Program Management Lead

Lead is a fintech building banking infrastructure for embedded financial products and services. We operate an FDIC-insured bank headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Additionally, we have offices in San Francisco, Sunnyvale, and New York City, where our technical, product, design, and legal teams operate.

We are built for a constantly evolving financial landscape, where new ventures and technological advancements emerge daily. Guided by a team of entrepreneurs and technologists with decades of experience navigating intricate banking and payments regulations, Lead blends regulatory and technological expertise to help our fintech partners scale their operations with compliance and creativity.

Simply put, Lead offers the essential attributes that every fintech seeks in a partner bank. First, unparalleled technical expertise from a distinguished team of developers with an extensive understanding of the banking and payments systems. Second, oversight expertise, automated compliance systems, and bespoke program management to navigate the ever-shifting regulatory landscape. Finally, a commitment to transparency and operational rigor to ensure everyone’s money does what it’s supposed to do.

Role Description:

We are seeking a Program Management Lead to own the program lifecycle for all of Lead’s Fintech partnerships, from early‑stage intake through onboarding, launch, ongoing program management, expansions, and offboarding. This role leads the Program Management Office (PMO) and is responsible for the operating model, governance, and execution of program management across the partner portfolio. You will manage a team of highly skilled program managers, and together will build and maintain scalable frameworks, templates, and reporting that keep partners and Lead team members aligned on status, risks, and decisions, while ensuring our programs remain well‑controlled, transparent, and exam‑ready. The Program Management Lead should be motivated by a desire to deepen relationships, optimize productivity, create clarity across complex workstreams, and nurture program success from inception to completion.

In this role you will:

• Lead, coach, and develop the Program Management team responsible for partner onboarding, due diligence, launch, OPM, expansions, and offboarding

• Own and continue to drive the development of the end‑to‑end program management operating model for Fintech programs, including intake, scoping, planning, execution and tracking

• Work with strategic partners to understand their needs and projections, and deepen these relationships, ensuring Lead’s and its partners’ product roadmaps remain in alignment

• Lead and coordinate external‑facing partner meetings (e.g., kick‑offs, due diligence check‑ins, roadmap, expansion discussions and QBRs), ensuring deliverables, action items, and decisions are clearly documented and followed through

• Report on the overall health and hygiene of partner relationships to senior and executive management

• Lead and coordinate internal cross‑functional meetings (product, engineering, operations, legal, compliance, financial crimes, risk, information security, finance, and others), tracking progress and dependencies across all workstreams for each partner

• Own the creation, maintenance, and continuous improvement of program management governance materials (playbooks, templates, trackers, checklists, and drive structures) across onboarding, due diligence, launch, OPM, and expansions

• Build and manage portfolio‑level Fintech program metrics and reporting, including views into pipeline, onboarding status, launch timelines, dependencies, risks, and overdue items for internal committees and stakeholders

• Partner closely with Product & Implementations, Enterprise Risk, Compliance, Financial Crimes, Information Security, Legal, Finance, and other teams to ensure program management workflows support regulatory expectations and audit/exam readiness

• Identify program and portfolio risks, facilitate mitigation plans with DRIs, and escalate appropriately to senior and executive leadership with clear, concise narratives

• Manage communication of progress, risks, and outcomes with the Executive Team, Program Leads, and other stakeholders through regular reporting, dashboards, and committee materials

• Evaluate and refine operational processes and tools to improve scalability, transparency, and consistency across the partner portfolio

• Design and maintain clear documentation and knowledge resources so internal and external stakeholders can easily understand program status, requirements, and next steps

• Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

• A bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

• At least 7+ years of project or program management experience, including experience leading a program management or PMO function by managing a team of program/project managers

• Experience working in technology, fintech, or financial services, ideally with exposure to Banking‑as‑a‑Service, payments, or embedded finance programs

• Demonstrated ability to build and manage complex, multi‑stakeholder initiatives across product, engineering, operations, risk, compliance, and external partners

• Extremely detail‑oriented and able to confidently communicate with internal and external stakeholders, including senior and executive leadership

• Proven ability to distill complex, ambiguous issues into structured, solvable, and actionable workplans

• Ability to execute independently while also enabling and scaling the work of a broader team

• Possess significant adaptability and flexibility, to be able to design and execute to changing conditions and priorities

• Exceptional people management & leadership skills

• Comfort operating in an agile and fast‑paced environment, with a track record of building or improving processes and frameworks

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including experience creating clear status reports, dashboards, and executive‑level summaries

What we offer:

At Lead, we design our benefits to support company culture and principles, to foster an efficient and inspiring work environment, and to create the conditions for our team to give their best in both work and life

• Competitive compensation, including opportunities for equity grants and cash bonus, based on experience, geographic location, and role

• Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, 401k Matching, and other wellness benefits, including FSA, HSA and HRA

• Paid parental leave

• Flexible vacation policy, including PTO and paid holidays

• A fun and challenging team environment in a dynamic industry with ample opportunities for career growth

*Lead Bank is proud to have an inclusive culture committed to ensuring equal employment opportunity in all employment decisions regardless of race, color, gender, national origin, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, veteran status or any other legally protected status.

*Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

*Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

*Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

- Zone 1: $ 194,000 - $221,000 (SF/Bay Area, NYC, Seattle)

- Zone 2: $ 174,000 - $197,000 (Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, Denver, Boston, Washington DC, San Diego, Philadelphia, Portland, Sacramento, Miami)

- Zone 3: $ 160,500 - $180,250 (Other US Metros)