ACH Program Manager (Hybrid in CA)

First American; Santa Ana (CA); On-site; USD 112,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

401(k) plan

Paid time off

Job summary

First American Trust seeks an experienced ACH Program Manager to lead strategy, buildout, governance, and ongoing management of its ACH program, aiming to scale to high-volume operations. You will work across Operations, Treasury, Compliance, IT, and third-party providers to establish a sustainable model with strong controls and automation.

The ideal candidate has 7+ years in ACH/payments, deep knowledge of Nacha rules, and a track record of implementing enterprise changes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years in ACH/electronic payments or related field with leadership experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategy, buildout, governance, and ongoing management of the ACH program.
• Coordinate ACH risk assessments, audits, and regulatory examinations.
• Develop policies, procedures, training materials, and management reporting.
• Provide updates to senior management and governance committees.
• Drive automation and operational readiness with cross-functional teams.

Skills

Leadership

Project execution

Analytical skills

Communication

Risk management

Negotiation

Problem-solving

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in business, finance, accounting, risk management, information systems, operations

Tools

Jack Henry systems

Online banking integrations

ACH processing platforms

Secure file transmission

Reconciliation tools

Reporting solutions

Exception-management workflows

Job description

Who We Are

Join a team that puts its People First! As a member of the First American family of companies, First American Trust is a federal savings bank that has provided banking, wealth management, and trust solutions on a national, full-service basis for more than five decades. Since 1889, First American (NYSE: FAF) has held an unwavering belief in its people. They are passionate about what they do, and we are equally passionate about fostering an environment where all feel welcome, supported, and empowered to be innovative and reach their full potential. Our inclusive, people-first culture has earned our company numerous accolades, including being named to the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list for eleven consecutive years. We have also earned awards as a best place to work for women, diversity and LGBTQ+ employees, and have been included on more than 50 regional best places to work lists. First American will always strive to be a great place to work, for all. For more information, please visit www.careers.firstam.com.

What We Do

First American Trust is seeking an experienced ACH Program Manager to lead the strategy, buildout, governance, and ongoing management of its ACH program. This individual will serve as the accountable program owner and ACH subject‑matter expert, helping the bank safely scale from its current operating model to a high‑volume environment supporting approximately 1.2 million ACH transactions per month.

The ACH Program Manager will work closely with Operations, Treasury Management, Product, Compliance, Finance, Technology, Legal, Audit, and third‑party providers. During the program expansion, the manager will partner with external ACH consultants and internal stakeholders to establish a sustainable operating model, strengthen controls, improve automation, prepare staff, and support successful onboarding of new Originators.

What You’ll Do:

• Establish program-level monitoring and reporting for ACH volume, value, return rates by category, unauthorized activity, exceptions, losses, processing quality, service levels, exposure usage, control performance, incidents, and remediation.
• Identify manual processes and lead automation priorities for returns, NOCs, exception management, customer notifications, file integration, reporting, and operational workflows.
• Partner with Technology and vendors to document business requirements, evaluate system capabilities, coordinate configuration and interfaces, perform user acceptance testing, manage defects, and support production implementation.
• Coordinate ACH risk assessments, annual Rules compliance audits, regulatory examinations, internal audits, vendor reviews, business continuity exercises, and timely remediation of findings.
• Monitor ACH rule changes, regulatory developments, fraud trends, and industry practices; translate changes into policies, procedures, controls, system requirements, communications, and training.
• Lead, coach, and develop ACH personnel through role‑based training, cross‑training, proficiency assessment, continuing education, and professional accreditation plans.
• Manage significant incidents and operational disruptions, including escalation, customer and management of communications, root‑cause analysis, corrective action, and lessons learned.
• Provide clear updates and recommendations to senior management and governance committees, including decisions required, risks, dependencies, resource needs, milestones, and performance trends.
• Build productive relationships across business and control functions and influence outcomes without compromising compliance, risk, or operational control expectations.

What You’ll Bring:

• 7+ or more years of progressively responsible ACH, electronic payments, deposit operations, treasury management, payments risk, or related financial‑services experience, including at least three years in a leadership, program‑management, or supervisory capacity.
• Demonstrated experience owning or materially contributing to an ACH program, major ACH implementation, high‑volume payment operation, or comparable enterprise change initiative.
• Deep working knowledge of the Nacha Operating Rules and ACH participant responsibilities, including ODFI and RDFI operations, ACH file formats, Standard Entry Class Codes, settlement, returns, NOCs, reversals, Same Day ACH, exceptions, and record retention.
• Practical experience with ACH origination risk, Originator and Third‑Party Sender due diligence, exposure management, limits, prefunding, return‑rate monitoring, fraud controls, and periodic reviews.
• Experience developing and maintaining policies, detailed procedures, control documentation, training materials, management reporting, and audit or examination evidence.
• Experience supporting system implementation, process automation, business requirements, testing, change management, vendor coordination, and operational readiness.
• Strong leadership, project execution, analytical, facilitation, negotiation, problem‑solving, and risk‑based decision‑making skills.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex ACH matters to operations staff, technical partners, customers, auditors, regulators, and senior leaders.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, accounting, risk management, information systems, operations, or related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) credential in good standing, or the ability to obtain the credential within 12 months of hire.
• Accredited Payments Risk Professional (APRP) credential.
• Accredited Faster Payments Professional (AFPP), Certified Treasury Professional (CTP), Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM), Project Management Professional (PMP), or comparable credentials relevant to the assigned scope.
• Ten or more years of payments experience in a regulated financial institution, with direct responsibility for ACH operations, origination services, payments risk, or product management.
• Experience scaling an ACH program for significant transaction growth or onboarding high‑volume commercial Originators.
• Experience with Jack Henry systems, online‑banking integrations, ACH processing platforms, secure file transmission, reconciliation tools, reporting solutions, and exception‑management workflows.
• Experience leading cross‑functional work involving Operations, Product, Technology, Risk, Compliance, Fraud, Finance, Information Security, Legal, Audit, and external service providers.
• Experience presenting payment‑risk and operational‑performance information to executive management, risk committees, auditors, examiners, or boards.

Leadership and Success Profile

• Acts as an accountable program owner who combines deep ACH expertise with disciplined execution.
• Balances customer and growth objectives with prudent risk management and strong operational controls.
• Creates clarity from ambiguity, anticipates dependencies, and follows issues through resolution.
• Develops people, reinforces accountability, and reduces key‑person dependency through documentation and cross‑training.
• Remains calm and decisive under cutoff pressure, during incidents, and when priorities compete.

Pay Range: $112,400.00 - $149,800.00 Annually

This hiring range is a reasonable estimate of the base pay range for this position at the time of posting. Pay is based on a number of factors which may include job‑related knowledge, skills, experience, business requirements and geographic location.

** Note that the following statements only apply to candidates who will be working from an unincorporated area within Los Angeles County. **

First American will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with arrest or conviction records, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws (e.g., the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act).

First American intends to conduct a review of an applicant’s criminal history in connection with a conditional offer. First American reasonably believes that a criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following material job duties for this position potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment: handling of confidential, proprietary or trade secret information belonging to First American or its customers, administrating or facilitating financial transactions, and the ability to meet customer‑imposed criminal history requirements.

What We Offer

By choice, we don’t simply accept individuality – we embrace it, we support it, and we thrive on it! Our People First culture is inclusive for all employees - not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s the key to our success. We are proud to foster an authentic and inclusive workplace For All. You are free and encouraged to bring your entire, unique self to work. First American is an equal opportunity employer in every sense of the term.

Based on eligibility, First American offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, 401k, PTO/paid sick leave and other great benefits like an employee stock purchase plan.