Head of IT Operations & Crisis Management | S5 | Chief Information & Resilience Office | Milton Keynes | Internal Mobility

Country: United Kingdom

IT STARTS HERE

Santander is evolving from a global, high-impact brand into a technology-driven organisation, and our people are at the heart of this journey. Together, we are driving a customer-centric transformation that values bold thinking, innovation, and the courage to challenge what’s possible. This is more than a strategic shift. It’s a chance for driven professionals to grow, learn, and make a real difference. Our mission is to contribute to help more people and businesses prosper. We embrace a strong risk culture and all our professionals at all levels are expected to take a proactive and responsible approach toward risk management.

Santander Digital Services is the team of technology and operations at Santander. We are convinced of the importance of technology that is aligned with the requirements of the business and that our work not only brings value to users, people and communities but also fosters individual creativity. Our team of over 7,000 people in 8 countries develops and/or implements financial solutions across a broad spectrum of technologies on all kinds of on-premise and cloud-based platforms.

THE DIFFERENCE YOU MAKE

The Chief Information & Resilience Office is looking for a Head of IT Operations & Crisis Management based out of Unity Place, Milton Keynes. The Head of IT Operations & Crisis Management will be responsible for leading, managing, and continuously improving end-to-end Technology Operations, Incident Management, and Crisis Management across the bank, ensuring the stability, resilience, and recoverability of critical business services during technology incidents, major disruptions, and enterprise crisis events.

This role brings together Technology Incident Management, Major Incident Management, Disaster Recovery, and Service Introduction with Business Incident and Crisis Management coordination, reflecting the increasing convergence between technology resilience, business continuity, and regulatory expectations. The Head of IT Operations & Crisis Management is accountable for end-to-end service availability, operational risk management, incident and problem management, infrastructure operations, and adherence to regulatory, operational resilience, and security requirements expected of a Tier 1 UK financial institution. Additionally, the role is accountable for ensuring that technology-led incidents and wider business crises are managed in a coordinated, decisive, and regulatorily robust manner, with clear ownership, escalation, communication, and recovery outcomes.

The Head of IT Operations & Crisis Management plays a critical role in ensuring that technology services are reliable, scalable, and compliant and acts as a central authority during high-severity incidents and crisis events, ensuring alignment between Technology, Business, Risk, Communications, and Executive leadership. This role has 24/7 responsibility for Technology Operations and Crisis Management.

We’re shaping the way we work through innovation, cutting-edge technology, collaboration and the freedom to explore new ideas. To succeed in this role, you will be responsible for:

• Accountable for the stability, availability and resilience of the Bank’s live technology estate, maintaining operational performance across a large, complex and evolving environment.
• Act as the senior operational authority during major incidents and crisis events, leading both technical resolution and enterprise-wide impact management.
• Ensure coordinated, decisive response across Technology, Business, Risk and Communications functions, with clear command, escalation and accountability.
• Own technology service continuity, disaster recovery and permit-to-operate readiness, embedding recovery and resilience by design.
• Lead operational integration activity associated with the Bank’s acquisition integration and broader organisational convergence, balancing service stability with transformation delivery.
• Oversee infrastructure and platform operations across hybrid and outsourced environments, holding third parties and Group partners accountable for performance and resilience outcomes.
• Strengthen operational risk management, regulatory engagement and assurance, representing Technology Operations confidently with regulators and senior governance forums.
• Drive operational efficiency and financial discipline across a leaner operating model, managing budgets, resource allocation and cost-performance trade-offs.
• Embed robust service introduction, change governance and operational readiness to ensure new and transformed services enter production safely and sustainably.
• Build, reshape and lead high-performing multi-disciplinary teams, uplifting capability, managing workforce change and fostering an action-oriented culture of ownership and accountability.

