Chief Information Officer in Fresno, California at Fresno First Bank

About FFB

Since opening our doors in 2005, FFB Bank has focused on one mission: to help businesses, professionals, and successful individuals reach their goals through personalized service and flexible financial solutions. As one of the top-performing community banks in the nation, FFB offers a full range of banking services, including business and personal accounts, specialized lending, and modern payments solutions.

What It’s Like to Work Here

We believe our people are our greatest asset. That’s why we foster a supportive, collaborative workplace where employees are empowered to grow, contribute ideas, and make a real impact.

Highlights include:

• Employee ownership through our ESOP program
• A collaborative, close-knit culture
• Opportunities to participate in community and networking events

Benefits:

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Life insurance
• Paid vacation
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Training & development opportunities
• Tuition reimbursement
• Employee Assistance Program
• Internal job postings and referral program

Our Values

At FFB, we live by our core values: Teamwork, Relationship, Authenticity, and Commitment (TRAC).

Our team members bring these values to life by collaborating with colleagues, building trust with clients, communicating openly, and taking pride in doing amazing work every day!

About the Role

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) provides leadership, governance, and management oversight of the Bank's technology environment, including information technology operations, infrastructure, cybersecurity coordination, digital banking systems, enterprise applications, data governance, technology risk management, business continuity, disaster recovery, third-party technology relationships, and the delivery of reliable, responsive technology support to employees, business lines, and Bank operations. The CIO provides strategic leadership for all matters related to FFB Technology Operations, Services and Governance with direct reporting to the COO. The CIO partners with business leaders to ensure technology investments and support services enable the Bank's strategic objectives, operational efficiency, customer experience, regulatory compliance, growth, and risk management programs.

The CIO develops and executes a comprehensive technology strategy that promotes responsible innovation while maintaining a strong control environment consistent with regulatory expectations and the Bank's risk appetite. The position is accountable for the availability, resiliency, scalability, security, and cost-effectiveness of the Bank's technology capabilities and for ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of Bank and customer information.

Essential Duties:

