Head of Elan Strategy and Implementation
At U.S. Bank, we’re on a journey to do our best. Helping the customers and businesses we serve to make better and smarter financial decisions and enabling the communities we support to grow and succeed. We believe it takes all of us to bring our shared ambition to life, and each person is unique in their potential. A career with U.S. Bank gives you a wide, ever-growing range of opportunities to discover what makes you thrive at every stage of your career. Try new things, learn new skills and discover what you excel at—all from Day One.
Job Description
The Head of Elan Strategy & Implementation is responsible for defining, governing, and executing the long-term strategy, roadmap, and transformation agenda for the Elan Program. The Elan Program represents the complete end-to-end value proposition delivered to Financial Institution partners, including products, economics, marketing, technology, integration, servicing, and operational capabilities.
This executive serves as the central architect of Elan's future-state strategy and the primary leader responsible for translating strategic priorities into measurable business outcomes. The role combines strategic planning, market analysis, portfolio management, and enterprise execution leadership to ensure Elan remains the preferred partner for Financial Institutions while accelerating growth, competitiveness, and partner satisfaction.
The leader will work across Product, Sales, Marketing, Technology, Operations, Finance, Risk, and Partner Management functions to identify opportunities, prioritize investments, and drive implementation of transformational initiatives.
Executive Scope
Strategy - Define the Elan Program vision, strategic position, priorities, and multi-year roadmap.
Implementation - Translate priorities into disciplined execution plans, milestones, ownership, and outcomes.
Governance - Create enterprise routines for prioritization, resource alignment, KPI tracking, and decision-making.
Key Responsibilities
1. Define the Elan Program Strategy & Roadmap
Lead the development and ongoing evolution of a comprehensive strategic roadmap for the Elan Program.
Define the multi-year vision and strategic direction of the Elan Program.
Evaluate the competitiveness of Elan's end-to-end offering across products, technology, servicing, integration, economics, and partner experience.
Assess market trends, competitive dynamics, and emerging opportunities impacting Financial Institution partnerships.
Develop actionable recommendations that strengthen Elan's market position and differentiation.
Establish and maintain a prioritized strategic roadmap aligned with Elan's growth objectives.
2. Partner and Market Intelligence
Serve as the primary strategist evaluating Elan's position from both prospective and existing partner perspectives.
Prospective partner focus: analyze decision drivers for Financial Institutions evaluating card program partners; identify competitive strengths, weaknesses, objections, and win themes; assess market opportunities, whitespace segments, and acquisition priorities; and recommend capabilities and investments necessary to improve win rates and market penetration.
Existing partner focus: evaluate partner satisfaction, retention drivers, operational pain points, and growth opportunities; assess current program capabilities and experience; identify opportunities to improve partner economics, growth outcomes, and overall relationship value; and translate partner feedback into strategic priorities and roadmap enhancements.
3. Enterprise Priority Management
Establish and maintain an integrated view of Elan's strategic, technology, and operational priorities.
Collect and maintain the enterprise-wide inventory of Elan technology priorities.
Collect and maintain the enterprise-wide inventory of Elan operational priorities.
Partner with business leaders to evaluate business cases, benefits, dependencies, and implementation requirements.
Establish governance processes for prioritization and investment decisions.
Ensure resource allocation aligns to business strategy and expected value creation.
Facilitate executive discussions and recommendations regarding initiative sequencing and trade-offs.
4. Strategic Initiative Leadership & Implementation
Serve as the executive owner for execution of Elan's highest-priority strategic initiatives.
Translate strategic objectives into implementation plans, milestones, and measurable outcomes.
Oversee or directly lead execution of complex, cross-functional initiatives.
Establish program governance, reporting, issue resolution, and executive review routines.
Drive accountability across functions to ensure commitments are delivered on time and on budget.
Identify risks, dependencies, and escalation needs while ensuring successful implementation.
Build implementation frameworks and operating disciplines that accelerate execution across the business.
5. Operating Model & Governance Leadership
Create the management routines and governance structures required to execute strategy effectively.
Establish strategic planning and roadmap review processes.
Develop executive-level dashboards and KPI reporting.
Lead recurring strategic reviews with the Elan Leadership Team.
Ensure transparency of initiative progress, milestones, benefits realization, and risks.
