VP, Enterprise Resilience

Early Warning® • Chicago, IL

2d • $225,000 - $330,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

At Early Warning, we’ve powered and protected the U.S. financial system for over thirty years with cutting-edge solutions like Zelle®, Paze℠, and so much more. As a trusted name in payments, we partner with thousands of institutions to increase access to financial services and protect transactions for hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses. Positions located in Scottsdale, San Francisco, Chicago, or New York follow a hybrid work model to allow for a more collaborative working environment. Candidates responding to this posting must independently possess the eligibility to work in the United States, for any employer, at the date of hire. This position is ineligible for employment Visa sponsorship. Overall Purpose The Vice President of Enterprise Resilience, will lead the organization’s enterprise-wide resilience strategy and program within the Second Line of Defense (SLOD). Reporting to the Head of Operational Risk Management, this role provides strategic leadership and independent oversight of business continuity management, third-party risk management and operational resilience. The VP ensures that the company’s ability to prepare for, withstand, recover from, and adapt to operational disruption aligns with regulatory expectations, industry standards, risk appetite, and business strategy. This leader partners closely with the Chief Technology Risk Office (CTRO) in the second line of defense and collaborates extensively with leaders across Technology, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure, Supplier Management, Enterprise Risk, Product Management, and the first line of business. The VP establishes enterprise resiliency requirements, oversees and challenges adherence, and ensures technology recovery and continuity capabilities are fully embedded across operations and products. A core responsibility of the role is to ready the enterprise for and manage the integration of continuity, technology resiliency, and third-party programs into a consolidated, forward-looking enterprise resilience framework. The VP engages with the Enterprise Risk Management Committee (ERMC), business and functional risk working groups, and senior executives to provide insights, governance reporting, and recommendations to strengthen the firm's resilience posture.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 15+ years of experience in operational resilience, business continuity, third-party risk, operational risk, or related fields within financial services or other highly regulated industries.
• At least 10 years in a leadership role with direct people management.
• Deep expertise in resilience disciplines (e.g., business continuity, impact tolerances, crisis management, dependency mapping, scenario testing, disaster recovery, and third-party resiliency).
• Strong knowledge of regulatory and industry frameworks relevant to financial institutions (e.g., OCC Heightened Standards, FFIEC Business Continuity Guidelines, Federal Reserve expectations, NIST, ISO 22301, and other globally recognized resilience frameworks).
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to present complex resilience issues to senior executives, product leaders, and governance committees.
• Proven strategic thinker and innovative problem solver with strong analytical skills and attention to detail.
• Demonstrated ability to drive organizational change in a dynamic environment.
• Strong relationship-building skills with the ability to influence across business and technology functions.
• Background and drug screen required.

Nice To Haves

• Professional certifications such as CBCP, CRISC, CTPRP, or equivalent.
• Experience leading resilience programs across multiple business lines, global operations, or complex technology environments.
• Prior experience engaging with regulators (e.g., OCC, FRB, FDIC) or supporting regulatory examinations related to operational resilience or business continuity.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership - Define and drive the enterprise resilience strategy, ensuring alignment with operational risk frameworks, business strategy, and applicable regulatory requirements (including OCC, FFIEC, Federal Reserve, and other industry-recognized resilience standards for financial institutions).
• - Establish enterprise-wide resiliency standards, requirements, and tolerance-setting expectations covering business continuity, crisis management, dependency mapping, scenario testing, technology recovery (in partnership with CTRO), and third-party resiliency.
• - Lead the program transformation to integrate business continuity, operational resilience, technology resiliency, and third-party programs into a cohesive, forward-looking enterprise resilience framework.
• - Serve as the primary partner to the CTRO and Technology leadership to ensure technology resiliency, disaster recovery objectives (RTO/RPO), and resilience engineering principles are embedded across systems, infrastructure, and product portfolios.
• - Provide thought leadership and strategic insights to senior executives, business leaders, Product Management, and governance committees on resilience trends, risks, vulnerabilities, and emerging regulatory expectations.
• - Oversee the third-party risk management program, ensuring that third parties are properly classified, assessed, and monitored based upon their overall risk to the organization, and the services provided.
• - Champion a culture of preparedness, accountability, cross-functional collaboration, and continuous improvement in resilience practices.
• Independent Review & Challenge - Lead teams responsible for independently assessing first line readiness and adherence to enterprise resilience, business continuity, third-party risk, and technology resiliency requirements.
• - Provide robust oversight and challenge of continuity planning, impact tolerance setting, scenario testing, crisis management exercises, third-party resilience controls, and technology recovery capabilities.
• - Ensure escalation protocols and issue management processes identify, surface, and drive remediation of resilience gaps in alignment with enterprise risk appetite.
• - Partner with Operational Risk domain owners (technology, cyber, fraud, data, third-party) to deliver integrated cross-risk assessments of resiliency across critical operations, processes, technologies, and services.
• - Produce high-quality executive-level reporting to the ERMC and other governance bodies to support decision-making and escalation on resilience risks inconsistent with business risk tolerance.
• Advisory & Partnership - Serve as a senior advisor to business leadership, Product Management, and functional executives on operational resilience strategy and implementation approaches.
• - Work closely with Technology, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Engineering, Supplier Management, Legal, Compliance, and Enterprise Risk to ensure consistent application of resilience standards and coordinated planning across the enterprise.
• - Provide actionable feedback and guidance to the first line to strengthen risk ownership, test readiness, and enhance the durability of critical operations and customer-facing products.
• - Partner with Regulatory Relations and other stakeholders to facilitate examinations, responses, and program enhancements related to OCC, FFIEC, and other regulatory and industry expectations.
• Team Leadership - Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of resilience and risk professionals responsible for enterprise-wide resilience, continuity planning, crisis management, and third-party oversight.
• - Foster an inclusive, collaborative, and high-accountability culture focused on analytical rigor, continuous learning, and innovation.
• - Ensure the team is equipped with evolving skillsets required to address emerging resilience challenges in a complex, technology-enabled financial environment.

Benefits

• Healthcare Coverage – Competitive medical (PPO/HDHP), dental, and vision plans as well as company contributions to your Health Savings Account (HSA) or pre-tax savings through flexible spending accounts (FSA) for commuting, health & dependent care expenses.
• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Featuring a 100% Company Safe Harbor Match on your first 6% deferral immediately upon eligibility.
• Paid Time Off – Unlimited Time Off for Exempt (salaried) employees, as well as generous PTO for Non-Exempt (hourly) employees, plus 11 paid company holidays and a paid volunteer day.
• 12 weeks of Paid Parental Leave
• Maven Family Planning – provides support through your Parenting journey including egg freezing, fertility, adoption, surrogacy, pregnancy, postpartum, early pediatrics, and returning to work.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Number of Employees: 251-500 employees