Senior Manager, Unclaimed Property & Escheatment

This is a remote role that may only be hired in the following locations: Phoenix, AZ or Raleigh, NC. We are looking for candidates who live within a commutable drivable distance to our Phoenix, AZ or Raleigh, NC office.

The Senior Manager of Unclaimed Property & Escheatment will lead the bank’s enterprise-wide unclaimed property compliance program, ensuring adherence to complex multi-state regulatory requirements governing abandoned financial assets (e.g., deposit accounts, cashier’s checks, official checks, gift cards, and safe deposit box contents).

This role is critical in managing regulatory risk, audit exposure, and financial liability while partnering across Operations, Finance, Legal, Compliance, and Consumer/Commercial Banking teams. The position requires deep expertise in banking products, escheatment lifecycle management, and regulatory expectations from agencies such as state unclaimed property divisions and regulatory agencies.

Enterprise Program Leadership

• Own and lead the bank’s unclaimed property compliance framework, governance model, and policy administration.
• Define risk-based strategies for identifying, tracking, and reporting dormant and abandoned property across all lines of business.
• Provide executive-level insight on unclaimed property liability, financial exposure, and reserve adequacy.

Regulatory Compliance & Reporting

• Oversee compliance with all state unclaimed property laws across deposit products, payments, lending, trust, and wealth management accounts.
• Lead timely and accurate filing of multi-state reports, including dormancy tracking, due diligence mailings, and remittance.
• Ensure proper handling of safe deposit box escheatment, including inventory, transport, and state delivery requirements.
• Maintain compliance with record retention and documentation standards required for regulatory review.

Banking Product Oversight

• Interpret dormancy rules for different product types, including:
  • Demand deposit accounts (DDA), savings, and time deposits
  • Official checks, cashier’s checks, and money orders
  • Gneral ledger, loan-related credit balances and overpayments
  • Trust, custody, and wealth management accounts
• Partner with product owners to ensure proper classification and tracking of reportable property.

Audit, Exams & Risk Mitigation

• Serve as primary liaison for state unclaimed property audits and third-party contract auditors.
• Support regulatory exams where unclaimed property is in scope.
• Lead audit defense strategies, including data validation, documentation readiness, and settlement negotiation.
• Identify historical exposure and lead voluntary disclosure agreements (VDAs) and remediation initiatives.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Collaborate with:
  • Operations – dormancy processing, account status tracking
  • Finance/Accounting – general ledger reconciliation, liability accruals
  • Compliance & Legal – regulatory interpretation and risk management
  • IT/Data – system controls, data integrity, reporting automation
  • Consumer & Commercial Banking – customer communication and account servicing
• Provide guidance on escheatment implications for new products, mergers/acquisitions, and system conversions.

Process Improvement & Technology Enablement

• Enhance automation and controls within core banking systems and UP platforms.
• Improve data quality, audit trails, and reporting capabilities.
• Implement tools (e.g., Tracker, UPEnterprise) for scalability and compliance efficiency.
• Develop dashboards and KPIs for executive reporting and regulatory readiness.

Customer Due Diligence & Experience

• Oversee compliant due diligence outreach to customers prior to escheatment.
• Ensure customer communications meet regulatory requirements while maintaining positive customer experience.
• Coordinate reactivation processes for accounts reclaimed prior to reporting deadlines.

Team Leadership

• Build and lead a high-performing unclaimed property team.
• Provide coaching, regulatory training, and career development opportunities.
• Establish performance metrics aligned with compliance, accuracy and timeliness.

Bachelor's Degree and 8 years of experience in Bank Operations including management OR High School Diploma or GED and 12 years of experience in Bank Operations including management

Skill(s): Understanding of accounting, accounting practices, and banking regulations, Knowledge of Windows and various applications such as Access and Visio

Preferred Skills:

• Leadership experience in Unclaimed Property & Escheatment.
• Large financial institution experience.
• Proven experience managing a team in multiple locations. Ability to motivate, mentor, and coach staff. Ability to lead through change.
• Experience with work transformation and leading change management.
• Experience in leading process improvements. Ability to manage timelines, resources, and deliverables. Must have excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Must have strong organizational and time management skills.
• Must have strong analytical and problem-solving skills, demonstrate success in managing by metrics, be detail oriented, able to multitask and function in a fast-paced environment.

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.