Chief Compliance Officer

About the Role

The Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) oversees all regulatory compliance and ethics functions for Five Star Bank and its investment affiliate. This senior leadership role is responsible for maintaining a sustainable Compliance Management Program (CMP), including Fair Lending and Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) programs, ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations while proactively identifying and mitigating emerging risks. The CCO reports regularly to the Board of Directors, Risk Oversight Committee, and executive leadership, providing strategic oversight of compliance risk within the Company's established risk appetite.

The role leads the Compliance Committee and serves on key cross-functional committees to align compliance and ethics strategies with business objectives and regulatory expectations. The CCO is accountable for Board-approved compliance and risk programs, ensuring they remain effective, responsive to regulatory developments, and aligned with organizational goals. Core responsibilities include compliance training, risk assessments, testing and monitoring, policy governance, complaint management, regulatory change management, and issue remediation.

The CCO also leads a high-performing second line of defense compliance team, partnering closely with business leaders to provide guidance, support sound risk management, and drive a culture of compliance across the enterprise. As a senior member of the Risk Department, the CCO contributes to the broader risk management framework and brings a strong understanding of enterprise risk, operational risk, information security, and financial crimes risk management while exemplifying the Company's values and leadership expectations.

Responsibilities

• Direct the Company’s compliance strategy by maintaining and effecting the ongoing Compliance Program, developing and maintaining corporate compliance policies, and establishing compliance review procedures.
• Interpret legislation or pending legislation and develop strategies for ensuring organizational compliance.
• Ensure changes sponsored by the Company Compliance Department are managed in accordance with corporate change management policies and support line of business change management to mitigate adverse or unintended impacts.
• Oversee the conduct of Annual Risk Assessments to identify and mitigate regulatory compliance risks; provide guidance to the First Line in crafting and documenting risk remediation actions and monitor administration of remediation plans to successful completion; provide quarterly interim risk assessment updates based on compliance testing and monitoring activities and issues management.
• Develop an annual risk-based Compliance Testing schedule and ensure the compliance testing team executes timely compliance testing engagements and reports on testing outcomes through the committee structure.
• Manage the staff of and direct the activities of the Company’s Compliance Department.
• Oversee the administration of the Company’s Complaint Management Program.
• Chair the Company’s Compliance Committee, present prepared materials, and foster conversation on Compliance culture, activities, issues, and actions; serve on other management committees including Operating, New Product Approval, and Governance Process Review Committee; report material regulatory compliance risks directly to the Board and senior management.
• Communicate with regulatory agencies, internal and external auditors, and other control groups on compliance-related issues; coordinate examination preparation and other responses to regulatory agencies, internal and external auditors, and other control groups.
• Successfully manage departmental issues/findings through resolution and assist business partners to mitigate compliance risks identified through monitoring, testing, audit, and/or examination processes.
• Actively participate on multiple management risk-focused committees, which may include areas such as Company risk, credit, loan approval, disclosures, Allowance for Credit Losses, new product approval, and community reinvestment.
• Serve as the Chief Ethics Officer, working with Human Resource partners to thoroughly investigate allegations of illegal, improper, or unethical conduct by employees or company representatives.
• Work closely with management and lines of business to establish an appropriate compliance culture throughout the firm, including the development of specialized training programs and ensuring firm documents are compliant.
• Effectively manage assigned third parties to ensure adherence to bank policy, procedure, and protocol; manage the Bank’s membership in the American Bankers Association.
• Demonstrate the standards and principles of the Five Star Bank experience in every interaction with internal and external customers, associates, and stakeholders; incorporate the high-performance behaviors of teamwork, leading by example, and service in every facet of work.

Qualifications

• Required Education: Bachelor’s Degree in business, management, organizational leadership, or related curriculum.
• Required Experience: 10+ years of progressive banking compliance with a thorough understanding of Banking Compliance Management System (CMS) aligned with regulatory expectations; 7+ years of progressive management experience.
• Preferred Education: Master’s Degree in business, management, organizational leadership, or related curriculum.
• Preferred Experience: 3+ years administering a compliance management program as a Chief Compliance Officer for a financial institution; 10+ years of progressive management experience with a thorough understanding of Banking Compliance Management System (CMS) aligned with regulatory expectations.
• Licenses or Accreditation: Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM).

Skills

• Ability to foster teamwork and leadership across the lines of defense and levels of management within the Company.
• Ability to assess situations and make effective decisions in stressful situations.
• Executive presence with excellent oral and written communication skills and strong attention to detail.
• Able to identify or research needed information to provide guidance and strategy.
• Ability to build and maintain collaborative relationships across the lines of defense and levels of management within the Company.
• Strong ability to analyze problem situations and craft clearly defined action plans to rectify.
• Desire to enhance the current Compliance Management Program, further personal career, and assume additional responsibilities as needed by the Company.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• Health Savings Account
• Flexible Spending Account(s)
• Company Paid Life Insurance, Long-Term Disability, and Short-Term Disability
• Voluntary Offerings: Life, Critical Illness/Specified Disease, Accident, Hospital Indemnity, Legal Insurance & Personal Accident
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Employee Referral Program
• Wellness Reimbursement Program
• Star Volunteer Program
• Employee Banking and Financial Perks
• Flexible Hybrid Work Schedule
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Company Paid Holidays