Director Strategy

Position Summary: The Strategy & Innovation teams at The Clearing House are responsible for setting enterprise business strategy, evaluating strategic partnerships and alliances, analyzing M&A transactions, and incubating new ideas into commercially viable products. These teams drive alignment across the company and with external stakeholders, including financial institutions, by communicating how strategic recommendations fit within the dynamic and competitive payments landscape. The Director will help define, manage, and deliver enterprise strategy & innovation work for our executive leadership team and key external stakeholders.  The Director position will be based in Charlotte, NC and report to the Head of Enterprise Strategy. 

Essential Functions and Responsibilities: 

• Frame and integrate payments and related strategic questions; propose structured approaches to solve them 
• Manage analytically oriented, payments-related strategy projects 
• Lead required research, leveraging emerging and evolving resources 
• Identify and synthesize insig
• hts, communicate results, and gain stakeholder buy-in 
• Work across two to three distinct major strategy projects, including innovation or partnerships, concurrently 
• Stay current on key payments-related market developments; help communicate implications and galvanize the company as needed 
• Help the strategy team members develop, progress, and stretch in their understanding of payments and other relevant skill sets 

Qualifications Required:  

• Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative or analytical field (e.g., engineering, math, economics, or related field) 
• 8+ years of applicable analytical, strategic, or business leadership experience 
• Experience in strategy, banking, consulting, payments, financial services, or a similar industry context 
• Appropriate depth or breadth of knowledge of at least one area of the payments industry 
• Understanding of Excel-based financial models and business case-related P&L line-item forecasting 
• Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills, including effective use of MS Word and PowerPoint 
• Ability to frame, prioritize, and advance strategic initiatives from ambiguous starting points 
• Ability to manage and lead analytically oriented strategy project teams 
• Ability to work effectively with stakeholders at different levels of seniority, including senior executives 
• High degree of personal ownership and pride in work product 
• History of teamwork, adaptability, and willingness to engage directly in detailed work when needed 
• Alignment with company Values to deliver transparent, reality-based, data-driven recommendations 

Qualifications Desired: 

• 10+ years of applicable analytical, strategic, or business leadership experience 
• Leadership and relationship-building skills showing potential for advancement to the next level within the organization 
• MBA or graduate degree in a quantitative field 
• 3+ years managing analyst or associate teams in a strategy, consulting, banking, or payments context 
• Exposure to partnerships, corporate development, or contracting/negotiations-centric initiatives 
• Experience engaging with public sector or related entities in a competitive, commercial, and/or partnership context 
• Familiarity with payments industry trends, competitive dynamics, product strategy, and financial institution priorities 
• Comfort working in an environment of change, complexity, and ambiguity 
• High degree of curiosity about the financial system infrastructure supporting private sector financial institutions and innovators driving broad economic growth 

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 will be required up to 25%. 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.