Manager, NOC Operations

The Clearing House; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

The Clearing House in the United States operates a 24x7 NOC to ensure secure, timely processing of critical financial transactions. This role provides strategic leadership, oversees incident management, and drives continuous improvement in a fast-paced production environment.

Ideal candidates have 5–10 years in operations leadership, strong technical skills, and a track record of building high-performing teams while leveraging AI tools to enhance service reliability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience in a technical field.
• 5-10 years in a 24x7 production operations environment.
• 5 years of leadership experience managing technical operations teams.
• Experience administering Linux, UNIX, AIX, IBM Pure Technology, Windows Distributed Systems.
• Experience supporting high-availability production applications in regulated industries.
• Strong networking knowledge and incident/change/problem management expertise.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to prioritize multiple tasks in a fast-paced setting.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operations for a 24x7 production environment.
• Ensure production processing, settlements, and cutoffs meet SLAs.
• Lead during incidents with timely communications, escalation, and post-incident reviews.
• Promote stability via proactive monitoring and continuous improvement.
• Coach, mentor, and develop a high-performing operations team.
• Foster accountability, collaboration, quality, and learning.
• Conduct performance evaluations and development plans.
• Ensure staff are cross-trained for business continuity.
• Oversee documentation, procedures, and knowledge repositories.
• Drive AI/automation opportunities to improve efficiency and resilience.
• Develop operational reports and dashboards for leadership decisions.
• Maintain compliance with controls, audits, and regulatory standards.
• Partner with technology, vendors, and business units.

Skills

Strategic leadership

24x7 operations

Incident management

Linux/UNIX admin

AIX administration

Windows distributed systems

Networking knowledge

Data analysis

Excellent communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/IT or related field

Tools

Unisys systems

ServiceNow ITOM

Microsoft Copilot

ChatGPT

ITIL framework

Lean Six Sigma

Job description

Position Summary: The NOC Operations Manager provides strategic leadership and day-to-day oversight of a 24x7 Operations team responsible for ensuring the secure, timely, and accurate processing of critical financial transactions. This leader is accountable for operational excellence, service quality, team development, incident management, and continuous process improvement. The successful candidate is a hands-on leader who thrives in a fast-paced production environment, effectively develops people, leverages technology and AI to improve operational efficiency, and uses data-driven decision making to enhance service reliability and customer satisfaction.

Key Responsibilities

• Operational Leadership Lead and oversee day-to-day operations for a 24x7 production environment.
• Ensure all production processing, settlements, and operational cutoffs are completed accurately and within established service level agreements.
• Provide leadership during production incidents, ensuring timely communication, escalation, resolution, and post-incident review.
• Promote operational stability through proactive monitoring, risk identification, and continuous improvement.
• Team Leadership & Development Lead, coach, mentor, and develop a high-performing operations team.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, quality, and continuous learning.
• Conduct performance evaluations, provide constructive feedback, and create employee development plans.
• Ensure staff are cross-trained to maintain operational readiness and business continuity.
• Build an engaged team capable of adapting to changing business priorities and emerging technologies.
• Operational Excellence & Quality Champion a culture focused on operational excellence, accuracy, compliance, and customer satisfaction.
• Maintain and improve operational procedures, documentation, schedules, and knowledge repositories.
• Ensure operational processes meet internal controls, audit requirements, and regulatory standards.
• Conduct regular quality reviews and identify opportunities to improve operational performance.
• AI, Automation & Innovation Identify opportunities to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI), automation, and emerging technologies to improve operational efficiency and service quality.
• Utilize AI-powered tools such as Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, ServiceNow AI, or similar technologies to enhance documentation, reporting, knowledge management, and incident response.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that reduce manual effort while improving accuracy and operational resilience.
• Encourage innovation and adoption of modern operational practices across the team.
• Analytics & Decision Making Analyze operational metrics, KPIs, trends, and service levels to identify improvement opportunities.
• Perform root cause analysis for production issues and implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Develop meaningful operational reports and dashboards that support leadership decision making.
• Use data to drive strategic improvements and enhance operational effectiveness.
• Customer & Stakeholder Management Build strong partnerships with internal business units, technology teams, vendors, and external customers.
• Ensure timely and professional communication during production events.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
• Minimum 5-10 years of experience in a 24x7 production operations environment.
• Minimum 5 years of leadership experience managing technical operations teams.
• Experience administering Linux, UNIX, AIX, IBM Pure Technology, Windows Distributed Systems, and enterprise infrastructure.
• Experience supporting high-availability production applications within financial services or similarly regulated industries.
• Knowledge of networking technologies and carrier management.
• Strong understanding of operational controls, incident management, change management, and problem management.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Exceptional organizational, analytical, and problem-solving abilities.
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize multiple competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Banking or financial services experience.
• Knowledge of ACH, RTP®, Fedwire, CHIPS, Image Exchange, and ISO 20022 payment standards.
• Experience with Unisys systems.
• Experience implementing operational automation initiatives.
• Familiarity with Lean, Six Sigma, ITIL, or continuous improvement methodologies.
• Experience using AI-enabled productivity and operational tools to improve efficiency and decision making.

Leadership Competencies

• Consistently achieve or exceed operational Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
• Deliver exceptional operational quality with minimal processing errors.
• Maintain highly engaged, cross-trained, and high-performing teams.
• Improve operational efficiency through automation, AI adoption, and process optimization.
• Reduce recurring incidents through effective root cause analysis and preventive actions.
• Ensure documentation remains current, accurate, and audit-ready.
• Build strong partnerships across Operations, Technology, and Business teams.
• Maintain full compliance with regulatory, audit, and internal control requirements.
• Develop future leaders through coaching, mentoring, and succession planning.
• Foster a culture centered on accountability, innovation, continuous learning, and operational excellence.

Work Schedule

This position requires onsite attendance and supports a 24x7 operations environment. Primary Schedule: Thursday - Saturday 7:00 PM - 7:00 AM A training period of approximately five weeks will occur during standard business hours (Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM). Additional schedule flexibility may be required to support operational needs, testing, or major production events.

We are seeking a leader who values operational excellence, develops people, embraces innovation, and continuously looks for better ways to serve our customers. The ideal candidate combines strong technical expertise with emotional intelligence, sound judgment, and a genuine commitment to helping both the team and the organization succeed.

The Clearing House operates U.S-based payments networks that clear and settle more than $2 trillion each day through wire, ACH, check image, and real-time payments. It is the nation’s most experienced payments company, with a long track record of providing secure and reliable systems, payments innovation, and strategic thought leadership to financial institutions. In 2017, The Clearing House revolutionized U.S. payments by introducing the RTP® network, which supports the immediate clearing and settlement of payments, along with the ability to exchange related payment information across the same secure channel. These RTP capabilities enable all financial institutions to offer safer, faster, and smarter digital transaction services for their corporate and retail customers. Learn more at www.theclearinghouse.org.