Independent Root Cause Quality Consultant (Customer Advocacy) - Hybrid

About the Team: The Root Cause & Action Planning Quality Team sits within the Complaint Program in Enterprise Operations and plays a critical role in improving the customer experience across the enterprise. Our mission is to drive consistent, high‑quality root cause analysis and action planning that leads to sustainable reductions in customer and employee pain points - while meeting regulatory expectations. We operate as internal consultants and coaches to the business. Rather than owning individual complaints, we analyze thematic issues across hundreds of complaints, helping business partners uncover what's really happening within end‑to‑end processes and ensuring solutions address true root causes, not symptoms. Our team is highly collaborative, deeply curious, and widely recognized for setting the standard for quality, accountability, and coaching excellence. The Role: As an Independent Root Cause Quality Consultant, you will partner with business lines across the organization to improve how root causes and action plans are identified, evaluated, and executed. This role requires someone who truly understands root cause analysis at a practitioner level - and can teach, challenge, and coach others to do it well. You will independently assess the quality of root causes and action plans developed by the business, provide clear and actionable feedback, and coach teams toward stronger problem definition, deeper analysis, and data‑supported solutions. In many cases, you will facilitate and coach leaders who are still building this skillset, ensuring they understand how to get beyond surface‑level symptoms and demonstrate that their solutions eliminated the problem. This role sits within a highly regulated program, requiring a strong appreciation for governance, risk management, accountability, and sustained execution. You will serve as an independent quality authority within the Complaint Program, ensuring root causes and action plans meet established governance standards before being accepted as complete. What You'll Do: * Root Cause Quality & Coaching: Conduct independent quality assessments of root causes and action plans using an established governance framework. Provide direct, constructive feedback and hands‑on coaching to business partners when work does not meet quality standards. Teach and reinforce proper root cause methodology (e.g., Five Whys, DMAIC, Lean/Six Sigma tools). Ensure conclusions are supported by data and that action plans demonstrably eliminate the underlying issue. Facilitate cross‑functional discussions when similar root causes emerge across products or business lines. * Action Planning & Execution: Partner with the business during action plan development to ensure plans are actionable, measurable, and aligned to the true root cause. Track progress through a centralized action‑plan management system and ensure accountability for execution. Partner with Office of the Customer and other stakeholders to assess the effectiveness of completed actions. Establish clear expectations for ownership, timelines, and outcomes. * Insights, Forums & Risk Awareness: Prepare for and participate in Root Cause Forums, ensuring documentation meets quality standards. Identify and communicate emerging complaint themes, trends, and systemic risks. Collaborate with first‑line risk partners to ensure awareness of high‑risk complaint drivers. Embed "The Way We Work" principles and continuous improvement practices across engagements. * Tools, Data & Innovation: Use data analysis to validate root causes, confirm improvement, and guide decision‑making. Leverage emerging technologies, including AI and Copilot tools, to identify patterns and improve insights. Apply process mapping, journey mapping, and value‑chain analysis to understand end‑to‑end processes. * Reporting, Dashboards & Quality Analytics: Develop and maintain reporting, dashboards, and quality metrics to track root cause quality, action plan effectiveness, recurrence trends, and overall program health. Translate qualitative assessments into clear, data‑driven insights for leaders, governance forums, and continuous improvement prioritization. * AI‑Accelerated Insights with Human Oversight: Apply AI responsibly as an accelerator of insight while ensuring strong human judgment, analytical rigor, and governance remain central to decision‑making. * Process Mapping and Value Chain Analysis: Apply process mapping, journey mapping, and value chain analysis to understand end to end processes. * Standards, Frameworks & Governance: Contribute to the ongoing development, refinement, and calibration of RCA quality standards, rubrics, and governance expectations to ensure consistency and alignment across the enterprise. Education and Experience Required: * Bachelor's degree, or equivalent practical experience * 3+ years of experience in process improvement, root cause analysis, or operational excellence * Demonstrated ability to perform deep root cause analysis (not symptom identification) * Comfort delivering feedback, challenging assumptions, and coaching business partners * Strong experience in business process improvement (not product development) * Proven facilitation and coaching experience with cross‑functional teams * Naturally curious, customer‑centric, and willing to challenge the status quo Education and Experience Preferred: * Hands‑on experience with DMAIC, Five Whys, Lean, or Six Sigma methodologies (any belt level a plus) * Experience working with customer or employee complaints, Voice of the Customer, or thematic issue analysis * Strong understanding of risk management, regulatory environments, and governance expectations * Experience in financial services or other highly regulated industries (preferred, not required) * Comfortable using data and emerging technologies (AI, Copilot, analytics tools) to drive insights * Demonstrate ability to articulate clear causal logic linking problem statements, root causes, and corrective actions What Success Looks Like: * Business partners understand how to identify true root causes - not just what went wrong * Action plans consistently meet quality standards and eliminate recurring issues * Complaint themes show measurable reduction over time * The organization improves its ability to sense, respond, and prevent customer pain points * You are recognized as a trusted advisor, coach, and thought partner * Quality insights, dashboards, and reporting are trusted inputs into leadership decision‑making and governance forums Work Model & Office Locations: This is a hybrid role requiring four days in-office per week. Eligible candidates must live within reasonable commuting distance to any of our offices below: * 1100 Wehrle Drive, Williamsville, NY 14221 * 850 Main Street, Bridgeport, CT 06604 * 1 Light Street, Baltimore, MD 21202 * 1100 North Market Street, Wilmington, DE 19801 * 499 Mitchell Street, Millsboro, DE 19966 Anticipated Travel Requirements: * Employees in this position should be prepared to travel at least once per quarter within the M&T Bank east coast footprint. * Travel may occur more often than this and is based upon the needs of the business and projects assigned. M&T Bank is committed to fair, competitive, and market-informed pay for our employees. The pay range for this position is $85,800.00 - $143,000.00 Annual (USD). The successful candidate's particular combination of knowledge, skills, and experience will inform their specific compensation. Location Williamsville, New York, United States of America