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

Our people are our greatest strength. Every individual contributes unique perspectives that make us stronger as a team and as an organisation. We’re enabling teams to go beyond by valuing who they are and empowering what they bring. The following requirements represent the knowledge, skills, and abilities essential for success in this role. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Extensive leadership experience across enterprise-scale IT Operations within a mid-to-large regulated financial services organisation.
• Proven authority in leading major incidents and crisis events, managing both technical restoration and wider business impact under executive and regulatory scrutiny.
• Strong understanding of operational resilience, disaster recovery, high-availability architectures and hybrid operating models, including outsourced and offshore environments.
• Experience operating within, or alongside, large-scale integration or organisational transformation programmes while maintaining service stability.
• Demonstrable capability holding third-party providers accountable for operational performance within complex multi-sourced delivery models.
• Credible regulatory engagement experience, with the confidence to represent Technology Operations in formal regulatory and senior governance settings.
• Financial and commercial acumen to manage significant operational budgets while delivering efficiency and performance improvements.
• Track record of reshaping and leading sizeable operational teams, attracting and developing talent within changing organisational structures.
• Enterprise leadership capability, able to align operational strategy with wider business priorities and organisational change agendas.
• Clear, authoritative communicator who translates technical risk and operational performance into concise, decision-ready insight for senior stakeholders.

Education

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline (or equivalent experience), with professional certifications and continuous development in IT Operations, Operational Resilience, and Technology Leadership.

Hard Skills

• Extensive experience leading enterprise-scale IT Operations to ensure the stability, availability, resilience, and recoverability of critical technology services.
• Proven capability to lead major technology incidents and enterprise crisis events, coordinating technical recovery and business response.
• Strong expertise in operational resilience, disaster recovery, service continuity, and high-availability operating models.
• Experience managing hybrid infrastructure environments and holding third-party providers accountable for operational performance and resilience.
• Strong knowledge of technology risk management, regulatory requirements, and governance within a regulated financial services environment.
• Demonstrated ability to embed service introduction, operational readiness, and change governance to ensure safe and sustainable production delivery.

Soft Skills

• Demonstrated ability to provide decisive leadership during high-pressure incidents and crisis situations, making informed decisions under executive and regulatory scrutiny.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to coordinate and influence Technology, Business, Risk, Communications, third parties, and Executive leadership.
• Strong communication skills, able to translate complex technical risks and operational performance into clear, decision-ready insights for senior stakeholders.
• Proven ability to build, lead, and develop high-performing, multi-disciplinary teams while fostering a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Strategic thinking, with the ability to balance operational stability with organisational transformation and business priorities.
• Strong influencing and relationship management skills, with credibility to engage confidently with regulators, senior governance forums, and external partners.

WE VALUE YOUR IMPACT

At Santander, your contribution matters. We recognise the difference you make every day, and we make sure you feel valued, supported and rewarded in return. Here, recognition goes beyond pay. It’s about the pride you feel in your work, the impact you have on customers and communities, and the opportunities you have to grow and thrive — personally and professionally.

Salary Range: £108,800.00 - £163,200.00 per annum (depending on experience). This salary range represents the expected remuneration for the role. Annual salary is based on a standard 35-hour working week. Actual salary offered will depend on skills, experience, qualifications and location.

Competitive rewards that reflect the real impact you make and the value you bring. Wellbeing that goes beyond work — we work with a range of wellbeing partners across our 4 pillars of wellbeing (physical, mental, social and financial) to give you access to a suite of apps, discounted gym and fitness access, weekly online classes, flexible healthcare and mental health support. Support for every life stage — from menopause and pregnancy to parenthood and beyond, with enhanced family leave, childcare options and tailored wellbeing support. Time to give back through volunteering opportunities that let you make a difference in the communities we serve. Global growth opportunities to shape your career, learn new skills and explore what’s possible across our international network.

Ready to be recognised? It starts with you.

LOCAL COMPLIANCE

At Santander, we’re proud to be an inclusive organisation that provides equal opportunities for everyone — regardless of age, gender, disability, civil status, race, religion or sexual orientation. We’re committed to creating a recruitment experience that’s accessible, fair and welcoming for all candidates. We want our people to thrive — at work and at home — while delivering the best outcomes for our customers and supporting each other to grow. To make this possible, our roles are site-based with a hybrid working pattern, where colleagues are expected to attend the office at least 12 days per month (pro-rata for part-time roles). When applying, please consider the travel distance, time and cost to your chosen office location(s). We welcome applications on the understanding that, should you be offered this role, there may be no relocation package available. Santander will pay the employer mandatory government fees that are required to pay in connection with visa sponsorship. You may be liable for your own personal employee immigration and relocation costs.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

If this sounds like a role you are interested in, then please apply. For further Guidance please visit Internal Mobility - Candidate Guidance. If you want to know more about the opportunity: Please contact Rohit Vij - rohit.vij@santander.co.uk