Senior Director, Crisis Management

Capital One•McLean, VA

About The Position

As the Senior Director, Crisis Management, you will own the operational readiness and response execution for network-wide disruptions across the global payment network. Distinct from corporate facilities or HR-focused crisis roles, this position centers specifically on network availability, transaction integrity, clearing and settlement continuity, and ecosystem stability. You will work in direct partnership with our Enterprise Crisis Program, global command centers, and technology/product organizations to continuously raise the bar for network resilience. Acting as the strategic bridge between internal operations and external ecosystem stakeholders, you will design response playbooks that address the unique operational risks of our network and lead coordinated responses with global participants—including issuers, acquirers, processors, and strategic merchants.

Requirements

Bachelors Degree or military experience
At least 7 years of experience in Risk Management
At least 3 years experience in Operations Management
At least 3 years experience in Project Management
At least 3 years experience in People Management

Nice To Haves

Masters Degree in Business Management, Finance, Accounting, Economics, Mathematics or Project Management
At least 10 years of experience in Risk Management or Governance
Business Process Management certification (internal Capital One certification)
Six Sigma Lean, Green Belt or Black Belt certification, Agile Coach certification, Compliance Certification (CRCM)

Responsibilities

Serve as the strategic lead for major network disruptions, aligning enterprise command centers, regional operational hubs, and executive leadership to restore network services rapidly.
Responsible for coordinating the management of crisis response for GPN.
Activates the GPN Crisis Management Core Team and Extended Team as needed based on established severity thresholds.
Monitors multiple operational channels for crisis response thresholds to ensure timely detection and action.
Responsible for interfacing directly with Tech for High Sev (High Severity) event response when GPN is impacted.
Responsible for coordinating GPN associate communications for customer-facing roles to ensure strict alignment of “customer back” messaging.
Partner seamlessly with the Enterprise Crisis Program and functional command centers (e.g., NOCs, SOCs) to ensure unified escalation pathways, synchronized communications, and cohesive governance.
Design and execute crisis response frameworks built specifically around unique payment network failure modes, including transaction processing outages, clearing/settlement delays, messaging protocol failures, and liquidity disruptions.
Establish playbooks and communication protocols for coordinating directly with external network participants (issuers, acquirers, co-brand partners) during systemic industry events or widespread network issues.
Collaborate with Engineering, Product, and Technology teams to embed resilience into the product development lifecycle and drive structural improvements that raise the operational baseline across all network offerings.
Partner to facilitate complex, network-focused exercises and simulations with command center staff, tech leads, and key global participants to test and validate incident playbooks.
Drive rigorous post-incident reviews following major network events, ensuring actionable remediation items are prioritized on technology and product development roadmaps.