EVP – Customer Operations — Retail Bank

The mandate

The board has concluded that incremental adjustment will not resolve customer operations fragmented across channels and markets within a institutionally backed regulated universal or specialist bank. The immediate arena is the retail bank during a deposit-growth challenge. For mandate 081, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The EVP – Customer Operations operating perimeter covers approximately US$85,700 million in loan and deposit book, with activity spanning several retail bank customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The EVP – Customer Operations Banking remit carries direct influence over roughly 800 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The board and its investment committee want a EVP – Customer Operations who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the retail bank. The EVP – Customer Operations Banking seat must resolve a deposit-growth challenge, while preserving the underlying strengths of the retail bank. For mandate 081, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The EVP – Customer Operations’s first year on the retail bank is expected to end with service consistency, lower failure demand and improved retention. In mandate 081, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a newly created EVP – Customer Operations — Retail Bank seat, established because a deposit-growth challenge now requires one accountable executive rather than distributed ownership. The board has classified the appointment as urgent and intends to move from qualified shortlist to offer within 6–8 weeks. Interim governance protects the retail bank, but it is not a substitute for a permanent appointee. The external search remains confidential to avoid unnecessary disruption before the appointment is agreed.

What you will own

• Set the EVP – Customer Operations value-creation thesis for the retail bank, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately US$85,700 million in loan and deposit book, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the EVP – Customer Operations Banking organisation of about 800 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the retail bank economics and execution constraints created by a deposit-growth challenge, with EVP – Customer Operations-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one EVP – Customer Operations operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the retail bank; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Demonstrate enterprise authority across functions and markets, with outcomes visible in cash, customers or controlled risk in mandate 081.
• Build the EVP – Customer Operations’s three-year succession and capability plan for the retail bank, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Banking organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the retail bank baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to customer operations fragmented across channels and markets, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal EVP – Customer Operations portfolio and organisation choices for the retail bank, install the new operating cadence, fill critical leadership gaps and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity or customer value.
• Months 10–12: Demonstrate a repeatable retail bank trend against service consistency, lower failure demand and improved retention, lock the following year’s capital and talent plan, evidence control sustainability and present a credible three-year value case with downside actions.

What the board will measure

• Delivery of the EVP – Customer Operations’s agreed first-year retail bank value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A EVP – Customer Operations forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the retail bank’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the EVP – Customer Operations mandate’s highest-priority retail bank risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical retail bank talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the EVP – Customer Operations’s direct reports.
• A quantified EVP – Customer Operations-owned improvement in the retail bank operating constraint behind a deposit-growth challenge, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 081: no unresolved high-severity escalation older than 30 days and no material surprise withheld from its agreed governance forum.

The person

You are currently a EVP Customer Operations, Service COO or Customer Experience Head in a institutionally backed Banking or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the retail bank, your EVP – Customer Operations track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from financial services, payments, lending, insurance or regulated fintech will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this EVP – Customer Operations brief.

As a EVP – Customer Operations candidate, you bring 22–28 years of progressive Banking or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 22-28 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of US$49,700 million and led an organisation of at least 800 people.

For mandate 081, the board wants two transitions: a difficult retail bank portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a deposit-growth challenge. As the prospective EVP – Customer Operations for this retail bank, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 081 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The EVP – Customer Operations must be based in New York; international relocation is supported, but this Banking role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of EVP Customer Operations, Service COO or Customer Experience Head, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Banking governance forum.
• Proven EVP – Customer Operations ownership of at least US$49,700 million and leadership of no fewer than 800 employees in a comparable retail bank context.
• One completed Banking or adjacent-sector example of customer operations fragmented across channels and markets with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from financial services, payments, lending, insurance or regulated fintech; experience that is purely functional and lacks EVP – Customer Operations-level retail bank consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the New York location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 081.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated EVP – Customer Operations package is US$320,000–420,000 base + annual incentive, calibrated to the final retail bank scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 081 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The EVP – Customer Operations appointment in New York, centred on the retail bank, offers regular exposure to the board and its investment committee. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 081.

Confidentiality

The organisation will be identified only after reciprocal interest and a confidentiality undertaking for mandate 081. The market, scale and situation in this brief are intentionally composite and are not a coded description of a named enterprise for mandate 081.