At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead technology strategy and architecture for complex financial services platforms.
- Company: Join S&P Global, a leader in market intelligence and data solutions.
- Benefits: Enjoy health coverage, flexible time off, and continuous learning opportunities.
- Why this job: Shape the future of technology in finance and make a real impact.
- Qualifications: 20+ years in tech leadership with strong banking and financial services experience.
- Other info: Collaborative culture focused on integrity, discovery, and partnership.
The predicted salary is between 72000 - 108000 Β£ per year.
About the Role:
The Enterprise Solutions Technology division includes workflow solutions across Lending, Reg & Compliance, Global Markets and Software business. Enterprise Solutions provides an industry-leading set of integrated tools, solutions and data services that help our clients make efficient investment decisions, operate with greater efficiency, and provide transparency across their business and to their key stakeholders.
We are seeking a senior technology leader (Senior Principal Engineer / Chief Architect & Technology Strategy) to partner closely with the Head of Technology for Enterprise Solutions in shaping the technology direction of a complex, regulated financial-services estate. This is a hands-on principal engineer and architect role, not a pure governance or advisory architecture function. The role exists to ensure technology strategy is grounded in engineering reality, deep domain understanding, and operational outcomes.
You will work directly with the Head of Technology to shape and refine strategy, stress-testing ideas against engineering, regulatory, and operational constraints. You will engage closely with senior engineering leaders, platform teams, and product partners to turn strategy into real designs that can be built and run. You will get involved early in complex or high-risk initiatives and step in when it matters most, including during major incidents and recovery efforts. A key part of the role is knowing when to push forward, when to simplify, and when to slow down or stop.
You will act as the engineering authority across Enterprise Solutions, leading primarily through influence rather than line management and the role carries broad responsibility for shaping architecture, design, and delivery decisions across multiple teams and domains. You will balance long-term strategy with near-term delivery constraints, operational resilience, and regulatory expectations, and represent the technology direction with clients and senior stakeholders, explaining design choices and trade-offs clearly and credibly. Overall, this role strengthens the technology function by making strategy buildable, operable, and defensible.
Responsibilities:
- Experienced in setting technology strategy and architecture for complex, regulated, data-driven platforms, with strong experience in banking and financial services.
- Experienced in defining and owning multi-year technology strategies and roadmaps, setting clear priorities and sequencing change based on business outcomes, regulatory needs, and engineering reality.
- Sets and governs reference architectures, design standards, and architectural guardrails, ensuring teams build in a consistent, scalable, and sustainable way.
- Strong understanding of how financial products, operational workflows, data, and controls work end-to-end, and uses that understanding to make sound system and platform design decisions.
- Has demonstrated strong judgment designing distributed, event-driven, and data-intensive systems, including how they scale, fail, recover, and isolate risk.
- Experienced with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and the trade-offs around managed services, multi-region and multi-tenant designs, data residency, cost, performance, and resilience.
- Knowledge of advanced and new architectures and design paradigms e.g. agent-based systems, service abstractions, semantic data models, knowledge graphs, and where to apply or not.
- Experienced in ensuring AI-enabled systems are explainable, auditable, and operationally safe, with clear judgment on when AI is appropriate versus deterministic or rules-based approaches.
- Strong understanding of analytics and AI in production and understands what it takes to run these reliably in regulated environments.
- Designs with security and controls built in, with a strong understanding of identity, data protection, failure containment, and regulatory risk.
What are we looking for:
- 20+ years building and operating systems in tier-1 banks, capital markets infrastructure, or similarly regulated, high-availability environments.
- Acts as a coach and multiplier for senior engineers and architects, raising the bar through hands-on problem solving, design reviews, and practical guidance.
- Pragmatic, direct, and outcome focused. Leads through earned credibility and influence, is comfortable shaping decisions without authority, and communicates complex technical topics clearly to business, client, and regulatory audiences.
- Measures success by outcomes and evidence, not intent or presentation: technology strategy that translates into systems that work in production, reduce late-stage surprises and repeat incidents, scale and recover as designed, and stand up to real operational and regulatory scrutiny.
About S&P Global Market Intelligence:
At S&P Global Market Intelligence, we understand the importance of accurate, deep and insightful information. Our team of experts delivers unrivaled insights and leading data and technology solutions, partnering with customers to expand their perspective, operate with confidence, and make decisions with conviction.
Our Mission: Advancing Essential Intelligence.
Our People: Weβre more than 35,000 strong worldwide, driven by curiosity and a shared belief that Essential Intelligence can help build a more prosperous future for us all.
Our Values: Integrity, Discovery, Partnership.
Benefits: We take care of you, so you can take care of business. Our benefits include health care coverage, generous time off, access to resources for career growth, competitive pay, retirement planning, family-friendly perks, and more.
Global Hiring and Opportunity at S&P Global: We are committed to fostering a connected and engaged workplace where all individuals have access to opportunities based on their skills, experience, and contributions.
Equal Opportunity Employer: S&P Global is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to any status protected by law.
Global Head, Architecture in London employer: S&P Global
Contact Detail:
S&P Global Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice π€«
We think this is how you could land Global Head, Architecture in London
β¨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the industry, attend relevant events, and donβt be shy about asking for introductions. The more people know youβre on the hunt, the better your chances of landing that dream role.
β¨Tip Number 2
Prepare for interviews by researching the company and its culture. Understand their products and services, especially in the financial sector. This will help you tailor your responses and show that youβre genuinely interested in what they do.
β¨Tip Number 3
Practice makes perfect! Conduct mock interviews with friends or mentors to refine your answers and get comfortable discussing your experience. Focus on how your skills align with the role of Global Head, Architecture.
β¨Tip Number 4
Donβt forget to apply through our website! Itβs the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows youβre serious about joining our team at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
We think you need these skills to ace Global Head, Architecture in London
Some tips for your application π«‘
Tailor Your Application: Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter for the Global Head, Architecture role. Highlight your experience in technology strategy and architecture, especially in regulated environments like banking and financial services. We want to see how your background aligns with our needs!
Showcase Your Technical Skills: Donβt hold back on showcasing your technical expertise! Mention specific technologies, platforms, and methodologies youβve worked with, especially around cloud services and data-driven systems. This is your chance to impress us with your hands-on experience.
Be Clear and Concise: When writing your application, clarity is key. Use straightforward language to explain your achievements and how they relate to the role. We appreciate a well-structured application that gets straight to the point without unnecessary fluff.
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply directly through our website. Itβs the best way to ensure your application gets into the right hands. Plus, it shows us youβre serious about joining our team at StudySmarter!
How to prepare for a job interview at S&P Global
β¨Know Your Tech Inside Out
Make sure you have a solid grasp of the technology stack relevant to the role. Brush up on your knowledge of cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and GCP, as well as distributed systems and data-intensive architectures. Being able to discuss these topics confidently will show that you're not just familiar with theory but can apply it in practice.
β¨Demonstrate Strategic Thinking
Prepare to discuss how you've previously shaped technology strategies and roadmaps. Think about specific examples where you've balanced long-term goals with immediate operational needs. This will help illustrate your ability to think critically and strategically, which is crucial for a senior role.
β¨Showcase Your Leadership Style
Since this role involves leading through influence rather than authority, be ready to share examples of how you've successfully guided teams or projects without direct management. Highlight your coaching experiences and how you've raised the bar for engineering practices in your previous roles.
β¨Prepare for Real-World Scenarios
Expect to be asked about how you would handle complex or high-risk initiatives. Think of past incidents you've managed and be prepared to discuss your decision-making process during those times. This will demonstrate your hands-on experience and ability to navigate challenging situations effectively.