Head of IT Platform (Front Office)

Job Purpose The Head of Front Office IT Platform is instrumental in shaping the IT strategic roadmap and driving continuous improvement across front office systems and digital capabilities. This individual will serve as the subject matter expert, taking ownership of digital technology platforms and ensuring alignment with business objectives. Working closely with Front Office IT Delivery Managers (Onboarding and Maintenance & Servicing) and key business stakeholders, this role is responsible for defining and delivering the front office IT systems and platform roadmap to maximise business value. The role ensures seamless end-to-end delivery of front office platforms—from concept through to deployment and optimisation—while maintaining strong alignment between IT and business needs, including non-functional excellence. Key Outcomes Define strategy and drive delivery of the Front Office IT platform roadmap Provide leadership to IT delivery and business teams to ensure availability, supportability, and operational excellence Identify and drive platform enhancements, including business case development and stakeholder engagement Collaborate with business stakeholders on prioritisation of changes and backlog management Ensure system design supports “right first time,” reduced time to market, and cost efficiency Drive adoption of platform principles, standards, and governance Contribute to ROI and business case development for platform initiatives Support capacity and capability planning through estimation and impact assessments Management & Leadership Lead and coach senior IT managers (manager of managers) Foster a high-performance, innovative, and engaged team culture Build and maintain strong stakeholder relationships Act as escalation point for major incidents and platform defects Drive simplification, consolidation, and transformation of digital capabilities Define and govern target platform architecture and operating model Qualifications & Experience BCom / BSc in Computer Science or equivalent MBA or relevant business leadership qualification (advantageous) 12+ years’ experience in financial services IT 8+ years’ management experience, including 3+ years at senior leadership level Strong understanding of end-to-end solution delivery (development, architecture, QA, best practices) Strong business acumen with the ability to align IT strategy to business value Additional Preferred Experience Cloud technologies and modern digital platform stacks Resilient IT infrastructure and high-availability design Data governance, data quality, and privacy frameworks IT governance, risk management, and audit processes