Head of Payments Technology

Job description

Overview Manages the activities and strategic direction of multiple departments including indirectly managing several unique types of Engineering and/or Architecture teams. Responsible for the budget of multiple cost centers spanning concurrent development streams. Provides long and short-term strategic direction for the Division with collaboration from Engineering and/or Architecture and Technology senior management team. Serves as primary contact to Divisional peers, Management Group, Bank-wide senior management and business partners. Serves as technology leader and industry expert in assigned domains. Reporting to the Divisional CIO for Wealth, Institutional Services, Core Banking, Operations Technology, and Payments, the Head of Payments Technology & Transformation will lead the strategy, architecture, engineering, and modernization efforts supporting M&T Bank's payments ecosystem. This executive will be responsible for enabling how money moves across the bank, driving transformation across payment rails, platforms, and engineering capabilities while ensuring resiliency, security, and regulatory compliance. This role provides end-to-end technology leadership across Wire, ACH, SWIFT, ISO 20022, RTP, FedNow, Digital Assets, Treasury Services, and emerging payment technologies. The leader will oversee critical modernization initiatives including wire transformation, payments hub implementation, cloud adoption, and AI-enabled engineering practices that accelerate delivery while maintaining operational excellence. Primary Responsibilities Build Technology divisional strategy across departments with peers and Technology senior management leaders. Work with senior management outside Technology to build positive client relationships to support delivery of complex Technology projects and activities. Define and execute the end-to-end payments technology strategy, investment roadmap, target architecture, and build-buy-partner decisions aligned to enterprise goals and client outcomes. Lead the modernization of platforms supporting Wire, ACH, SWIFT, ISO 20022, RTP, FedNow, Digital Assets, and emerging payment capabilities. Partner with Payments, Treasury Management, Operations, Product, and Business leaders to translate strategic priorities into an integrated technology and delivery roadmap. Manage multiple Technology departments and responsible for all financial, compliance, human resources, and risk operations within the organization. Monitor industry trends, payment ecosystem developments, and emerging technologies to ensure the Bank remains competitive and future-ready. Simplify the application portfolio, retire legacy platforms, and advance cloud-enabled, API-driven, platform engineering, and event-driven architectures. Strengthen engineering excellence through adoption of AI-driven engineering practices, DevSecOps, automation, observability, modern testing frameworks, and continuous delivery capabilities. Apply AI, data, and intelligent automation solutions to improve engineering productivity, operational efficiency, risk management, and client experiences. Manage strategic relationships with technology vendors, payment network providers, and professional organizations to remain current on industry trends and best practices. Oversee systems development activities of assigned teams, including assignment of staff to various projects and ensuring timely completion within budget. Ensure payment platforms meet demanding expectations for availability, resiliency, scalability, disaster recovery, cybersecurity, controls, operational risk management, and regulatory compliance. Oversee the implementation of technology consistent with Division standards and long-range plans, seeking opportunities to leverage capabilities across the enterprise. Exercise usual authority of a manager concerning staffing, performance appraisals, promotions, salary recommendations, performance management, succession planning, leadership development, and terminations. Serve as a trusted advisor to senior business and technology leaders regarding payments strategy, transformation priorities, technology investments, risks, and trade-off decisions. Understand and adhere to the Company's risk and regulatory standards, policies, and controls in accordance with the Company's Risk Appetite. Design, implement, maintain, and enhance internal controls to mitigate risk on an ongoing basis. Promote an environment that supports belonging, innovation, collaboration, accountability, and reflects the M&T Bank brand. Maintain M&T internal control standards, including timely implementation of internal and external audit points together with any issues raised by regulators, payment networks, and examiners. Complete other related duties as assigned. Scope of Responsibilities Oversees a large technology organization consisting primarily of engineers, architects, engineering managers, senior managers, and delivery leaders responsible for mission-critical payment platforms and transformation initiatives. Provides strategic oversight of technology investments, architecture decisions, modernization programs, vendor relationships, and engineering execution supporting enterprise payment capabilities. Responsible for balancing innovation and transformation with operational resiliency, regulatory compliance, and risk management expectations. Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities 50 to 100+ Education and Experience Required A combined minimum of 15 years’ higher education and/or work experience, including a minimum of 4 years’ engineering and/or architecture experience and 11 years' large technology management / program leadership experience including people management Proficiency with pertinent project management, word processing and spreadsheet applications Capable of working on multiple projects of a complex nature Experience on large system enhancements, conversions, and production problem resolution Complete understanding of the system development life cycle Excellent problem-solving skills to assist in issue resolution Familiar with application development software and hardware platforms Understands business(es) supported and its’ terminology Excellent verbal and written communication skills Excellent analytical skills Excellent decision-making skills Prior experience encouraging teamwork and serving as a role model when leading and directing others Understands technical, business and operational impacts of a project or problem Confidence leading large organizations consisting of 100+ employees across multiple teams, locations, and time zones Expertise presenting to executive leadership, management committees, and business stakeholders Significant experience leading enterprise technology strategy, engineering organizations, architecture functions, or major transformation programs Deep understanding of payments ecosystems including Wire, ACH, SWIFT, ISO 20022, RTP, FedNow, settlement processing, transaction banking, and treasury services Proven success modernizing mission-critical platforms in highly regulated environments Demonstrated expertise with cloud transformation, APIs, distributed systems, platform engineering, and event-driven architectures Strong understanding of cybersecurity, operational resilience, recovery planning, technology risk, and regulatory requirements Ability to connect technology investments to client outcomes, business growth, operational efficiency, and risk reduction Education and Experience Preferred Master's degree Minimum of 14 years' technology management or large program leadership experience Extensive product, platform, and technology leadership experience within payments, treasury management, transaction banking, or financial services Subject matter expertise in modern payment architecture, processing platforms, and integrated enterprise ecosystems Experience with Azure cloud technologies, DevSecOps, platform engineering, and agile delivery models Hands-on software engineering and/or architecture experience Experience leading large platform modernization initiatives, core system transformations, and complex production environments Understanding of multiple business functions including Payments, Treasury Management, Operations, Risk, and Compliance Proven mentoring and leadership capabilities with a strong track record of developing future technology leaders Strong vendor management and technology partnership experience Excellent understanding of M&T's technology landscape and application framework What Success Looks Like A clear, funded, and executable strategy for modernizing M&T's payments ecosystem Reliable, secure, and resilient payment services supported by strong risk and control management Measurable simplification of the payments technology portfolio and advancement of cloud-enabled and event-driven architectures Accelerated delivery of capabilities that improve client, operational, and business outcomes Strong engineering culture focused on accountability, innovation, quality, and continuous improvement Enhanced leadership depth and organizational readiness to support future growth and transformation Why Join M&T This is a rare opportunity to lead one of the Bank's most strategically important technology portfolios. The Head of Payments Technology & Transformation will influence enterprise strategy, drive modernization across critical payment systems, and shape the future of how M&T delivers secure, resilient, and innovative payment capabilities to clients, businesses, and communities. The role offers broad exposure across product, operations, risk, architecture, engineering, and executive leadership while creating a lasting impact on the Bank's digital transformation journey. #LI-JB3 M&T Bank is committed to fair, competitive, and market-informed pay for our employees. The pay range for this position is $201,200.00 - $335,300.00 Annual (USD). The successful candidate’s particular combination of knowledge, skills, and experience will inform their specific compensation. Location Buffalo, New York, United States of America