SVP, Head of Blockchain Technology

The Clearing House•Charlotte, NC

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Clearing House (TCH) is seeking a Senior Vice President, Head of Blockchain Technology to lead TCH's strategy, governance, and executive oversight for the soon to be selected vendor managed service contract and the tokenized deposit program. This role sets direction for the operating model, chairs senior stakeholder governance, and ensures the program meets business, security, compliance, delivery, and service-level expectations. TCH is a banking association and payments company owned by the largest commercial banks in the United States. TCH owns and operates the core payments system infrastructure in the US and is currently working to modernize that infrastructure by launching a new, ubiquitous, real-time payment system. TCH is the only private-sector ACH and wire operator in the US, clearing and settling nearly $2 trillion in US dollar payments each day, representing half of all commercial ACH and wire volume. TCH has provided critical services to the banking industry since 1853, and today, our core products facilitate services including Direct Deposit of payroll, bill payments, and check image exchange.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Technology, Business, or related field
15+ years of progressive technology leadership experience, including leadership of blockchain, payments, cloud, or vendor-managed service programs
Proven experience leading enterprise programs in highly regulated financial services environments
Deep knowledge of distributed ledger technology, tokenization, smart contracts, and payment rail integration
Strong understanding of cloud hosting, cybersecurity, privacy, compliance, and governance requirements
Experience governing third-party managed services, service levels, change control, and escalation processes
Demonstrated ability to chair executive steering committees and influence senior stakeholders
Track record of partnering effectively with legal, compliance, risk, operations, procurement, and finance teams
Strong strategic thinking, risk judgment, and decision-making skills
Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
Ability to communicate clearly with highly technical and non-technical audiences
Ability to travel up to 20% (between NYC and NC)

Nice To Haves

Technical project and program management experience
Experience with vendor governance, contract oversight, and managed service delivery
Experience with RTP, CHIPS, tokenized deposits, or other payments modernization initiatives
Experience leading cross-functional operating model design and change management
Familiarity with AWS, cloud operations, DevSecOps, and production support models
Demonstrates commitment to excellence anticipating needs, mitigating risks and minimizing challenges
Strong attention to detail and ability to produce concise executive materials
Experience with agile methodologies and steering committee cadence
Experience working across large infrastructure environments and with financial institution partners
Master's degree preferred

Responsibilities

Develop and execute TCH's blockchain and tokenized deposit strategy, operating model, and vendor governance approach
Own executive oversight of the vendor managed service contract, including steering committee leadership, escalation, and decision rights
Align program scope, milestones, budget, service levels, and commercial assumptions with business objectives
Partner with security, legal, compliance, risk, operations, and architecture to ensure controls and obligations are met
Oversee vendor performance, issue resolution, reporting, remediation, and continuous improvement
Lead change control, approval, and dependency management for scope, design, and service changes
Establish clear governance for support, incident response, service levels, and transition readiness
Provide executive updates, board-ready materials, and concise summaries of risks, dependencies, and decisions
Build and develop a high-performing team and succession plan to support long-term ownership
Serve as the senior TCH business owner for member bank and internal stakeholder engagement
Drive cross-functional alignment on prioritization, resource allocation, and issue resolution
Ensure contractual obligations for security, confidentiality, data handling, audit rights, and regulatory cooperation are operationalized
Oversee vendor onboarding, offboarding, and transition assistance planning
Ensure the program is prepared for step-in, termination, or insourcing scenarios if required
Monitor risks related to vendor concentration, fourth parties, and implementation dependencies
Support commercialization strategy, product positioning, and internal readiness for launch
Champion continuous improvement and lessons learned across the program
Represent TCH in senior vendor meetings and escalation forums
Coordinate with procurement on amendments, renewals, and commercial changes
Coordinate with legal and compliance on notices, approvals, and dispute resolution
Oversee success metrics, KPIs, and service performance tracking
Validate readiness for go-live, steady state, and support handoff
Ensure third-party and subcontractor obligations are understood and managed
Sponsor risk reviews and remediation follow-up
Support talent development and mentoring across the blockchain team
Maintain executive visibility into dependencies on RTP, CHIPS, and adjacent payments programs
Ensure all deliverables are aligned with TCH brand, customer, and confidentiality requirements
Support a long-term build-versus-buy and insource-versus-outsource posture
Use data and metrics to inform decisions and prioritize execution
Lead with accountability, transparency, and disciplined execution
Work closely with internal and external partners to ensure uninterrupted service and vendor accountability
Suggest and implement continuous improvement and automation across governance and reporting
Serve as the senior escalation point for strategic partners and internal stakeholders
Provide executive advice and industry best practices on blockchain, tokenization, and managed services
Perform special projects and initiatives as assigned