Chief Operations Officer (COO)

Company: CoreFirst Bank & Trust
Position: Chief Operations Officer (COO)
Reports to: President and Chief Executive Officer
Classification: Full-Time, Exempt
Hours: Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-5:00 PM, other days and hours as needed. This is an in-person, in-office position, and thus regular hybrid or work-from-home hours will not be considered.
Location: Headquarters - Topeka, KS

Job Summary:
The Chief Operations Officer (COO) serves as a member of the Executive Leadership Team and provides enterprise leadership, operational strategy, and organizational oversight across the bank. The COO ensures that operational functions, including loan operations, deposit operations, treasury management operations, business transformation, information technology, and facilities and security, are aligned with the bank’s strategic objectives and regulatory requirements.

This position is accountable for driving operational excellence, optimizing processes, strengthening internal controls, and ensuring the effective integration of people, processes, and technology. The COO will promote cross functional collaboration and support the bank’s mission, values, long term growth, and fulfillment of our value propositions.

Essential Functions & Responsibilities:
Strategic Leadership

• Participate as a member of the Executive Team in the development and execution of the bank’s strategic plan.
• Translate strategic objectives into operational plans with defined priorities, timelines, and performance expectations.
• Provide leadership that balances long term strategic vision with hands on operational execution.
• Lead enterprise-wide operational and transformation initiatives that improve efficiency, scalability, customer experience, and overall organizational performance through the alignment of people, processes, and technology to support the bank’s value propositions and competitive positioning.
• Partner with executive leadership to improve operational scalability, organizational effectiveness, profitability, and enterprise performance.
• Key participant and a leader in artificial intelligence (AI) governance and usage efforts.

Operational Management

• Provide executive oversight of Loan Operations, Deposit Operations, Treasury Management Operations, Business Transformation, Information Technology, and Facilities and Security.
• Ensure departmental processes are scalable, documented, compliant, and supported by effective internal controls.
• Lead ongoing bank wide initiative(s) to document roles and responsibilities, analyze workload drivers, and optimize staffing models.
• Oversee cross functional processes to ensure efficiency, accuracy, and alignment with business objectives.
• Promote collaboration across business lines and work to eliminate operational silos.

Technology and Digital Strategy

• Collaborate with the Business Transformation Office and IT to establish the bank’s strategic technology roadmap.
• Ensure the technology infrastructure and application stack support current and future business needs.
• Facilitate communication between IT and business units to make sure technology initiatives align with operational and business priorities, ensuring solutions effectively support organizational objectives.
• Support innovation, automation, and digital transformation initiatives that enhance operational efficiency and customer experience. These will include AI solutions.

Risk Management, Compliance, and Controls

• Ensure operational compliance with applicable federal and state regulations, internal policies, and industry standards for all departments reporting to the COO.
• Provide executive support and accountability for external audit, compliance, and regulatory examination activities.
• Promote a culture of strong internal controls and operational risk awareness.
• Ensure the Bank Continuity Plan program (bank-wide) is managed and updated.

Vendor and Contract Management

• Manage assigned vendor relationships to ensure performance, accountability, and adherence to contractual obligations.
• Participate in RFP processes, contract negotiations, and vendor evaluations.
• Reduce redundancy in vendor solutions, optimize utilization, and eliminate unnecessary costs.

Performance Management and Reporting

• Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate operational effectiveness.
• Ensure operational reporting and analytics support data driven decision making.
• Approve and manage departmental budgets for Operations, Business Transformation, Information Technology, and Facilities & Security.

People Leadership

• Recruit, develop, and retain high performing staff within assigned departments.
• Provide coaching, mentoring, and performance management to direct reports.
• Oversee staffing decisions, performance evaluations, promotions, compensation actions, and disciplinary actions for direct lines of reporting.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Committee Participation and Community Engagement

• Serve on the following committees:
  • Executive Committee
  • Senior Management Team (SMT)
  • Strategic Planning Committee
  • IT Steering Committee
  • Risk Committee
  • TBD AI governance and usage leadership team
• Participate in additional committees and task forces assigned.
• Attend monthly Bank Board meetings.
• Other duties as assigned.
• Maintain active involvement in the community consistent with the bank’s mission and values.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree required, advanced degree preferred.
• Experience: Ten (10) or more years of progressive operational leadership experience within financial institutions strongly preferred.
• Experience: Executive or senior management experience within a financial institution of approximately $1 billion in assets or larger strongly preferred.
• Experience: Minimum of five (5) years of management or supervisory experience required.
• Experience: Prior experience in strategic planning, project management, budgeting, vendor management, and contract negotiation.
• Demonstrated ability to apply technical solutions to business challenges.
• Strong understanding of current technology platforms, digital trends, automation strategies, and emerging AI capabilities, including their application to operational efficiency, risk management, and customer experience.
• Comprehensive knowledge of internal controls, business processes, and process mapping.
• Strong leadership, communication, and conflict resolution skills.
• Ability to motivate and lead teams in a collaborative, results oriented environment.
• High level of initiative, attention to detail, and goal orientation.
• Ability to build trust, foster collaboration, and work effectively across departments.
• Demonstrated ability to leverage data and analytics to support strategic and operational decision-making.
• Operational Excellence, Continuous Improvement

Competencies:

• Adherence to CoreFirst Values: Respect, Communication, Integrity, Initiative, and Accountability. A secondary focus on internal and external Customers, Compliance, Ethics, Perseverance, and Time Management is also essential.

Physical Requirements:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to sit, stand, and walk. Some light physical effort is required.

Travel:
Travel is primarily local during the business day, although some local evening and weekend travel may be expected.

Work Environment:
This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, copy machines, filing cabinets, and fax machines.

Applicants must pass a drug screen and background check

Internal applicants must meet the minimum requirements of their current job, notify their manager/supervisor they are applying for the position, and submit a resume via the employee portal

CoreFirst provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, CoreFirst Bank & Trust complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.