Dir, Sales & Service Effectiveness

About the Role

At Valley Bank, we believe in people's growth potential. We invest in it, protect it, and focus it. As the Director, Sales & Service Effectiveness, you will define, build, and continuously improve the capabilities, behaviors, and operating models that drive consistent sales and service performance across the consumer bank. Reporting to the Head of Sales & Service Enablement, this leader owns the strategies, frameworks, and content that shape how bankers sell, serve, and engage customers across Retail, SMB, and Mortgage channels. The role spans three interconnected domains: capability building and learning strategy, sales effectiveness, and service effectiveness.

The Director partners closely with Learning & Development, Channel Leaders, and Operations to translate strategy into tangible daily behaviors—ensuring bankers have the skills, playbooks, processes, and service standards needed to deliver exceptional client outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Capability Building Strategy
  • Lead enterprise capability strategy for Sales & Service, defining skills, behaviors, and performance expectations for banker effectiveness across all roles and channels.
  • Partner with L&D to set learning strategy, prioritize curriculum, and align training to frontline performance outcomes.
  • Oversee design and delivery of role-based learning paths for Retail, SMB, and Mortgage bankers across sales, service, product, and advisory skills.
  • Measure learning effectiveness and skill transfer; use data to continuously refine programs and delivery.
  • Embed continuous learning into the flow of work to drive ongoing development beyond formal training.
• Sales Effectiveness
  • Define and govern a scalable, customer-aligned enterprise sales process, including supporting scripts, playbooks, and conversation guides.
  • Establish sales rhythms and clear DILO/WILO/MILO expectations to drive accountability, consistency, and effective coaching.
  • Enable seamless collaboration across bankers, specialists, and partners, embedding sales frameworks into onboarding, development, and performance management.
• Service Effectiveness
  • Own the enterprise service effectiveness framework, including workflows, escalation paths, decision rights, and supporting playbooks across Retail, SMB, and Mortgage.
  • Define and optimize end-to-end customer journeys and branch experience standards to reduce friction and deliver consistent, differentiated service.
  • Establish and govern service metrics and SLAs, using performance data (e.g., resolution, satisfaction) to drive continuous improvement.
  • Partner with Operations, Compliance, and Technology to ensure service experiences are practical, compliant, and enabled for frontline execution.
• Field Partnership & Voice of the Frontline
  • Act as a key liaison between Channel Leaders, Field Enablement, and enterprise strategy teams—ensuring that sales and service effectiveness programs are grounded in real frontline experience and operational realities.
  • Establish structured feedback mechanisms—including field advisory panels, observation sessions, and performance data reviews—to continuously identify gaps in skills, process, and content.
  • Represent frontline effectiveness needs in enterprise planning, product, and strategy forums, ensuring that new initiatives are assessed for their impact on banker workflows and customer experience.
• Governance & Continuous Improvement
  • Own the governance model for sales and service effectiveness content—ensuring playbooks, scripts, journey maps, and process documentation are accurate, version-controlled, and regularly reviewed.
  • Establish a continuous improvement cadence using performance data, field feedback, and industry benchmarks to identify and prioritize the next highest-value enhancements to effectiveness frameworks.
  • Partner with the Director of Advisory & Enablement Tools to ensure sales and service effectiveness content is reflected in and supported by frontline technology and tooling.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Organizational Development, or a related field.
• Minimum of 10 years in sales enablement, sales effectiveness, service operations, or a related role within financial services or a comparable regulated industry.
• Deep knowledge of Retail, SMB, and/or Mortgage sales and service processes, including front-line operating models and banker workflows in a large consumer bank.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing sales process frameworks, playbooks, and performance routines that drive measurable banker behavior change.
• Proven ability to build effective partnerships with Learning & Development, Channel Leaders, and Operations to translate strategy into frontline execution.
• Track record of improving service quality, resolution rates, or customer experience outcomes through structured process and workflow design.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence across channel leadership, operations, and enterprise strategy without direct authority.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including executive-level presentation and facilitation skills.

Skills

• Deep knowledge of retail banking sales/service models, customer journeys, L&D principles, performance management, and risk/compliance frameworks.
• Strong strategic and analytical skills to design scalable processes, interpret performance data, and drive continuous improvement.
• Proven ability to build and align enterprise capability programs, linking learning, process, and performance to measurable outcomes.
• Exceptional stakeholder management, communication, and influence skills across matrixed, cross-functional environments.
• Ability to translate strategy into practical, frontline-executable solutions while balancing customer experience, business results, and compliance requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree is a plus.
• Director-level experience within a top-25 U.S. retail bank or large financial institution.
• Experience designing DILO/WILO/MILO frameworks or equivalent structured performance models for frontline banking roles.
• Familiarity with adult learning principles, instructional design, and curriculum development in partnership with an L&D function.
• Knowledge of customer journey mapping methodologies and service design practices.
• Experience establishing partnership routines between specialist and generalist banker teams.