Payment Technology Strategy & Execution
18 hours ago
Pasadena
Since 1973, East West Bank has served as a pathway to success. With over 110 locations across the U.S. and Asia, we are the premier financial bridge between the East and West. Our teams of experienced, multi-cultural professionals help guide businesses and community members on both sides of the Pacific looking to explore new markets and create new opportunities, and our sustained growth and expertise in industries like real estate, entertainment and media, private equity and venture capital, and high-tech help build sustainable businesses and expand our associates’ potential for career advancement. Headquartered in California, East West Bank (Nasdaq: EWBC) is a top-performing commercial bank with a strong foundation, an enterprising spirit and a commitment to absolute integrity. East West Bank gives people the confidence to reach further. East West Bank is seeking a strategic and execution-oriented senior level manager for Payment Technology Strategy and Execution to lead the bank’s next generation payments agenda, with a strong focus on international and cross-border payment capabilities. This executive will define and drive the strategy, modernization, and delivery of payment technologies that support the bank’s global client base, including correspondent banking, commercial payments, treasury services, and embedded payment opportunities. The senior manager will lead initiatives spanning SWIFT, cross-border payment rails, ISO 20022 readiness, real-time and faster payments interoperability, foreign payment orchestration, and emerging digital asset technologies such as stablecoin-based settlement. This leader will serve as a bridge across business, operations, compliance, risk, product, and technology teams to ensure payment innovation is secure, scalable, compliant, and commercially impactful. The ideal candidate combines deep expertise in payment infrastructure and bank technology with proven success executing large-scale transformation initiatives in a highly regulated environment. Key Responsibilities Strategy and Leadership • Define and own the bank’s payment technology strategy and roadmap, with emphasis on cross-border and international payment modernization., • Identify opportunities to strengthen East West Bank’s position in global payments, including improvements in speed, transparency, cost efficiency, resiliency, and client experience., • Advise executive leadership on market trends, competitive dynamics, regulatory developments, and emerging payment technologies., • Build a multi-year strategy for evolving core payment capabilities across legacy and modern rails. Cross-Border Payments and SWIFT • Lead technology strategy and execution for cross-border payment platforms, including SWIFT-based payment messaging and related ecosystem capabilities., • Drive initiatives involving SWIFT connectivity, message transformation, sanctions screening integration, payment tracking, ISO 20022 migration, and operational efficiency., • Partner with product and operations teams to enhance cross-border payment transparency, exception handling, straight-through processing, and client servicing., • Evaluate and implement capabilities that improve correspondent banking efficiency and international transaction lifecycle management. Emerging Payments and Digital Innovation • Assess, prioritize, and operationalize emerging technologies relevant to global payments, including stablecoin-enabled settlement, tokenized money movement, and future digital asset payment models., • Develop strategic frameworks for how East West Bank can responsibly evaluate and leverage digital payment innovations within regulatory, compliance, and risk guardrails., • Partner with legal, compliance, BSA/AML, risk, and information security teams to evaluate emerging payment technologies and third-party providers., • Translate innovation opportunities into executable pilots, production use cases, and scalable enterprise capabilities where appropriate. Execution and Delivery • Lead end-to-end execution of strategic payment technology programs, from concept and business case through design, delivery, launch, and optimization., • Oversee cross-functional program governance, budgets, resource planning, vendor coordination, and executive reporting., • Ensure initiatives are delivered with strong discipline around timelines, controls, quality, resiliency, and measurable business outcomes., • Establish KPIs and success metrics tied to client adoption, operational performance, risk reduction, and revenue growth. Architecture, Platforms, and Partnerships • Partner with enterprise architecture and engineering leaders to modernize payment platforms, APIs, integration layers, and data flows., • Drive decisions on build vs. buy, vendor selection, and platform partnerships in support of the bank’s payments strategy., • Support scalable architecture for interoperability across SWIFT, domestic payment rails, treasury systems, compliance systems, and emerging settlement models., • Foster strong relationships with fintechs, network operators, infrastructure providers, and strategic partners relevant to payment innovation. Risk, Compliance, and Governance • Ensure all payment technology initiatives align with regulatory expectations, internal policies, and enterprise risk management standards., • Embed strong controls across payment processing, fraud prevention, sanctions compliance, AML monitoring, data governance, cyber security, and third-party risk., • Support audit, regulatory, and risk review activities related to payment systems and transformation programs., • Maintain a strong governance framework for new payment products, network changes, and emerging technology adoption. Qualifications Required • Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, computer science, engineering, or related field., • 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in payments, transaction banking, treasury technology, fintech, or financial services technology., • Deep expertise in cross-border payments, including SWIFT infrastructure, payment operations, messaging standards, and international payment workflows., • Proven experience leading large-scale payment transformation or modernization programs in a bank or regulated financial institution., • Strong understanding of payment architecture, APIs, integration models, operational workflows, and risk/control frameworks., • Experience partnering across business, operations, compliance, risk, legal, and technology organizations., • Strong executive presence with the ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive enterprise change. Preferred • Advanced degree such as MBA or relevant graduate degree., • Experience with ISO 20022, correspondent banking modernization, and payment interoperability across multiple rails., • Familiarity with stablecoin, tokenized payments, blockchain-based settlement models, or digital asset infrastructure in a banking or institutional context., • Experience evaluating fintech and infrastructure vendors in the payments ecosystem., • Knowledge of commercial banking, treasury management, foreign exchange, and international client payment needs. Core Competencies • Strategic thinking with strong execution discipline, • Deep payments domain expertise, • Enterprise program leadership, • Innovation balanced with risk awareness, • Cross-functional collaboration, • Regulatory and controls mindset, • Client-centric product and platform thinking, • Strong communication and stakeholder management What Success Looks Like • A clear, executable roadmap for East West Bank’s international payment technology modernization, • Improved cross-border payment speed, transparency, resiliency, and client experience, • Stronger alignment across business strategy, technology delivery, operations, and controls, • Thoughtful evaluation and practical adoption of emerging payment technologies, including stablecoin-related opportunities where appropriate, • Measurable business impact through platform modernization, operational efficiency, and growth in payment capabilities Applicants must have legal authorization to work in the United States. We do not offer visa sponsorship at this time. Compensation The base pay range for this position is USD $200,000.00/Yr. - USD $300,000.00/Yr. Exact offers will be determined based on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and location.