Operational Readiness Specialist

First Citizens Bank; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

First Citizens Bank seeks an Operational Readiness Specialist to bridge project delivery and ongoing operations. You will develop readiness plans, coordinate stakeholders, identify risks, and ensure processes and staff are prepared for go-live.

The role emphasizes documentation, training validation, and continuous improvement of the readiness framework within a large financial institution. Collaboration across operations, IT, and business units is key.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, operations management, engineering, project management, or related field.
• 3-5+ years experience in operations, project coordination, commissioning, or process improvement.
• Strong understanding of operational workflows and change management.
• Demonstrated experience managing cross-functional stakeholders.
• Excellent problem-solving and risk-assessment skills.
• Strong communication, organization, and documentation abilities.
• Familiarity with project management methodologies is an asset.
• Industry-specific certifications (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma, ITIL, PMP) are beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Readiness Planning: Develop and maintain operational readiness plans, checklists, and transition frameworks to support successful project rollout.
• Cross-Functional Coordination: Collaborate with operations, business units, SRE teams and project teams to align deliverables, requirements, and expectations.
• Risk Identification & Mitigation: Identify operational risks, gaps, and dependencies; recommend and track mitigation actions.
• Process & Procedure Development: Ensure operational procedures, workflows, SOPs, and contingency plans are created, validated, and approved prior to go-live.
• Training & Competency: Coordinate and validate staff training, competency assessments, and resource readiness.
• Documentation & Handover: Ensure all operational documentation is complete, accurate, and transferred to operational teams.
• Performance Metrics: Develop and track readiness KPIs and provide regular status reports to leadership.
• Continuous Improvement: Capture lessons learned and contribute to improving the organization's operational readiness framework and methodologies.

Skills

Cross-functional coordination

Risk assessment

Documentation

Communication

Project coordination

Problem solving

Change management

Education

Bachelor's degree in business/operations management/engineering/project management

Job description

First Citizens Bank seeks an Operational Readiness Specialist to bridge project delivery and ongoing operations. You will develop readiness plans, coordinate stakeholders, identify risks, and ensure processes and staff are prepared for go-live.

The role emphasizes documentation, training validation, and continuous improvement of the readiness framework within a large financial institution. Collaboration across operations, IT, and business units is key.