Senior Director Compliance, Head of Compliance Testing

First Citizens Bank; Raleigh (NC); Hybrid; USD 209,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

First Citizens Bank seeks a Senior Director, Head of Compliance Testing to lead enterprise-wide testing, governance, and regulatory engagement across business lines. This role partners with regulators and senior leadership to assess controls, identify risks, and drive remediation while building a high-performing team.

The role emphasizes analytics, automation, and continuous improvement in testing, with a hybrid work model in Raleigh/Charlotte and remote consideration for highly qualified

Qualifications

• Ability to interpret complex regulations and devise logical solutions.
• Deep understanding of Compliance Risk Management and testing standards.
• Experience leading large-scale compliance testing programs.

Responsibilities

• Lead enterprise compliance testing governance and risk-based testing activities across all lines of business.
• Manage regulatory engagements, examinations, and oversight with regulators, audits, and internal reviews.
• Oversee development of annual/multi-year testing plans and issue remediation.

Skills

Regulatory interpretation

Change leadership

Compliance risk mgmt

Education

Bachelor's degree + 12 yrs exp

HS diploma + 16 yrs exp

Job description

Overview

The ideal candidate will work hybrid in our Raleigh or Charlotte office, will consider remote option for highly qualified candidate.

At First Citizens Bank, we believe meaningful careers are built through meaningful relationships. For more than 125 years, we’ve supported our clients, communities and colleagues through a culture rooted in connection, collaboration and long-term success.

The Senior Director, Head of Compliance Testing leads the enterprise-wide compliance testing program, providing independent oversight of regulatory compliance risks through risk-based testing, governance, reporting, and issue management across all business lines. The role partners with senior leadership, regulators, and internal stakeholders to assess the effectiveness of compliance controls, identify emerging risks, and drive remediation efforts while ensuring alignment with regulatory expectations. This leader also develops a high-performing team and advances the testing program through analytics, automation, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Responsibilities & Qualifications

Duties & Responsibilities:

Risk Management & Compliance Testing Leadership

• Business Strategy - Leads First Citizen’s independent Compliance Testing Program and is responsible for the design, execution, governance, and continuous enhancement of risk-based compliance testing activities across all business lines. Establishes testing strategies, methodologies, procedures, and quality standards that provide oversight of regulatory compliance risks. Directs the assessment of compliance controls, processes, and regulatory obligations to identify emerging risks, control weaknesses, and regulatory gaps. Ensures testing activities are executed in accordance with enterprise frameworks, regulatory expectations, and industry best practices. Escalates significant compliance concerns, trends, and control deficiencies to executive management and risk committees. Oversees testing coverage across key regulatory domains, including consumer protection, fair lending, UDAAP, privacy, deposit regulations, lending regulations, third-party risk, and other applicable federal and state regulatory requirements.
• Program Governance & Regulatory Engagement - Maintains ownership of compliance testing governance, including test planning, reporting standards, issue management protocols, and performance metrics. Serves as a senior compliance leader in interactions with regulatory agencies, internal audit, and independent review functions. Supports regulatory examinations and internal reviews related to compliance risk management and testing activities. Monitors changes in laws, regulations, enforcement actions, and industry practices to ensure testing programs remain aligned with evolving regulatory expectations. Ensures management reporting provides meaningful insights into compliance risk exposure, thematic trends, root-cause analysis, issue recurrence, and overall program effectiveness.
• Business Strategy & Transformation - Leads strategic initiatives to modernize compliance testing through data analytics, automation, continuous monitoring, and technology-enabled testing solutions. Develops testing approaches that leverage risk intelligence, customer outcomes, transaction-level data, and emerging analytical techniques to improve risk identification and testing effectiveness. Influences enterprise-wide compliance strategy by providing insight into emerging regulatory risks and control environments.
• Compliance Testing Operations & Quality Assurance - Establishes and maintains testing methodologies, workpaper standards, quality assurance reviews, sampling approaches, and reporting protocols to ensure consistency and defensibility of testing activities. Oversees the development and execution of annual and multi-year testing plans based on enterprise compliance risk assessments. Ensures testing results clearly identify root causes, risk implications, regulatory impact, and appropriate corrective actions. Promotes a culture of accountability and continuous improvement through effective challenge, transparency, and partnership with stakeholders.
• Leadership & Talent Development - Leads, develops, and mentors a team of compliance testing managers and senior compliance professionals. Establishes clear performance expectations and accountability measures aligned with departmental and enterprise objectives. Builds a high-performing organization through succession planning, talent development, coaching, and strategic workforce planning. Promotes a culture of risk awareness, collaboration, innovation, and ethical decision-making.

Position Specific Skills

Ability to interpret complex regulations and devise logical solutions
Ability to influence, negotiate, and skillfully manage change in the organization

Deep understanding of Compliance Risk Management and industry standards for compliance testing functions

Qualifications

Minimum Required Education and Experience: Bachelor's Degree and 12 years' experience OR High School Diploma or GED/Equivalent and 16 years' experience in Compliance, Legal, Audit, or Banking

Preferred Area of Experience

12+ years of progressive experience within Compliance, Compliance Testing, Compliance Risk Management, Internal Audit, Regulatory Affairs, or related second-line risk functions within a large financial institution. Demonstrated experience leading enterprise compliance testing programs, managing regulatory examinations, evaluating compliance control effectiveness, and overseeing issue remediation activities.

Experience developing and executing risk-based testing plans across multiple regulatory domains. Proven success building and leading high-performing teams, strengthening compliance governance frameworks, and driving strategic transformation initiatives through analytics, automation, and process improvement.

Preferred experience interacting directly with federal and state banking regulators and senior executive leadership.

Preferred Licenses or Certifications

Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM); Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS); Certified AML and Fraud Professional (CAFP); Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP); Certified Internal Auditor (CIA); Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA); Certified Risk Professional or equivalent risk management certification; juris doctor (JD)

Additional Information

Benefits are an integral part of total rewards and First Citizens Bank is committed to providing a competitive, thoughtfully designed and quality benefits program to meet the needs of our associates. More information can be found at https://jobs.firstcitizens.com/benefits.

This job posting is expected to remain active for 14 days from the initial posting date listed above. If it is necessary to extend this deadline, the posting will remain active as appropriate. Job postings may come down early due to business need or a high volume of applicants.

The base pay for this position is generally between $209,000 and $280,000. Actual starting base pay will be determined based on skills, experience, location, and other non-discriminatory factors permitted by law. For some roles, total compensation may also include variable incentives, bonuses, benefits, and/or other awards as outlined in the offer of employment.