Head of Tech Operations Lead

Barclays UK; London; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial institution is hiring a Director, Head of Tech Operations Lead to manage technology operations ensuring platform stability and compliance with regulatory standards. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in site reliability engineering and strategic leadership within a large organization, alongside strong analytical skills. This role focuses on driving digital transformation and managing operational risk to support business goals.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in managing technology operations in a large organization.
• Proven track record in site reliability engineering and incident management.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to influence at all levels.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) function.
• Drive resilience and disaster recovery strategy.
• Manage technology budgets and optimize costs.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic planning

Incident management

Digital transformation

Risk management

Data governance

Education

Relevant degree

Tools

Data analytics

AI technologies

Job description

Barclays Payments is hiring a Director, Head of Tech Operations Lead.

The role holder will:

• Lead the Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) function to ensure platform stability, scalability, and performance.
• Own and evolve the major incident management process, including escalation, resolution, and post-mortem analysis and follow-up.
• Drive resilience and disaster recovery strategy, ensuring regular testing and readiness across all critical systems.
• Oversee technology controls and operational risk, ensuring compliance with internal policies and external regulations.
• Deliver end-to-end technology operations reporting, including SLAs, KPIs, and service health dashboards.
• Manage tooling and automation for observability, alerting, and runbook execution to reduce manual intervention.
• Champion continuous improvement and root cause elimination across all operational processes.
• Coordinate vendor and third-party service performance, ensuring alignment with operational standards and SLAs.

Purpose of the role

To manage the people, processes, and technologies in the IT function to ensure they deliver outcomes that support the goals of the business.

Accountabilities

• Develop and implement technology strategies to enable business success, improve efficiency, support growth, innovation, and risk management.
• Provide strategic leadership on all technology matters, collaborating with subject matter experts across the Group Technology organization.
• Ensure alignment with global data governance frameworks to maintain data quality, security, and privacy, leveraging data analytics and AI for insights.
• Implement technology practices in accordance with security, compliance, and regulatory requirements, actively managing risks.
• Lead digital transformation projects, modernizing legacy systems and deploying new digital solutions.
• Manage the technology team, including hiring, training, mentoring, and goal setting, ensuring resource availability and support.
• Oversee technology budgets, prioritizing resources, optimizing costs, and ensuring investments support business goals while mitigating financial risks.

Director Expectations

• Advise senior management and committees, influencing decisions and contributing to strategic initiatives.
• Manage resourcing, budgeting, and policy creation for significant sub-functions.
• Ensure policy compliance and appropriate escalation of breaches.
• Monitor and influence external regulators and advocacy groups as appropriate.
• Understand how the function integrates with the broader business to achieve objectives.
• Maintain current industry and sector knowledge, and stay informed of market developments.
• Use advanced analytical skills to solve complex problems and design solutions.
• Make significant decisions and strategic recommendations within the area of responsibility.
• Negotiate and influence stakeholders internally and externally.
• Serve as a principal contact for key clients and partners.
• Act as a spokesperson for the function and division.

All senior leaders are expected to demonstrate leadership behaviors aligned with Barclays' values and the LEAD behaviors: Listen and be authentic, Energize and inspire, Align across the enterprise, Develop others. All colleagues should embody Barclays' values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence, and Stewardship, and the Barclays Mindset of Empower, Challenge, and Drive.