Director, Middleware Platforms Support

Sumitomo Group; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 108,000 - 162,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid and flexible working

Competitive leave days

Private medical & life insurance

Mental wellbeing support

Learning & development opportunities

Job summary

SMBC Group is seeking a Middleware Platforms Support Director to own the messaging, integration and workload automation services across EMEA. You’ll lead cross-functional teams, shape platform strategy, and drive modernisation and automation while ensuring reliability and production readiness.

The role reports to the Head of Production Management & Service Delivery. You will influence governance, manage major incidents and collaborate with global colleagues and third-party providers to deliver

Qualifications

• Proven leadership of middleware, production management or technology support within financial services.
• Experience accountable for IBM MQ and AutoSys or comparable workload automation services, including resilience, performance and lifecycle management.
• Strong people leadership, senior stakeholder influencing and risk-based decision-making, supported by experience in service governance and major incident management.

Responsibilities

• Shape the future of middleware services and drive strategy and roadmaps.
• Own service performance, availability, capacity and lifecycle management across IBM MQ, AutoSys and related middleware.
• Develop managers and technical specialists through coaching, cross-skilling and succession planning.
• Lead during major incidents, driving recovery and clear communication.
• Drive root-cause resolution, strengthen recovery arrangements and address technical debt.
• Govern changes to ensure production readiness and supportability.
• Build partnerships across business and technology teams to align priorities.

Skills

Leadership

People leadership

Stakeholder influence

Decision making

Tools

IBM MQ

AutoSys

Middleware platforms

Job description

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SMBC: A trusted partner for the long term

Here at SMBC Group, we want to help you find the next step in your career so read on to discover if this opportunity is the one for you. We like to recognise potential in our people, so we welcome your application even when your experience doesn't perfectly align with the job description. Whilst we'll always strive to be better, we're proud of our inclusive culture, and encourage our applicants and colleagues to be their authentic, unique selves.

Who we are

United by a sense of purpose towards our customers - to be a trusted partner for the long-term - and our universal banking platform in EMEA, SMBC Group has an international growth agenda and award-winning products, meaning we provide exciting opportunities to work on a diverse range of projects and initiatives. We deliver a full suite of corporate finance products and solutions to our customers as well as investment banking and advisory services, and a range of innovative solutions in global capital markets. Read on to find out how you could enhance your skills and gain valuable experience, by joining us to support our clients transition to a sustainable future.

Role Summary

Lead our Middleware Platforms Support function, owning the strategy, resilience, performance and lifecycle of business-critical messaging, integration and workload automation services across EMEA. Develop specialist teams and drive modernisation, automation and monitoring improvements to deliver reliable, well-controlled services.

Essentials of the role

• Own service outcomes and platform strategy across IBM MQ, AutoSys and associated middleware services.
• Lead managers and technical specialists, building capability and coordinating delivery with global teams and third-party providers.
• Strengthen operational resilience, direct major incident recovery and ensure new or changed services are ready for production.

Candidate requirements

• Proven leadership of middleware, production management or technology support functions within financial services.
• Experience accountable for IBM MQ and AutoSys or comparable workload automation services, including resilience, performance and lifecycle management.
• Strong people leadership, senior stakeholder influencing and risk-based decision-making, supported by experience in service governance and major incident management.

Compensation

The anticipated salary range for this role is £108,000 - £162,000, with the final offer determined based on the candidate’s skills, experience, role scope, location, and relevant market factors. In addition to base salary, the role may be eligible for a discretionary incentive award and a competitive benefits package, including core benefits such as pension provision.

Business Area

Production Management & Service Delivery keeps the technology behind SMBC Group EMEA's business running reliably, while shaping how those services evolve. Within the department, Middleware Platforms Support looks after the messaging, integration and workload automation platforms that connect critical applications and keep essential business processing moving.

You’ll work closely with Front Office, Treasury, Operations - including payments, settlements and trading operations - Finance, Risk and regulatory reporting teams, connecting their business priorities with resilient technology services. Alongside application development and support, infrastructure, architecture, cyber security, service management, and Monitoring and Observability teams, you'll strengthen reliability, improve recovery and ensure change is ready for production.

