Job Introduction
The Services and Infrastructure function (UKTO) is responsible for supporting the UK District Network of Branches, our Functional Departments, and our end user consumers, through the effective delivery of Technology services and infrastructure solutions. To enable the Bank to modernise its core technology, the Head of Cloud & DevOps will be key in defining our Cloud strategy and leading the execution of the transformation to cloud-based infrastructure/services, and our move to a DevOps culture, methods and tooling.
The department, which sits within the UK Bank’s Technology department, is looking for a highly experienced person who has a recent background of working in complex Public Cloud environments and a DevOps culture, including migrating a complex, large scale platform from traditional hosting into public cloud, and the subsequent operation and evolution.
Collaborating with our parent company, Svenska Handelsbanken AB, to establish the UK bank’s cloud adoption will be key. The role will also be responsible for building the Cloud and DevOps teams.
Main Responsibility
Cloud Strategy and Planning:
- Develop and execute a comprehensive cloud strategy aligned with business objectives.
- Evaluate and select suitable public cloud platforms and technologies for migration and ongoing operations, including evaluating a platform provided by an intra group parent.
- Ensure cloud architecture standards, best practices, and policies are defined and maintained.
- Collaborate with other teams to identify opportunities for cloud adoption and optimization.
Cloud Migration and Operations:
- Lead and manage the migration of complex, large-scale services to the public cloud.
- Design and implement cloud infrastructure solutions to ensure scalability, high availability, and performance.
- Oversee the day-to-day operations and maintenance of cloud infrastructure and services.
- Monitor and optimize cloud resources to ensure cost-effectiveness and efficient resource utilization.
- Enforce security and compliance standards in the cloud environment.
DevOps Leadership:
- Build and lead high-performing DevOps teams, providing guidance, mentoring, and support.
- Define and implement DevOps practices, processes, and tooling to enable continuous integration, delivery, and deployment.
- Collaborate with development teams to streamline software delivery pipelines and automate release processes.
- Drive the adoption of infrastructure as code (IaC) and configuration management practices.
- Monitor and enhance system performance, reliability, and availability through effective monitoring and alerting systems.
Stakeholder Management:
- Work closely with cross-functional teams, including engineering, operations, and security, to ensure seamless integration and collaboration.
- Communicate and present cloud infrastructure and DevOps strategies, progress, and achievements to senior leadership and stakeholders.
- Provide technical leadership and guidance to teams during critical incidents or problem resolution.
The Ideal Candidate
- Minimum of 8 years of experience in cloud infrastructure management and DevOps roles, including at least 3 years in a leadership position.
- Proven track record of successfully migrating complex, large-scale digital services to public cloud platforms (e.g., AWS,Azure, Google Cloud).
- Strong expertise in cloud architecture design, cloud-native technologies, and infrastructure automation.
- Extensive experience with DevOps practices and toolsets, such as CI/CD pipelines, containerization (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes), and infrastructure orchestration (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation).
- Solid understanding of security and compliance frameworks in cloud environments.
- Excellent leadership and people management skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate a team.
- Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities, with a proactive and results-oriented mindset.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Compliance with the 6 Conduct Rules
- Act with integrity;
- Act with due skill, care and diligence;
- Be open and co-operative with the FCA, PRA and other regulators;
- Pay due regard to the interests of customers and treat them fairly;
- Observe proper standards of market conduct.
You must act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers
Core Values
- Is business-oriented and focuses on the customer.
- Takes a long-term approach.
- Has the courage to make decisions.
- Is innovative and proactive.
- Takes responsibility for their own development.
- Has high ethical and moral standards.
- Likes good administrative order.
- Collaborates with others to achieve joint goals.
- Contributes to the development of operations and colleagues.
Package Description
Competitive
About the Company
Handelsbanken is a relationship bank with a decentralised way of working, a strong local presence thanks to a nationwide network of branches, and a long-term approach to customer relations. Each Handelsbanken branch operates as a local business enabling it to make decisions at a local level and provide a bespoke service. The focus is always on the need of the individual customer and not on the sale of specific products.
The Bank is deeply committed to embedding good equality and diversity practice into all of our activities. This is so that we are an inclusive, welcoming and inspiring place to work that encourages everyone to apply, regardless of socio-economic background, age, disability, pregnancy and/or parental status, race (including colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origin), veteran status, marital and civil partnership status, religion or belief, sex, gender reassignment or sexual orientation.