Testing, Crisis Management & Communication Manager | S3 | Chief Information & Resilience Office[...] in Milton Keynes

IT STARTS HERE. Santander (www.santander.com) 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 (Spain, Portugal, Poland, UK, USA, Mexico, Chile and Brazil) develops and/or implements financial solutions across a broad spectrum of technologies (including Blockchain, Big Data and Angular among others) on all kinds of on‑premise and cloud‑based platforms.

This role will support the development and execution of a data‑driven scenario testing capability, ensuring the organisation can identify vulnerabilities, validate resilience, and respond effectively to crisis events. This is a technically focused role combining scenario design, resilience testing, and crisis integration, with strong emphasis on data analysis, dependency understanding, and evidence‑based outcomes. You will play a key role in transforming testing from a qualitative exercise into a structured, repeatable, and insight‑led capability.

To succeed in this role, you will be responsible for:

• Designing severe but plausible scenarios, leveraging technical knowledge across technology, cyber, data, and third‑party environments.
• Maintaining a testing calendar aligned to threat intelligence, vulnerabilities, and regulatory expectations.
• Delivering structured scenario testing exercises, ensuring clear outcomes, insights, and actionable recommendations.
• Integrating testing outputs with Incident & Crisis Management teams, driving improvements in response playbooks and procedures.
• Identifying new vulnerabilities and resilience gaps through testing and analysis of results.
• Supporting remediation tracking and accountability, ensuring issues identified through testing are addressed effectively.
• Contributing to risk reporting, trend analysis, and governance forums to support decision‑making.
• Collaborating with stakeholders across business, technology, and risk to embed testing and resilience best practices.

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.

Professional Experience:

• Experience in operational resilience, scenario testing, crisis management, or risk environments (Required).
• Experience designing or supporting testing exercises, simulations, or resilience assessments (Required).
• Experience working with technology, cyber, or operational risk teams (Required).
• Experience supporting regulatory, audit, or compliance activities (Preferred).

Education:

• Undergraduate degree in Risk, Technology, Cybersecurity, Data, or related field, or equivalent experience (Preferred).

Languages:

• English (Required).

Hard Skills:

• Understanding of scenario testing methodologies and resilience frameworks (IBS, ITOL) (Required).
• Knowledge of technology systems, dependencies, and data flows (Required).
• Strong analytical capability to interpret testing outcomes and identify vulnerabilities (Required).
• Experience with risk reporting, MI, and governance processes (Required).
• Familiarity with incident and crisis management frameworks and processes (Required).
• Knowledge of operational risk frameworks and regulatory expectations (Preferred).

Soft Skills:

• Strong analytical thinking and problem‑solving capability (Required).
• Ability to translate testing outcomes into actionable business insights (Required).
• Strong stakeholder engagement and collaboration skills (Required).
• Ability to challenge constructively and influence outcomes (Required).
• Strong communication skills, particularly in high‑pressure environments (Required).

WE VALUE YOUR IMPACT. Salary Range: £55,167.00 - £82,751.00 per annum (depending on experience). 30 days’ holiday plus bank holidays, which increases to 31 days after 5 years service, with the option to purchase up to 5 contractual days per year. £6,000 car allowance per year. Company funded individual private medical insurance. Protection for you and your family, with company‑funded death‑in‑service benefit and income protection insurance, and the option to take advantage of discounted rates for additional life assurance and critical illness cover. Share in Santander’s success by saving or investing in our share plans. As a Santander UK employee, you are able to request staff versions of our products like our Edge Current Accounts and Credit Cards with no fees, as well as apply to many other deals and discounts in Santander products and services. 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.

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.

Right to work in the UK: Every individual must have the right to work in the UK to commence employment with Santander either by way of nationality, visa or work permit. If you do require a working visa / permit this will not influence our decision on whether to progress your application. However, if you do not have a right to work, or an application for a working visa / permit is unsuccessful, Santander will not proceed with your application and will withdraw any conditional offer previously made.

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. If there’s anything we can do in the recruitment process to help you achieve your best, get in touch. Whether it’s a copy of our application form in another format or additional assistance, we’re available through email. You can contact us at resourcing@santander.co.uk.