Partner with Finance and leadership teams to align strategic priorities with operating plans and investment budgets.
6. Executive Advisory & Enterprise Influence
Act as a trusted advisor to the General Manager and Senior Leadership Team.
Develop strategic analyses, business cases, and recommendations for executive decision-making.
Prepare executive communications, board materials, strategic updates, and transformation reporting.
Facilitate alignment across leadership teams on priorities, investments, and resource allocation.
Serve as a catalyst for organizational change and transformation execution.
Success Measures
Strategic Impact
Quality and effectiveness of Elan Program strategy.
Strength of strategic roadmap and investment prioritization.
Improvement in competitive position and partner value proposition.
Execution Excellence
Successful implementation of strategic initiatives.
Achievement of initiative milestones and target outcomes.
Reduction of execution delays and organizational friction.
Growth Outcomes
Contribution to partner acquisition and retention objectives.
Improvement in partner satisfaction and program competitiveness.
Value creation from implemented initiatives.
Organizational Leadership
Cross-functional leadership effectiveness.
Executive stakeholder alignment.
Quality of governance, prioritization, and decision-making processes.
Experience
12+ years of progressive leadership experience in financial services, payments, card issuing, consulting, strategy, technology, or business transformation.
Significant experience leading enterprise-wide strategic initiatives and transformation programs.
Experience developing business strategies and translating them into operational execution.
Strong understanding of financial institution partnerships, payments, credit cards, or related financial services businesses preferred.
Skills & Competencies
Exceptional strategic thinking and analytical problem-solving abilities.
Strong executive communication and presentation skills.
Proven ability to influence without direct authority in highly matrixed organizations.
Experience leading large-scale cross-functional initiatives.
Financial and business case development expertise.
Executive presence and ability to operate with senior leaders both internally and externally.
Strong program management, governance, and implementation leadership capabilities.
Education
Bachelor's degree required.
MBA or advanced degree preferred.
Ideal Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate is equal parts strategist, operator, and transformation leader. They possess the ability to identify where Elan should invest, determine how to win in the market, and then personally drive execution of the initiatives required to achieve those outcomes. They combine consulting-level strategic rigor with a bias for action and a demonstrated ability to deliver complex business transformation results.
If there’s anything we can do to accommodate a disability during any portion of the application or hiring process, please refer to our disability accommodations for applicants.
Benefits:
Our approach to benefits and total rewards considers our team members’ whole selves and what may be needed to thrive in and outside work. That's why our benefits are designed to help you and your family boost your health, protect your financial security and give you peace of mind. Our benefits include the following:
Healthcare (medical, dental, vision)
Basic term and optional term life insurance
Short-term and long-term disability
Pregnancy disability and parental leave
401(k) and employer-funded retirement plan
Paid vacation (from two to five weeks depending on salary grade and tenure)
Up to 11 paid holiday opportunities
Adoption assistance
Sick and Safe Leave accruals of one hour for every 30 worked, up to 80 hours per calendar year unless otherwise provided by law
Review our full benefits available by employment status here.
U.S. Bank is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or veteran status, and other factors protected under applicable law.
E-Verify
U.S. Bank participates in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security E-Verify program in all facilities located in the United States and certain U.S. territories. The E-Verify program is an Internet-based employment eligibility verification system operated by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Learn more about the E-Verify program.
The salary range reflects figures based on the primary location, which is listed first. The actual range for the role may differ based on the location of the role. In addition to salary, U.S. Bank offers a comprehensive benefits package, including incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase 401(k) contribution and pension (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). Pay Range: $170,255.00 - $200,300.00U.S. Bank will consider qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records for employment. U.S. Bank conducts background checks consistent with applicable local laws, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance and the California Fair Chance Act as well as the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. U.S. Bank is subject to, and conducts background checks consistent with the requirements of Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA). In addition, certain positions may also be subject to the requirements of FINRA, NMLS registration, Reg Z, Reg G, OFAC, the NFA, the FCPA, the Bank Secrecy Act, the SAFE Act, and/or federal guidelines applicable to an agreement, such as those related to ethics, safety, or operational procedures.
Applicants must be able to comply with U.S. Bank policies and procedures including the Code of Ethics and Business Conduct and related workplace conduct and safety policies.
Posting may be closed earlier due to high volume of applicants.