Lead Analyst - Deposit & Payment Operations (Wire Operations)

Overview

Lead Analyst in Deposit & Payment Operations, managing complex, time-sensitive domestic and international wire operations on assigned shifts with independent decision-making and control oversight.

What you'll do

• Independently manage assigned shift operations, ensuring accurate, timely end-to-end processing, verification, release, monitoring, repair, return and reconciliation of domestic and international USD and foreign-currency wire transfers.
• Serve as a key escalation point for complex and time-sensitive wire exceptions, including non-STP, duplicate, delayed, rejected, returned or misrouted transactions, driving timely investigation and resolution within established service standards.
• Apply working knowledge of Fedwire, SWIFT and ISO 20022 payment messages to identify formatting, routing, settlement and data-quality issues and determine appropriate repair or escalation actions.
• Ensure adherence to operational controls, authentication requirements, approval limits, sanctions and AML-related controls, and established escalation protocols to safeguard payment integrity and minimize operational risk.
• Proactively monitor payment queues, prioritize critical transactions, manage cut-off and settlement risks, track aged and pending items, and ensure effective shift handovers during business-as-usual operations, volume spikes and system disruptions.
• Translate operational challenges, control gaps and business requirements into process flows, user stories, acceptance criteria, test scenarios and measurable solution outcomes.
• Partner with technology and product teams on system enhancements, payment migrations, automation and workflow changes; lead impact assessment, user acceptance testing, defect triage, implementation readiness and post-release validation.
• Leverage operational data and technology to identify trends, reduce manual intervention, improve straight-through processing, strengthen controls, and develop dashboards and exception insights.
• Serve as a subject matter expert, provide technical guidance to peers, conduct knowledge sessions, review complex items when required, and promote consistent operational decision-making without formal people-management responsibility.
• Communicate payment risks, incidents, operational dependencies, change impacts and resolution status to Operations, Treasury, Technology, Risk, Compliance and onshore stakeholders.
• Maintain accurate and audit-ready operational documentation and reporting across transaction volumes, service performance, exceptions, ageing, incidents, control results and improvement initiatives.
• Support business continuity and incident-management activities, including assessment of operational impact, recovery validation, backlog prioritization and controlled execution of approved workarounds during system or network disruptions.
• Provide accurate evidence, transaction analysis, process documentation and subject matter expertise in support of internal reviews, external audits, regulatory requests and control assessments.

What you'll need

• Bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, business administration, commerce or a related discipline.
• 8–9 years of banking operations experience, with significant hands-on experience in wire transfers, high-value payments or related payment operations.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex payment transactions, exceptions, investigations, cut-off requirements, settlement activities and operational controls within a wire or high-value payments environment.
• Proven experience operating as a subject matter expert, key escalation point or independent shift owner, with the ability to manage priorities and make sound operational decisions with minimal supervision.
• Extensive hands-on knowledge of end-to-end domestic and international wire processing, including payment validation, processing, release, monitoring, repair, investigations, returns, recalls, settlement and reconciliation.
• Strong working knowledge of Fedwire, SWIFT payment messaging, correspondent banking, payment routing, cut-off management, value dating, and USD and foreign-currency payment flows.
• Working knowledge of ISO 20022 payment messages, with the ability to interpret structured payment data, identify validation or formatting issues, and assess downstream operational impacts.
• Strong understanding of operational risk, maker-checker controls, sanctions screening, AML requirements, payment authentication, audit readiness and payment governance, with the ability to consistently apply established controls.
• Ability to serve as a wire operations SME, provide technical guidance to peers, share knowledge, support complex transaction reviews, and promote consistent operational decision-making.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate complex payment, operational, risk and system issues to Operations, Technology, Risk, Compliance, Treasury and other key stakeholders.
• Strong working knowledge of wire-processing platforms, payment applications, workflow-management tools and operational reporting systems.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, with the ability to analyze large operational datasets, identify trends and exceptions, perform root-cause analysis and translate data into actionable insights.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint for process documentation, procedures, management presentations, analytical summaries and stakeholder communications.
• Ability to translate wire-processing requirements, operational pain points and control gaps into clear business requirements and partner with Technology and Product teams to deliver sustainable solutions.
• Experience supporting UAT, payment-system enhancements, system implementations, migrations and digital transformation initiatives, including test scenario development, defect identification, implementation readiness and post-production validation.
• Must be willing and able to work night shifts aligned with U.S. business hours and critical wire-payment processing and cut-off requirements.

Nice to have

• Experience collaborating with U.S.-based or global stakeholders and working effectively within a global delivery model.
• Familiarity with reporting and data-visualization tools, such as Power BI or equivalent technologies, to monitor operational performance, exceptions, ageing, volumes and key risk or control indicators.
• Exposure to automation and emerging technologies, including RPA, Automation Anywhere and AI-enabled solutions, to reduce manual intervention and improve operational efficiency and controls.
• Exposure to process transformation, automation, operational risk management, control enhancement or continuous-improvement initiatives within banking or payment operations.
• Relevant professional certifications or training in payments, SWIFT, ISO 20022, risk and compliance, data analytics, automation or process improvement.

Details

• Location: Bangalore, India.
• Work mode: Hybrid.
• Career level: P3; job category: Manager.
• Reports to: Senior Manager, Deposit & Payment Operations.
• Shift: Night shifts aligned with U.S. business hours.