VP, Payment Strategy and Planning - Warrenville, IL


The Vice President, Payment Strategy and Planning is responsible for developing strategies and implementing new products to increase fee based revenues. 

A primary responsibility of this position is to identify credit union needs for the over 2300 credit unions served by Members United and develop new products or services that leverage the strengths of the corporate.  The individual must maintain a high level of awareness of the challenges and opportunities for the retail financial institutions, seeking always to find a way advance growth for the corporate and bring value to our credit union members.

The individual will be responsible for understanding the value proposition that Members United can offer business partners, including but not limited to the national distribution channel, contract management, training assets, success teams, volume aggregation, efficient settlement and advanced technology assets.  The individual will seek partnerships that will lead to a win/win/win result for the corporate, the members and the business partners.

This position also provides corporate-wide leadership for mergers and acquisitions and would serve on Steering Committees that guide negotiation, evaluation and implementation processes.

Key Areas Of Control

Strategy and Planning Group reporting to the CFO.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Provides vision and insight to identify new opportunities for business expansion to meet the future growth and profitability objectives.
• Design new product offerings to be in line with market demand and needs and support and perpetuate the growth of financial services. 
• Utilize market research, target evaluation and strategic fit analysis to identify, analyze, design, create and implement major strategic new products and services.
• Negotiate for new business including contracts, system requirements and delivery channels.
• Participate in merger process in regard to new business opportunities.
• Communicate effectively to team, peers and upper management.
• Present concise business proposals and reviews to senior management.
• Work closely with Regional Success Teams to understand credit union comments related to existing Members United products and those products requested that are not currently offered.
• Maintain awareness of major initiatives in the payments world through participation in national councils or committees or through regular updates from internal staff participating in such councils.
• Participate in national conferences and events focusing on the future of retail financial institutions to ensure high level of awareness of challenges and opportunities for natural person credit unions.
• Maintain executive level oversight of the activities of the Strategy and Planning Group, including status of current research projects, development of organizational metrics, coordination of the budgeting and planning process, and preparation of strategic plans for key operational areas.
• Facilitate meetings of key corporate decision makers during preparation of strategic plans.
• Maintain a working knowledge of the strategies, computer systems and products of Members United.
• Ensure adherence by staff to all Members United policies and all applicable regulatory rules and regulations, as well as, provide interpretations to staff as necessary.
• Ensure the proper education, access to training and continued development of skills for all staff so that they may carry on their duties in a professional manner.
• Complete an annual business plan for area of responsibility.
• Represent Members United at various credit union meetings and other events making presentations or speeches, providing consulting services or corporate updates, as requested.

Supervisor Responsibilities:

• Lead area staff to ensure that all functions are performed in a timely and accurate manner including
~ AVP, Accounting Information Systems
~ Financial Planning Analyst(s)
• Ensure that a succession plan is in place
• Ensure that staff is cross-trained
• Responsible for the coaching, development and monitoring of staff
• Ensure effective communication between staff and other operational areas of Members United
• Support the vision in ensuring that members needs are met through excellent products and services
• Carry out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws including interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and Experience :

Master's degree (M. A.) or equivalent; or four to ten years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.

LANGUAGE & MATHEMATICAL SKILLS
Ability to read, analyze, and interpret common scientific and technical journals, financial reports, and legal documents.  Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from customers, regulatory agencies, or members of the business community.  Ability to write speeches and articles for publication that conform to prescribed style and format.  Ability to effectively present information to top management, public groups, and/or boards of directors.

Ability to apply advanced mathematical concepts such as exponents, logarithms, quadratic equations, and permutations.  Ability to apply mathematical operations to such tasks as frequency distribution, determination of test reliability and validity, analysis of variance, correlation techniques, sampling theory, and factor analysis.

REASONING ABILITY
Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

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