Bank org chart example
A community bank of about two hundred people, drawn the way a regulator reads it: the businesses that make money on one side, and the risk, compliance and audit functions that are supposed to be able to stop them on the other, reporting where their independence is real.
How a bank is usually structured
At the top is a board of directors, and it is on the chart because two functions report to it. The chief executive runs the bank: a chief lending officer over commercial, consumer and mortgage lending; a chief credit officer whose credit administration checks what lending approves; a head of retail over the branches, each with a manager and tellers stacked beneath; a chief operating officer over deposit operations, loan operations and technology; and a chief financial officer over accounting and treasury.
Then the second and third lines of defence. The chief risk officer holds credit risk, compliance and the Bank Secrecy Act officer, reports to the chief executive day to day and to the board's audit or risk committee for everything that matters — that is the dotted line, and examiners look for it. Internal audit is the third line and reports to the audit committee directly, with the chief executive only as an administrative convenience. A bank that draws audit under the chief executive is telling the regulator something it did not mean to.
Credit unions have the same shape with different words: members elect a board, the chief executive is often called the president, and a supervisory committee stands in for the audit committee. Larger banks add layers — regional presidents, a treasury function that becomes its own division, a chief information officer — without changing where the lines of defence report.
Typical titles by level
The vocabulary these charts use, from the top down. Titles vary by country and by company; the levels don't.
| Level | Titles you'll see |
|---|---|
| Governance | Board of Directors, Audit Committee, Risk Committee, Supervisory Committee (credit unions) |
| Executive | Chief Executive or President, Chief Lending Officer, Chief Credit Officer, Head of Retail Banking, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Risk Officer, Chief Information Officer |
| Managers | Regional Manager, Branch Manager, Commercial Lending Manager, Mortgage Manager, Consumer Lending Manager, Credit Administration Manager, Deposit Operations Manager, Loan Operations Manager, Compliance Manager, BSA/AML Officer, Internal Audit Manager, Treasury Manager, Controller |
| Staff | Commercial Lender, Loan Officer, Underwriter, Loan Processor, Credit Analyst, Personal Banker, Universal Banker, Teller, Customer Service Representative, Operations Specialist, Compliance Analyst, Internal Auditor, Accountant, Systems Administrator |
Where these charts go wrong
Bank charts fail examiners by drawing internal audit under the chief executive with no line to the board; by giving the chief lending officer the credit administration function that is meant to check them; by hiding the BSA officer inside operations; and by charting every teller in a row. They fail everyone else by leaving the board off, so the chart looks like a company with an unusual number of people whose job is to say no.
Questions people ask
- Who does internal audit report to at a bank?
- The board's audit committee. The chief executive may handle pay and logistics, but the reporting line — what audit examines, what it finds, who it tells — runs to the board. Examiners read the chart for this line first, and a bank that has it wrong will be told so in writing.
- Where does the compliance or BSA officer sit?
- Inside the risk function, under the chief risk officer or a compliance manager, with a route to the board committee. The BSA officer specifically must be a named individual with the standing to escalate; the title on the card should be the exact title in the policy.
- How is a credit union different from a bank on the chart?
- Mostly vocabulary. A member-elected board, a president or chief executive, a supervisory committee doing the audit committee's job, and lending divided by product the same way. The lines of defence are drawn identically, because the regulator asks the same questions.
- How do you chart forty branches?
- Region by region: a regional manager over branch managers, tellers and bankers stacked under each. Give each branch its own card and colour the regions. The full-detail chart of every teller is the HR system's job, not the org chart's.
Other industries
- ManufacturingTwo shifts, and quality kept out of production's line.
- LogisticsDispatch runs the day; supervisors run the people.
- ConstructionOffice and field, meeting on every project.
- Software startupSquads under a CTO; product managers on a dotted line.
- NonprofitThe board on top, programmes beside the money.
- Medical practiceA clinical line and a business line, crossing at nursing.
- SchoolDepartments led by teachers who also manage.
- HotelSix divisions around one general manager.
- Marketing agencyDisciplines own people; pods own the work.
- Security & facilities servicesSites stacked under supervisors; a 24-hour control room.
- Sales teamRegions for closers, a team for openers, RevOps beside them.
- Accounting firmA partner pyramid, three service lines.
- Law firmPractice groups, and the business side that runs the firm.
- ChurchA board that governs, a pastor who leads, ministries below.
- RestaurantFront of house and back of house, meeting at the pass.
- IT departmentRun, build and secure, under one director.
- HR departmentPartners, specialists and operations: the three legs.
- Local governmentElected above appointed, and two officers who answer to the council.
- Utility companyField crews, a 24-hour control centre, and a regulator in the room.
- Staffing agencySales desks, recruiting desks, and a back office that pays two thousand people.
- HospitalTwo hierarchies that meet at the bedside.
- Retail chainHead office, the field, and a store drawn once.
- Small businessOne owner, two managers, and the jobs the owner still does.
Or start from a structure — functional, divisional, matrix or flat — or from your own spreadsheet. The guides cover a reorg, a merger, an assistant's chart and a consultant's deliverable.
Make it yours
Download the spreadsheet, replace the names, import it — the chart redraws itself. Or start empty and drag people until it's true. Building is free at any size.