Working with global technology colleagues and third-party providers, you'll help modernise core platforms such as IBM MQ and AutoSys, reduce manual intervention and build a more automated, sustainable service.This is an opportunity to shape a specialist function with a direct impact on the bank’s day-to-day operations and future technology capability.

Position Description

Lead the platforms that keep critical business processing moving—and shape what comes next.

As Middleware Platforms Support Director, you'll lead the specialist teams responsible for the messaging, integration and workload automation services underpinning SMBC Group EMEA's business operations. Your remit spans IBM MQ, AutoSys and associated middleware services, combining strategic service ownership with the leadership needed to keep critical platforms reliable, resilient and ready for change.

Reporting to the Head of Production Management & Service Delivery, you'll set the direction for the function, develop its people and shape investment in platform modernisation, automation and Monitoring and Observability. You'll balance today’s operational priorities with the changes needed to build a more sustainable, less manually intensive service.

You’ll connect business priorities with technology delivery, working across business stakeholders, technology teams, global colleagues and third-party providers. From leading recovery during major incidents to challenging production readiness, you'll bring clear judgement, technical credibility and a focus on business impact.

Key responsibilities

• Shape the future of middleware services. Support the strategy, operating model and roadmap, directing investment towards stronger resilience, simpler platforms and sustainable support.
• Take ownership of business-critical platforms. Lead service performance, availability, capacity and lifecycle management across IBM MQ, AutoSys and associated middleware services.
• Build capability that lasts. Develop managers and technical specialists through coaching, cross-skilling and succession planning, creating clear ownership and reducing reliance on individual expertise.
• Lead when it matters most. Provide senior leadership during major incidents, bringing teams together to assess business impact, restore services and communicate clearly.
• Turn recurring problems into lasting improvements. Drive root-cause resolution, strengthen recovery arrangements and address technical debt, control weaknesses and capacity risks.
• Make operations smarter. Champion automation, standardisation and better Monitoring and Observability to reduce manual effort and give teams clearer insight into service health.
• Challenge change before it reaches production. Govern operational acceptance for releases, upgrades, migrations and transitions, ensuring support, recovery, monitoring and control requirements are met.
• Connect teams around business priorities. Build effective partnerships across business, application, infrastructure, architecture, cyber security, service management, global technology and provider teams.
• Bring a clear voice to senior decisions. Translate platform risks and technical priorities into business terms, influencing governance decisions and investment priorities.

Customer Focus

Driving Change

Driving Results

Judgement and Decision Making

Strategic and Visionary

Trust and Integrity

What we offer

For all the expertise and experience you bring to help us make a difference, it's only sustainable if we support you to build your career and be your best self so we offer competitive company benefits, centred around promoting positive well-bring and work-life balance. We also believe in fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment, where all team members perspectives and contributions are valued. Initiatives in place which promote a diverse and inclusive culture and healthy work life balance include hybrid working, Sport & Social Clubs and Diversity and Inclusion networks.

As an employee of SMBC you have access to a host of both useful and exciting benefit offerings. See below some of the benefits on offer to you:

• Hybrid and flexible working
• Competitive paid leave days
• Benefits to support your physical wellbeing, including private medical insurance and life and invalidity insurance
• Various policies to support your mental wellbeing, including a robust behavioural health network with counselling and coaching services
• Access a wide range of learning and development opportunities and career progression opportunities

We recognise our role as a bank to support social change and welcome all applications, including those from groups often under-represented in financial services. We value the uniqueness of professional and personal, backgrounds and perspectives as they play a vital role in continuing the sustainable growth of our organisation. We'll ensure reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process are offered due to a disability or long-term condition whenever requested.

We are committed to transparent and equitable pay practices. Compensation is determined using objective criteria, including skills, experience, and role responsibilities, and applied consistently throughout our recruitment processes. We do not request candidates' pay history and are committed to preventing unjustified pay disparities.

About SMBC

A trusted partner for the long term
United by a sense of purpose towards our customers - to be a trusted partner for the long-term - and our universal banking platform in EMEA, we deliver a full suite of corporate finance products and solutions to our customers, including corporate, structured and trade finance, leveraged finance, loan market and treasury products. We can also provide investment banking and advisory services and a range of innovative solutions in global capital markets.
Find out more about what we do and who we are at https://www.smbcgroup.com/emea/careers