Developer Experience & Governance Director

Citigroup, Inc.; Belfast; Hybrid; GBP 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A major global financial institution based in Belfast is looking for a Director of Developer Experience and Governance. This strategic role focuses on defining software development lifecycle policies while improving developer productivity through automated compliance measures. The ideal candidate should have significant experience in technology leadership, regulation, and a strong technical background in modern development practices.

Benefits

27 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Discretionary performance-related bonus

Private Medical Care & Life Insurance

Employee Assistance Program

Pension Plan

Paid Parental Leave

Special discounts for employees

Access to learning and development resources

Qualifications

• Proven track record in a senior technology leadership role.
• Hands-on experience with modern SDLC practices.
• Deep understanding of development risk and compliance.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategy for global SDLC policy and standards.
• Drive governance approach rooted in automation.
• Define and track KPIs for compliance and developer productivity.

Skills

Technical leadership

SDLC understanding

Regulatory awareness

Collaboration

Empathy to developers

Education

Degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

CI/CD tooling

Secure software delivery

Job description

The Department

Developer Enablement is a key part of the CTO organisation. Our mission is simple but ambitious: to make it fast, safe, and satisfying for 40,000 engineers across the bank to write code and ship it to production. We focus on enabling modern ways-of-working, by codifying controls, upgrading the developer toolchain, reducing toil, and embedding compliance invisibly into the development lifecycle - without slowing anyone down. We believe that governance and productivity can, and must, go hand-in-hand. We work across global regions, engineering disciplines, and risk functions to define the future of how software is built, governed, and released at scale.

The Role

We are looking for a Director of Developer Experience and Governance - a strategic and technical leader who can set the direction for our SDLC policies, engage with senior stakeholders across first and second lines of defence, and represent the needs of thousands of developers across the firm.

This role requires balancing two seemingly opposing forces: engineering velocity and regulatory control. You will lead the creation of intelligent, automated guardrails that developers love - because they make compliance seamless and improve how they work. You will work with engineers, auditors, risk partners and regulators to ensure that our controls are strong, evidence-backed, and invisible where possible.

If you are excited by enterprise-scale impact, and want to shape how one of the world\'s largest banks builds software - this role offers that opportunity. We are at the forefront of modern software development and have introduced new AI developer tooling at a scale that is unmatched in our industry.

Responsibilities

• Lead the strategy and execution for global SDLC policy and standards across 40,000+ developers
• Drive a governance approach rooted in automation, developer empathy, and continuous delivery principles
• Codify controls into the development toolchain - think policies as code, automated quality gates, and self-service approval workflows
• Act as the point person for Technology governance engagements with risk, audit, and regulators globally
• Collaborate closely with engineering squads, platform teams, and DevSecOps to make security and compliance a built-in experience
• Champion the developer voice in forums, steering groups and transformation initiatives - ensure policies and tooling help, not hinder
• Define and track KPIs across compliance, risk posture, and developer productivity - and drive improvement based on the data
• Stay ahead of regulatory expectations, engineering trends, and emerging technologies that affect the SDLC
• Represent the firm in internal and external forums, including regulatory meetings, control design reviews, and engineering councils

Characteristics

• Technically grounded, with the ability to go deep when needed - especially around modern SDLC, CI/CD, and DevSecOps
• Strategic in thinking, pragmatic in delivery - knows how to drive change in a large, regulated environment
• Empathetic to developers and passionate about improving how they build and release software
• A natural influencer who can align diverse stakeholders toward shared outcomes
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and owning complex, multi-year transformations
• Constantly curious - whether about AI-assisted development, automated compliance, or platform engineering trends

Experience

• Proven track record in a senior technology leadership role, ideally Director level or above, in a large engineering or financial organisation
• Hands-on experience with modern SDLC practices, CI/CD tooling, secure software delivery, and inner loop productivity
• Deep understanding of development risk, audit, and regulatory expectations - ideally with prior engagement in audits, regulator meetings, or enterprise compliance programmes
• Strong collaboration track record across engineering, compliance, risk, and legal functions
• Broad technical background - understanding of backend/frontend engineering, infrastructure, cloud, and security tooling
• Degree in Computer Science or related field preferred, but practical expertise and influence matter more

What we\'ll provide you

By joining Citi Belfast, you will not only be part of a business casual workplace with a hybrid working model (up to 2 days working at home per week), but also receive a competitive base salary (which is annually reviewed), and enjoy a whole host of additional benefits such as:

• 27 days annual leave (plus bank holidays)
• A discretionary annual performance related bonus
• Private Medical Care & Life Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program
• Pension Plan
• Paid Parental Leave
• Special discounts for employees, family, and friends
• Access to an array of learning and development resources

Visit our Global Benefits page to learn more.

Alongside these benefits Citi is committed to ensuring our workplace is where everyone feels comfortable coming to work as their whole self, every day. We want the best talent around the world to be energized to join us, motivated to stay and empowered to thrive.

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Job Details

Job Family Group: Technology

Job Family: Technology Management

Time Type: Full time

Most Relevant Skills

Please see the requirements listed above.

Other Relevant Skills

For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter.

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