• Develops and executes the Bank's technology strategy, multi-year roadmap, annual operating plan, and investment priorities in alignment with the Bank's strategic plan and risk appetite.
• Advises executive management and the Board of Directors on technology strategy, cybersecurity, operational resilience, digital transformation, emerging risks, and significant technology investments.
• Leads technology modernization, digital transformation, and technology partnership initiatives in alignment with business objectives and regulatory expectations.
• Evaluates emerging technologies, market developments, and banking industry trends to identify practical opportunities to improve client experience, employee productivity, operational efficiency, scalability, and competitive positioning.
• Establishes technology portfolio governance, business use standards, project prioritization, and benefit-realization practices.
• Directs the Bank's technology infrastructure, networks, cloud services, telecommunications, enterprise applications, end-user computing environment, and technology support services.
• Maintains enterprise architecture and technology standards that support secure integration, scalability, reliability, interoperability, and prudent lifecycle management.
• Ensures technology systems and support services meet established performance, availability, capacity, recovery, response, resolution, and service-level objectives.
• Oversees technology service management practices, including incident, problem, change, release, configuration, asset, patch, and vulnerability management.
• Establishes and monitors support intake, prioritization, escalation, root-cause follow-up, user communication, and service-performance reporting practices.
• Identifies and addresses technical debt, unsupported systems, single points of failure, and other technology concentration or resiliency risks.
• Partners with Enterprise Risk and other control stakeholders to maintain an effective, risk-based information security and cybersecurity program with appropriate independence, accountability, and escalation.
• Ensures administrative, technical, and physical safeguards protect Bank, customer, and employee confidential or sensitive information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, disruption, or destruction.
• Manages security architecture, identity and access management, vulnerability remediation, threat detection, logging, incident response, and secure configuration practices.
• Coordinates the technology response to cybersecurity incidents and significant operational disruptions, including communication, containment, recovery, and lessons learned.
• Establishes and maintains a technology risk management and control framework consistent with applicable laws, regulations, regulatory guidance, industry standards, and the Bank's enterprise risk management program.
• Ensures technology controls are appropriately designed, documented, implemented, tested, monitored, and remediated.
• Serves as the primary management liaison for technology-related regulatory examinations, internal audits, external audits, and independent assessments.
• Ensures timely and sustainable remediation of examination findings, audit issues, risk acceptances, control deficiencies, and management action plans.
• Maintains current technology policies, standards, procedures, inventories, diagrams, and governance records.
• Owns the lifecycle management of critical technology vendors, including due diligence facilitation with ERM, selection, contracting, implementation, monitoring, performance management, escalation, renewal, transition, and termination.
• Participates in negotiations for material technology and cybersecurity agreements, addressing service levels, information security, audit rights, regulatory access, resilience, subcontractors, data ownership, transition assistance, and concentration risk.
• Ensures fintech partnerships and outsourced technology arrangements meet contractual obligations and operate within approved governance, risk, compliance, and customer-protection frameworks.
• Ensures technology recovery strategies, backups, redundancy, recovery testing, cyber-recovery capabilities, and telecommunications resilience support the Bank's business continuity, disaster recovery, crisis management, and operational resilience objectives.
• Coordinates technology recovery efforts during significant business interruptions and regularly reports readiness, exceptions, test results, and material risks to management and the Board.
• Supports enterprise data governance to improve data quality, ownership, lineage, accessibility, retention, security, reporting, and responsible use.
• Establishes governance and technical standards for artificial intelligence, automation, analytics, and emerging technologies, including use-case approval, data protection, access controls, human oversight, monitoring, and change management.
• Promotes responsible experimentation and innovation while ensuring new capabilities receive appropriate legal, compliance, risk, information security, privacy, and vendor review before implementation.
• Develops and manages the annual technology budget, forecasts, capital plan, staffing plan, vendor expenditures, performance metrics, executive dashboards, and total cost of ownership.
• Leads, coaches, and develops technology personnel; establishes performance and development expectations; supports succession and workforce planning; builds effective stakeholder relationships; and performs other duties as assigned while maintaining regular and reliable attendance.
• Embodies the TRAC Values and Critical Behaviors (Teamwork, Relationship, Authenticity, Commitment) as core principles, using them to guide daily interactions and decision-making.
• Completes administrative tasks with a sense of urgency, including required Bank Compliance Training. Responds to internal and external inquiries via email, phone, or messaging platforms in a timely and professional manner. Positively represents the Bank through ethical conduct and community involvement.
• Demonstrates an understanding of and commitment to EEO policies. Fosters a respectful, inclusive workplace by valuing cultural differences, preventing harassment of any kind, and supporting a diverse workforce.
• Ensures adherence to all Bank policies, procedures, and processes, along with applicable state and federal laws, rules, and regulations, ensuring confidentiality and data privacy while carrying out AML/CFT (Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism) responsibilities specific to the role.
• Performs duties in an office or home office environment, involving tasks such as writing, typing, speaking, lifting moderate weights, and operating office equipment. The position requires physical activities like sitting, walking, and reaching. Reasonable accommodation can be made for individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.
• Travels up to 10%, including but not limited to attending company meetings, training sessions, and corporate events, with travel typically being regional or local based on business needs.

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in a relevant field (e.g., Information Technology, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Business, or related) preferred. Professional certifications such as CISSP, CISM, CRISC, CISA, CGEIT, PMP, or comparable technology, security, risk, governance, or project management credentials are preferred but not required.
• 10 or more years of progressively responsible technology experience, including at least 5 years in a senior leadership role with enterprise-wide responsibility.
• Financial institution experience strongly preferred, including experience with banking platforms, digital banking, payments, regulatory examinations, technology risk, cybersecurity, vendor management, and major system implementations.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills, with the ability to provide leadership, delegation, motivation, problem resolution, and training for 4 or more employees using positive supervisory techniques to ensure maximum productivity.
• Capable of establishing performance standards, measuring outcomes, taking corrective action, and appropriately rewarding employees.
• Comprehensive knowledge of management procedures, with the ability to plan department activities including developing strategies and creating policies and procedures.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, Outlook) required.
• Effective oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills with the ability to apply common sense to carry out instructions, interpret documents, understand procedures, write reports and correspondence, and speak clearly to customers, vendors and employees.
• Strong teamwork and relationship skills with the ability to lead collaborative efforts, foster alignment, and drive results.
• Ability to take initiative and impact change within the Bank through consensus building, negotiation, and conflict resolution.
• Commitment to continuous learning and professional development of self and team members to stay current with industry standards and best practices.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain authenticity and integrity in all professional interactions, ensuring trust and credibility with team members, customers, and direct reports.
• Willingness to take on special projects and perform other duties as assigned, beyond core responsibilities, to support team and organizational needs.
• Capable of managing multiple priorities and meeting deadlines in a dynamic environment.
• Proven ability to adapt to changing priorities and procedures.
• Current driver’s license and a vehicle with appropriate insurance coverage if required to drive while performing assigned duties and responsibilities.