Change Management Lead - Merchant Services (Senior...

Wells Fargo is seeking a Senior Lead Change Management Consultant as part of the Merchant Services organization. This role is designed for a seasoned change management professional who can lead a team, provide day-to-day execution oversight, and strengthen the operating discipline of a change management program without serving as an executive-level position.

The Senior Lead will oversee a portfolio of change management activities that impact business process, people, systems, technology, controls, and compliance routines. The role will partner with leadership and cross-functional stakeholders to improve workflows, execute change governance routines, mature control execution, manage intake and prioritization, and ensure changes are assessed, sequenced, monitored, and implemented with appropriate risk discipline.

In this role, you will

• Lead and coach a team responsible for change intake, impact analysis, change readiness, implementation support, reporting, governance routines, and post-implementation follow-up.

• Oversee daily change management operations, including disposition of new change requests, book-of-work management, status tracking, documentation quality, forum facilitation, and stakeholder follow-through.

• Drive process improvements across the change lifecycle by identifying workflow gaps, simplifying procedures, improving handoffs, and standardizing repeatable execution practices.

• Execute and monitor control activities tied to change management procedures, including evidence collection, quality checks, issue escalation, risk mitigation, and adherence to applicable policies and standards.

• Partner with business, product, operations, technology, risk, compliance, and control partners to align change execution with business priorities, operational readiness, and governance expectations.

• Provide senior-level guidance to resolve procedural conflicts, remove execution bottlenecks, and support timely decision-making across complex or competing initiatives.

• Develop and maintain change management playbooks, operating procedures, templates, job aids, and reporting routines that support consistent execution by the team.

• Analyze qualitative and quantitative data to identify trends, root causes, control gaps, execution risks, capacity constraints, and opportunities to improve the change management operating model.

• Prepare clear communications, business updates, leadership materials, and decision-ready summaries for management forums, governance routines, and stakeholder engagement.

• Coordinate training, communications, and readiness activities to help impacted teams understand process expectations, role responsibilities, control requirements, and implementation timelines.

• Lead continuous improvement efforts across intake management, change prioritization, release planning, stakeholder engagement, change governance, and operational reporting.

• Monitor assigned initiatives and team deliverables to drive accountability, reduce risk exposure, improve execution quality, and ensure deadlines and commitments are met.

• Support issue and risk management activities by identifying emerging risks, escalating concerns, tracking remediation activities, and validating completion of agreed-upon actions.

• Interact with peers, management, and technology partners to implement strategies, methods, and plans that improve workflow, strengthen controls, and support business outcomes.

Leadership Expectations:

• Set clear expectations for team deliverables, quality standards, roles, ownership, and escalation paths.

• Balance hands-on execution with team oversight, ensuring work is completed consistently and in alignment with program procedures.

• Provide practical coaching, feedback, and prioritization support to help team members manage competing deadlines and stakeholder needs.

• Promote a control-conscious, continuous-improvement mindset across the team and with cross-functional partners.

• Maintain professional, management-level communications that are clear, concise, actionable, and appropriate for senior stakeholders without positioning the role as executive-level.

Success Measures:

• Improved consistency and timeliness of change intake, impact analysis, governance routines, and implementation support.

• Enhanced control execution through stronger evidence practices, quality checks, risk identification, and issue follow-up.

• Clearer procedures, templates, reporting routines, escalation paths, and stakeholder accountability across the change lifecycle.

• Reduced execution bottlenecks and improved visibility into portfolio status, risks, dependencies, and decision needs.

• Effective team leadership demonstrated through quality deliverables, consistent operating discipline, and stronger cross-functional coordination., Employees support our focus on building strong customer relationships balanced with a strong risk mitigating and compliance-driven culture which firmly establishes those disciplines as critical to the success of our customers and company. They are accountable for execution of all applicable risk programs (Credit, Market, Financial Crimes, Operational, Regulatory Compliance), which includes effectively following and adhering to applicable Wells Fargo policies and procedures, appropriately fulfilling risk and compliance obligations, timely and effective escalation and remediation of issues, and making sound risk decisions. There is emphasis on proactive monitoring, governance, risk identification and escalation, as well as making sound risk decisions commensurate with the business unit’s risk appetite and all risk and compliance program requirements.

• 7+ years of Business Execution, Implementation, or Strategic Planning experience, or equivalent demonstrated through one or a combination of the following: work experience, training, military experience, education.

Desired qualifications

• Financial services, merchant services, payments, operations, risk management, or control management experience.

• 7+ years of project, program, product, or business execution experience supporting complex initiatives or cross-functional portfolios.

• Team leadership, work direction, coaching, or oversight experience in a matrixed business environment.

• Experience leading process transformation, governance modernization, or operating model improvement initiatives.

• Experience building and sustaining change management frameworks, intake models, prioritization routines, release plans, and implementation readiness practices.

• Experience executing or overseeing control activities, risk mitigation routines, issue management, procedure adherence, or operational governance processes.

• Experience analyzing operational data, identifying trends, and preparing management-ready summaries, recommendations, or decision materials.

• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence, resolve ambiguity, and coordinate outcomes across business, technology, risk, compliance, and control partners.

• Strong understanding of change management, project/program management, communications, controls, compliance, and Agile delivery practices.

• Experience developing playbooks, procedures, templates, training materials, business cases, reporting packages, and leadership presentations.

• Ability to manage multiple priorities, tactically drive execution, solve complex problems, and maintain high quality in a fast-paced environment.

• Advanced Microsoft Office skills, including Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Project; experience using reporting, workflow, or collaboration tools is preferred.

Job expectations

• Position will require onsite presence at the required location listed below in a hybrid work schedule.

• Flexibility to support global teams across time zones.

Wells Fargo maintains a drug free workplace. Please see our Drug and Alcohol Policy (https://www.wellsfargojobs.com/en/wells-fargo-drug-and-alcohol-policy) to learn more.