SVP, Head of Blockchain Technology

Position Summary:

The Clearing House 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.

Qualifications Required:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Technology, Business, or related field; master's degree preferred
• 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)

Qualifications desired:

• 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

Essential Functions and 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

Additional responsibilities include:

• 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

Behavioral & Leadership Competencies:

• Possesses deep knowledge of blockchain, payments, and vendor governance while exhibiting executive judgment
• Works independently with sound judgment and escalates appropriately
• Strong cross-functional leadership and executive presence
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a focus on continuous improvement
• Ability to lead complex programs as a senior department representative
• Adhere to the corporate Code of Conduct and exude a lead by example approach
• Physical demands and work environment: Work is generally sedentary in nature. The working environment is generally favorable. Lighting and temperature are adequate, and there are no hazardous or unpleasant conditions caused by noise, dust, etc. Work is generally performed within an office environment, with standard office equipment available.
• Employees in this position will report to the office 3 days per week. Effective October 1, 2025 onsite requirements increase to 3 days per week. Occasional travel may be required. Onsite work requirements may change at any time.

Physical Demands and Work Environment:

The working environment is generally favorable. Lighting and temperature are adequate, and there are no hazardous or unpleasant conditions caused by noise, dust, etc. Work is generally performed within an office environment, with standard office equipment available. Travel may be required. Candidates will report to the office three days each week. Onsite work requirements may change at any time. 

About The Clearing House:

The Clearing House (TCH) is a banking association and payments company that is 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.