Chief Digital Officer
Job Summary
UFCU is advancing toward becoming a market-leading, technologically advanced credit union. We’re seeking a transformative Chief Digital Officer—senior leader to architect and drive UFCU’s digital member experiences, product excellence, roadmap, and platform modernization. This role leads enterprise-wide digital strategy, true Agile delivery (SAFe or equivalent), and performance across online banking, mobile, contact center, payments ecosystems, onboarding flows, and personalized commerce.
Reporting to the EVP, Chief Strategic Growth & Digital Officer, this leader owns digital growth and adoption OKRs, KPI-driven product outcomes, and enterprise-level stakeholder alignment.
About UFCU
Our Credit Union founded in 1936 and has grown to serve members throughout Texas and beyond. At UFCU, we are more than just a financial institution, and our people are more than just employees. We are dedicated to our purpose of empowering our Members to achieve financial success and build brighter futures.
In pursuit of our aspiration that UFCU is loved by millions of Members and built to thrive for generations, we are guided by our values:
Purposefully Member-Obsessed
We are driven by a profound sense of empathy to deeply understand our Members’ needs and
preferences, what brighter futures means to them, and the obstacles in their way. We act in our
Members’ best interests, forever seeking to empower their financial success.
Possibilities Reimagined
We are inspired to courageously experiment, learn, and iterate in pursuit of positive impact for our
Members, UFCU, and coworkers. We challenge assumptions, embrace diverse perspectives, and make use of data and insights.
Performance Excellence Rooted in Unwavering Integrity
We do the right thing, always. We champion teamwork, accountability, continuous improvement, and celebrate successful outcomes of others, fostering an inclusive environment of excellence and
collaboration.
Essential Functions
Digital Strategy & Platform Leadership
- Define and scale UFCU’s digital platform strategy and roadmap—modernizing core digital and contact center channels for scalability, flexibility, and speed-to-market.
- Lead end-to-end digital product lifecycle, including vision, discovery, user stories, prototyping, execution, measurement, and continuous iteration.
- Drive delivery autonomy, cross-platform reusability, and a product-first architecture that aligns platforms with digital business outcomes.
Performance-Driven OKRs & KPIs
Own and report on digital OKRs such as:
- Digital adoption, digital self-service, user growth, and transaction volume increases.
- Platform and Channel performance metrics: uptime, call center efficiency, incident/failure reduction, scalability.
- Financial outcomes: digital revenue contribution, cost-to-serve improvements, ROI.
- Digital Engagement & satisfaction: NPS/OSAT scores, member feedback, churn reduction.
- Delivery metrics: velocity, cycle time improvement, time-to-market acceleration.
Enterprise Agile & Product Leadership
- Lead Product Owners, Business Analysts, and Agile teams in a unified delivery model, ensuring true product ownership, accountability, and velocity.
- Scale Agile frameworks (e.g., SAFe), establish Agile Center of Excellence in partnership with ePMO, and embed Agile tooling (Azure DevOps, JIRA, others) and metrics into the organization.
- Coach leaders and teams on advanced practices like Continuous Discovery, Working Backwards, Lean Product Delivery, and Incremental Delivery.
Digital Growth, Personalization & Member Engagement
- Drive digital acquisition and digital-first usage through optimized onboarding, AI-driven personalization, and omnichannel experience strategies.
- Lead member lifecycle product initiatives—digital payments, card services, cross-sell, financing, and rewards.
- Conduct competitive benchmarking, market trend analysis, and feature innovation to differentiate UFCU in a crowded digital landscape.
Platform Modernization & Emerging Technologies
- Collaborate with CTO and Technology teams to modernize digital infrastructure, APIs, microservices, and cloud-native platforms.
- Oversee integration with core banking, authentication, fraud, data services, and fintech ecosystems.
- Lead pilots for emerging technologies such as AI/ML, open banking, payments tokenization, digital identity, and more.
Executive Influence & Stakeholder Management
- Serve as a digital thought leader and trusted advisor to executive teams, the Board, and external partners.
- Communicate digital progress, risks, and value through enterprise reporting, portfolio reviews, and executive-level forums.
- Negotiate strategically with fintech, vendor, and partner organizations—securing commercial value and enterprise alignment.
Other
- Adhere to all company policies, procedures and business ethics codes.
- Complete required regulatory training as assigned.
