Head of Strategy and Architecture

Rare opportunity to join a specialist bank, staffed by experts focused on helping UK businesses realise their ambitions. Offering niche speciality lines as a SME bank, dedicating wholesale Finance, Bridging Finance, Development Finance and Specialist Mortgages teams ensure that businesses receive outstanding service.

The position will be part of the Solution and Delivery department who provides the inhouse development and solution architecture functions, they build and improve their in house developed applications and application integrations for both in house and 3rd party applications.

Responsibilities

Technology Strategy

• Per Business Line - Accountable for annually working with Senior leadership to create and publish a per department technology strategy aligned with the wider group IT Strategy.
• Application – Accountable for annual refreshes of the key application strategies, alignment with the business line strategies and communication with the relevant vendors.
• Broader Technology Concepts – Key contributor in wider group technologies strategies such as Artificial Intelligence, energy efficiency, Cloud, etc.
• Technology Architecture – Accountable for guiding and documenting the architecture. Both the current and future states. Running the architecture team to guide the evolution and deliver these states.
• Stakeholder Management – Frequent, in-depth discussions with business lines and senior leadership. The understanding, playback and enhancement of business direction through technology. Influencing and aligning diverse teams and senior leadership around architectural objectives and strategic priorities.
• Policy Definition – Development and support for key technology policy documents such as Artificial Intelligence, Cloud, etc.
• Skills - Technology and business understanding, strategic thinking and focus that aligns the outcomes of both such that minimises technical debt, group outcomes are achieved and technology function delivers the wider business strategy.
• Supplier Selection – Participation in the supplier selection process, mapping to business and strategic requirements
• Risk - Owns and is accountable for the risks and controls associated with operating a strategy and architecture function

Experience

• Strategic Vision – Ability to shape and articulate a compelling technology strategy that aligns with wider business goals, ensuring agility in a rapidly evolving banking landscape.
• Enterprise Architecture – Expertise Proven track record in designing robust, scalable technology architectures, ideally grounded in established frameworks, with experience applying them in complex Banking environments. Working in a hybrid cloud environment.
• Change Leadership – Proven ability to guide large-scale transformations, manage organisational change, and embed new ways of working across different functional areas.
• Operational Resilience – Understanding of risk management, cybersecurity, disaster recovery, and business continuity planning, ensuring resilient and secure systems.
• Risk Identification and Assessment – Proficiency in identifying, prioritising, and assessing technical and operational risks across the organisation’s technology and business landscape.
• Regulatory Knowledge – Familiarity with relevant banking regulations and compliance obligations, with a capacity to integrate these requirements into architectural decisions without stifling innovation.

Unfortunately the company are unable to offer any form of sponsorship for this role.