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Washington Trust Bank · 1 day ago

Director of Payments Risk & Security Technology

Spokane, Washington, United States

Full-time

Onsite

Senior Level, Lead/Staff

$126K/yr - $189K/yr

10+ years exp

Washington Trust Bank is an independent regional bank that has been serving clients for over 120 years. The Director of Payments Risk & Security Technology leads the bank’s strategy for enterprise defense and customer payments intelligence, ensuring alignment with real risks and modernizing payment systems.

FinanceFinancial Services

Comp. & Benefits

H1B Sponsor Likely

Responsibilities

Lead cross-functional threat and vulnerability analysis that spans InfoSec, Infrastructure, Payments, and Operational Risk

Build and maintain the enterprise defense roadmap anchored to measurable risk reduction and customer protection

Identify controls that are outdated, duplicative, or overbuilt; redirect investment toward modern, high-impact defenses

Evaluate emerging risks tied to social engineering, identity compromise, advanced payment manipulation, and customer behavior patterns

Own the strategy for payment-risk analytics across ACH, wires, Card, Faster Payments, and digital channels

Partner with Fraud, Digital Banking, and Core vendors (e.g., Jack Henry, Bottomline) to enhance behavioral analytics and anomaly detection

Drive insight generation using event-based data, patterns, machine learning opportunities, and external threat intel

Serve as the technology-informed advisor for new payments capabilities, ensuring cyber and operational risk alignment from day one

Create and facilitate the bank’s integrated Security and Payments Defense governance framework

Translate complex risks into business-aligned prioritization for executives, operational leaders, and technology teams

Ensure control owners across security, infrastructure, and payments are aligned on timelines, dependencies, and value of each initiative

Develop dashboards that communicate maturity shifts, risk thresholds, and future posture needs

Partner with Infrastructure and Enterprise Architecture to influence control design, telemetry, and automation

Evaluate vendor solutions (SIEM, SOAR, analytics platforms, payment monitoring tools) and ensure integration with modern stack

Identify opportunities to leverage cloud-native security, event streaming, and advanced behavioral modeling

Drive operational efficiency by reducing complexity and eliminating unnecessary manual processes

Extend the bank’s internal risk and control maturity to customer-facing solutions by advising Digital and Payments teams on protection features

Lead the strategy and thought leadership for next-generation customer safeguards, including risk-based authentication, behavioral biometrics, safe-push payment flows, and payment interlocks

Drive a cultural shift from reactive client guidance to proactively designing safeguards that anticipate real human behavior

Serve as an advisor to the CIO, Director of Info Security, Director of Infrastructure, Director of Operational Risk and Chief Client Experience Officer

Communicate technical risks and analytical findings clearly to Executive Leadership, Audit, and Regulatory partners

Provide situational leadership across functions without direct ownership of budgets or staff

Mentor teams in advanced analytics, threat awareness, and modern payments risk concepts

Partner with Enterprise Learning and Development to enrich appropriate education plans

Participates in special projects or duties as assigned

Performs compliance and risk management duties as required or assigned

Regular, reliable attendance is required

Qualification

Payments technologySecurity engineeringThreat analysisEnterprise architectureCloud platformsEvent streamingAPI-based architecturesSecurity toolingPayments systemsNIST CSFFFIEC guidanceFraud patternsBehavioral analyticsRelationship managementAnalytical instinctsDetail orientationCommunication skillsInterpersonal skillsSelf-motivation

Required

10+ years in security engineering, threat analysis, payments technology, or enterprise architecture

Experience in a mid-sized or regional bank environment

Robust communication and relationship management skills

Strong hands-on technology background: cloud platforms, event streaming, modern auth, API-based architectures, security tooling, and payments systems

Deep understanding of ACH/wire/Faster Payment rails, digital banking platforms, and the fraud patterns unique to each

Proven ability to lead through influence across security, infrastructure, risk, and payments teams

Strong understanding of NIST CSF, FFIEC guidance, payments modernization, and real-time payments risk

Familiarity with Jack Henry, Bottomline, and other typical community/regional bank platforms

Understanding or familiarity of advanced fraud and security platforms and services

Strong analytical instincts capable of connecting customer behavior, technology patterns, and controls

Experience evaluating security and payments vendors, with strong discernment between effective solutions and shelfware

Strong detail orientation with high level of organizational skills and ability to multi-task, managing interruptions with multiple projects

Demonstrated self-motivation and initiative; ability to work well both independently and with others

Ability to prioritize assignments and handle multiple priorities while maintaining a high level of service to clients in a deadline driven environment under the direction of management

Excellent interpersonal skills; ability to collaborate with and work effectively with diverse groups of people, managing conflict and negotiating for results when needed

Strong verbal and written communication skills, including ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with technical and non-technical people

Ability to work additional hours as required by operational and production workloads

Preferred

Payments or cyber certifications (CAMS, CISM, CISSP, ETA certifications) preferred

Preferred experience working in the financial services industry

Benefits

Health

Financial

Retirement

Work/Life Benefits

Company

Washington Trust Bank

Washington Trust Bank is an banking, money, advice, financial, wealth, and investment provider.

Founded in 1902

Spokane, Washington, USA

1001-5000 employees

http://www.watrust.com

H1B Sponsorship

Washington Trust Bank has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)

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2020 (1)