- Maintain strict adherence and compliance to all laws, rules, regulations and internal controls specific to your role, including but not limited to Bank Secrecy Act, Anti-Money Laundering, USA Patriot Act, OFAC and Fair Lending regulations.
Education & Experience
Minimum Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s/MBA preferred.
- 10+ years of progressive leadership in digital strategy, product management, or digital transformation.
- Minimum of 15 years of experience in technology, digital delivery, or other relevant experience.
- Experience in a Head of Digital role driving enterprise-grade digital transformation and platform modernization.
Technical & Domain Expertise
- Proficiency in Agile at scale (SAFe), product management, Lean methodologies, and digital UX/CX/MX best practices.
- Experience with digital platform technologies: APIs, microservices, headless architecture, cloud-native hosting, and mobile-first applications.
- Knowledge of payments ecosystems, tokenization, digital onboarding, and authentication technologies.
- Strong product analytics competency: experimentation, AI & A/B testing, dashboards, KPI tracking.
Technical Core Competencies
- Digital Strategy & Roadmap
- Agile Product Leadership (SAFe, Scrum, Lean)
- Platform & API Architecture
- Omni‑Channel & Mobile Experience
- Personalization & AI/ML Strategy
- Digital Acquisition & Retention
- OKR/KPI Management & Reporting
- Stakeholder / Vendor Management
- Executive Communication & P&L Oversight
- Digital UX & Human-Centered Design
Preferred Certifications
- SAFe Program Consultant or SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager
- Scrum Product Owner, CPO, or equivalent
- Product Management Certification
- UX/Design Thinking credentials
- Payment/Fraud/Fintech domain certifications advantageous
Competencies
Driving Member Obsession
Ensuring the internal or external customer’s perspective is a driving force behind strategic priorities, business decisions, organizational processes, and individual activities; crafting and implementing service practices that meet customers’ and own organization’s needs; promoting and operationalizing customer service as a value.
- Sets the standard for a compelling member experience, ensuring members are the #1 driving force behind the organization's direction, strategy, and decision-making.
- Builds a culture that values members and keeps their needs at the heart of all decisions.
Driving Innovation
Driving organizational and cultural changes needed to achieve strategic objectives; catalyzing new approaches to improve results by transforming organizational culture, systems, or products/services; helping others overcome resistance to change.
- Sets the standard for driving organizational and cultural changes needed to achieve strategic objectives.
- Builds a culture that inspires people to challenge assumptions, embrace diverse perspectives, and make use of data and insights in generating novel solutions.
Driving Performance Excellence
Translating strategic priorities into operational reality; aligning communication, accountabilities, resource capabilities, internal processes, and ongoing measurement systems to ensure that strategic priorities yield measurable and sustainable results.
- Sets the standardfor the organization’s resolute drive towards operational excellence.
- Builds a cultureof excellence, accountability, and continuous learning and improvement, where ideas for improvement can grow, while continuing to deliver on determined goals.
Delivering Empowered Leadership
Motivating increased employee effort by communicating a compelling view of the organization’s purpose and its future state in a way that helps others understand the importance of their contributions and feel how outcomes will be different when progress is achieved. Establishing systems and processes to attract, develop, engage, and retain talented individuals; creating a work environment where people can realize their full potential, thus allowing the organization to meet current and future business challenges.
- Sets the standard in leadership, motivating increased employee effort by communicating a compelling view of the organization’s purpose and its future state in a way that helps others understand the importance of their contributions.
- Builds a culture where people can realize their full potential, thus allowing the organization to meet current and future business challenges.
Physical Demands
The physical demands described are representative of those that must be met by an employee, with or without accommodation, to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations 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 sit; use hands to finger, handle or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear.
- Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision and ability to adjust focus.
- Will make extensive use of the telephone or virtual communication platforms requiring the ability to effectively and accurately explain complex information.
Work Environment
The work environment characteristics described are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.
- This position is required to frequently work at UFCU Plaza in Austin, Texas.
- This position may involve periodic stressful conditions.
- May occasionally require an adjusted work schedule, overtime, and evening/weekend hours.
- May occasionally move from one work location/branch to another.
- Public contact position, requiring appropriate professional appearance.
- Frequent computer use at a workstation up to two hours at a time.
- The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights (https://www.eeoc.gov/poster) notice from the Department of Labor.
