to processes and SLA commitments; escalate deviations with recommended corrective actions and track resolution to closure.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• A hybrid work environment, up to 2 days per week of remote work
• Tuition Reimbursement to support your continued education
• Student Loan Repayment Assistance
• Technology Stipend allowing you to use the device of your choice to connect to our network while working remotely
• Generous PTO and Parental leave
• 401k Employer Match
• Competitive health benefits including medical, dental and vision

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Education Level: Associate degree