Senior Technology Project Manager - Banking Systems

Luminate Bank is redefining what modern banking can be. In just five years under its current leadership, the company has grown from a $62 million community bank into a $500 million financial institution, the fastest-growing state-chartered bank, while building one of the fastest-growing mortgage platforms in the country.

The momentum has been extraordinary:

• Grew bank assets from $62 million to $500 million in five years- the fastest-growing state-chartered bank
• Ranked a 2026 Top Workplace in Minnesota by the Star Tribune and #1 among large companies in Colorado Top Workplaces 2026
• Named a 2026 Top Workplaces Culture Excellence winner in eight categories and a Top Workplace nationally in Financial Services
• Surpassed $4 billion in mortgage originations in 2025
• Ranked among the Top 30 Mortgage Lenders nationally by Scotsman Guide
• Maintain a 4.9-star average rating across 45,000+ customer reviews
• Recognized by Freddie Mac with two 2026 Home Possible RISE Awards® for Greatest Volume and Fastest Growth
• Honored by the Minnesota Mortgage Association as 2025 Leaders of the Year

But the story is bigger than growth metrics and awards. Luminate Bank is building a culture designed for ambitious, high-performing people who want to shape the future of banking. We move quickly, think boldly, and invest deeply in our people. Innovation, accountability, collaboration, and customer experience are at the center of everything we do.

What began as a rapidly growing lending and banking platform is now entering its next phase: building a nationally recognized financial brand that redefines how modern banking is experienced.

For leaders who want the opportunity to build, scale, and leave a lasting impact, this is a rare moment to join a company with startup energy, national momentum, and a long runway ahead.

POSITION OVERVIEW

Luminate Bank is building a technology team that moves fast and delivers. We are looking for a Senior Technology Project Manager who owns our bank technology projects from idea to go-live. You will set the plan, assign the work, lead our core and digital banking vendors, and make sure projects finish on time and in scope.

This is a hands-on leadership role. You will translate business needs into clear requirements for Jack Henry and our other core banking system providers, recommend the right technical solution, and partner with our development team when a gap calls for a proprietary application or AI agent built on vendor APIs.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

Own and Run Projects

• Lead bank technology projects end to end: intake, scoping, planning, execution, testing, go-live and post-launch review.
• Build and maintain project plans with tasks, owners, dates and dependencies; assign work across business, technology and vendor teams.
• Run kickoffs, working sessions and status meetings; publish clear weekly status, risks and decisions.
• Hold stakeholders and vendors to their commitments; escalate early, with a recommended path forward, when dates or quality are at risk.
• Manage several projects at once and keep them moving; no project stalls without a plan to unblock it.

Control Scope and Deliver Quickly

• Define scope, success criteria and out-of-scope items up front and get business sign-off before work begins.
• Run a formal change-request process; assess the impact of new asks on time, cost and risk before accepting them.
• Break large initiatives into phased deliveries that put value in users’ hands sooner.

Lead Vendor Implementations

• Manage implementations, upgrades and conversions with Jack Henry and other core, digital banking, payments and fintech providers.
• Review SOWs and project plans with Vendor Management; own the bank-side plan and hold vendors to theirs.
• Coordinate testing (UAT), cutover planning, training and go-live readiness.

Business Analysis & Technical Recommendations

• Lead discovery with business owners; document current- and future-state processes and requirements.
• Write clear functional and technical requirements for vendors, and translate vendor responses back for the business.
• Evaluate options (configure, buy, or build) and recommend solutions with trade-offs, cost and risk.
• Work with the Engineering team on integrations, proprietary applications and AI agents that use vendor APIs; define requirements, acceptance criteria and priorities, while Engineering builds.

Bring Order and Improve How We Work

• Organize business stakeholders: clarify roles, decision owners and deadlines for every project.
• Follow and help improve our SDLC, documentation standards, change management, release planning, intake and capacity planning.
• Keep project documentation, requirements and decisions current and audit-ready.
• Identify and champion AI-enabled tools that speed up requirements, ticket writing and project management.
• Provide hands-on coordination during high-priority incidents or critical release events affecting bank systems.

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

Required Experience

• 5+ years of project management in banking or financial services technology, including leading third-party vendor implementations to go-live.
• Hands-on experience with core banking systems; Jack Henry (SilverLake) and MANTL strongly preferred.
• Working knowledge of bank operations and products: deposits, lending, payments, digital banking, and related compliance (e.g., BSA/AML, Reg E, vendor risk).
• Proven record of setting scope, preventing scope creep and delivering on schedule.
• Strong business analysis skills: discovery, process mapping, requirements and UAT.
• Enough technical fluency to discuss APIs, integrations, data flows and system configuration with vendors and engineers.
• Confident, proactive leader who assigns work, follows up and holds peers, business leaders and vendors accountable.
• Clear written and verbal communication with executives, business users and technical teams.

Preferred Experience

• Experience with core conversions, digital banking or LOS implementations.
• Experience with Agile delivery and tools such as Azure DevOps, SharePoint, Jira or GitHub Projects.
• Exposure to data platforms, automation or AI agent use cases in banking.

What Success Looks Like

• First 30 days: Knows our core systems, vendors and project portfolio; has an inventory of active projects with owners and status.
• First 90 days: Every active project has a signed-off scope, a working plan and a weekly status rhythm; at least one stalled project is back on track.
• First 6 months: Has delivered at least 1-2 vendor implementations or enhancements on time and in scope; the business sees a predictable, organized intake and delivery process.

EDUCATION

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Information Systems, Finance, or a related field preferred.
• Equivalent professional experience in banking technology or technology project leadership will be considered.
• PMP, PMI-ACP, CBAP, or equivalent certification is a plus.

BENEFITS

• Competitive compensation commensurate with experience and demonstrated ability
• Excellent benefits package including health insurance with pre-tax HSA and FSA accounts, dental, and vision
• Life and AD&D Insurance, plus additional voluntary benefit options
• 401(k) with robust company match
• Flexible PTO program
• Earned Sick & Safe Time (ESST)
• The opportunity to be a driving force behind technology transformation at the Midwest’s fastest-growing lender