Head of Technology, Governance & Reporting - Career Returner Programme

M&G; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

An international financial services company is seeking a Director of Governance, Performance, and Talent Management in Edinburgh. The role involves leading governance frameworks, ensuring effective technology investment, and driving a high-performance culture within the technology function. Candidates should have extensive IT leadership experience, strong stakeholder management skills, and a proven record in regulatory compliance and risk management.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in technology governance or IT leadership roles.
• Experience in regulatory compliance and risk management.
• Ability to lead high-performing teams and drive cultural change.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and execution of governance frameworks.
• Ensure technology investment delivers measurable business value.
• Drive strategic decision-making and transparency in technology costs.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Communication

Change management

Job description

At M&G our purpose is to give everyone real confidence to put their money to work. As an international savings and investments business with roots stretching back more than 170 years, we offer a range of financial products and services through Asset Management, Life and Wealth. All three operating segments work together to deliver attractive financial outcomes for our clients, and superior shareholder returns.

Through our behaviours of telling it like it is, owning it now, and moving it forward together with care and integrity; we are creating an exceptional place to work for exceptional talent.

We will consider flexible working arrangements for any of our roles and also offer work place accommodations to ensure you have what you need to effectively deliver in your role.

The Director of Governance, Performance and Talent Management will lead the development and execution of governance frameworks, performance management disciplines, and technology business management practices to elevate organisational effectiveness. This senior leader will ensure that technology investment consistently delivers measurable business value, while cultivating a high-performance culture across the Technology function. It will also drive activities to ensure the attraction, development, engagement and retention of our people and top talent.

The role is accountable for driving transparency, strategic decision-making, and commercial optimisation across technology cost structures and value realisation. It will oversee Technology Business Management (TBM), FinOps, and cost allocation models, embedding robust performance management practices that enable Technology to operate as a value-generating partner to the business. This will also include transparent and structured reporting to the CITO and the Technology leadership team, and to the Group Board and Executive Committee, with appropriate tools and data for efficient decision making. The Governance & Performance Director is also responsible for the development, maintenance and improvement of our Technology Services Catalogue and Services Cost Allocation model, including Apptio Cost Transparency and IT Planning implementations. These solutions drive Technology cost transparency and provide insights to support the effective management of costs, strategic decision making and budgeting & forecasting

This role works for the Technology Chief Operating Officer within the Technology Department, who has a focus on the management, efficiency, strategic planning and transformation of the Technology function as a whole. The Technology COO organisation includes a number of central Technology functions, including this new role focused on governance and performance.

Technology has approximately 700 staff currently distributed across sites in the UK and in India, with several strategic partners providing infrastructure and application support services. The operating model reflects the business and is typical of a FTSE100 firm spanning the importance of operational stability and efficiency whilst providing waterfall and agile change delivery, and a progressive technology agenda. The organisation has been on a significant transformation journey, which will continue for the foreseeable future, and is now dominated by consideration for digital transformation and the application of AI.

The role includes

• Working with and through Finance to continue to develop a cost allocation model for Technology which empowers the business community to make decisions for costs they can influence, ensuring each business understands the drivers for the cost and is empowered to decide the level of spend they want to incur.
• Help drive cost ownership responsibility into the Technology organisation, and provide tooling via IT Planning to ensure detailed budgets are understood and managed effectively.
• Support the COO / CITO and the lines of business (LOBs) to execute on core business processes (e.g. financial planning, succession management, reporting) in a standardised manner and with high-quality, enabling effective and efficient operations of Technology
• Drive consistent governance / performance management of service catalogue activities supported by transparent service costs, financial reporting and optimisation to align business value with technology costs and drive identification of TCO reduction opportunities.
• Support the financial management practices for Technology, ensuring we meet financial plans, address risks and opportunities, and manage the headcount and cost profile of the resource within Technology.
• Deliver a slick, professional, high impact engagement with GEC and peer organisations.
• Ensure strong governance for the function aligned to the corporate governance model , and ensuring effective discharge and oversight of SMF24 responsibilities.
• Establish and manage people-related processes and practices that ensure a culture of strong performance and engagement, with skills maintained to support our strategy, and the attraction, development and management of our talent.

Key Accountabilities

• To work as part of the senior leadership team of the Technology COO and to be an active member of the CITO broader leadership team.
• To work collaboratively with colleagues and take personal accountability to maintain and enhance controls that are the responsibility of this role. To support improvement of the overall control environment, customers outcomes and a reduction in M&G’s operational risk.
• To ensure the Leadership Team of CITO have confidence in our operations and strategy and believe the direction being taken is appropriate and achievable.
• To ensure significant decisions required and approvals needed are signposted early and supported by clear and concise materials which enable management to be confident in the decision making. In particular, where decisions are required about new partners or new commitments that the right level of information is provided to enable the decision making process to be effective.
• To operate within the financial and compliance controls of M&G and CITO to deliver the objectives of the role.
• To ensure all necessary management approvals are gained for commercial commitments.
• To get the best from any team members working on the objectives of the role.
• To be structured and logical in the approach to the role and to ensure that each application is supportive of the agenda.
• Deliver strong stakeholder management of the key user community and Technology leadership stakeholders

About you

• Experience of working within IT, ideally in financial services or a regulated environment.
• 5+ years in technology governance, performance management, or similar IT leadership roles.
• Experience designing governance and operating models that drive effectiveness in a complex organization.
• Strong knowledge of regulatory compliance, risk management, and technology performance frameworks.
• Proven ability to build and lead high-performing teams, driving cultural and organisational change.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience in talent strategy, workforce transformation, and leadership development for technology teams.

Key knowledge, skills and experience

• Excellent knowledge of the operation of a technology organisation, ideally within financial services.
• Proven track record of large-scale / high profile leadership.
• To be action-oriented and maintain a high momentum.
• Broad knowledge of the financial services industry and key regulatory requirements together with an understanding of business processes.
• Knowledge and understanding of business strategy / planning, financial analysis, marketing and operational processes.
• Excellent communication and team working skills, comfortable working with executive and board level management.
• Strong inter-personal skills, demonstrating a variety of influencing styles to enable effective completion of tasks both individually and within groups. Builds sustainable relationships with colleagues and key individuals in the business.
• Shows a desire to take the initiative, moving issues forward with clarity. Demonstrates an ability to think ‘outside the box’ while defining solutions in a workable form.
• Evaluates options efficiently and provides considered conclusions and direction.
• Demonstrates a strategic focus – ability to turn ideas / objectives into tangible deliverables and tasks.
• Ability to take complex, multi-faceted problems and work with them through to simple solutions recognising synergies and options

Recruiter : Martyn Jack

We have a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture at M&G plc, underpinned by our policies and our employee-led networks who provide networking opportunities, advice and support for the diverse communities our colleagues represent. Regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, nationality, disability or long term condition, we are looking to attract, promote and retain exceptional people. We also welcome those who take part in military service and those returning from career breaks.

M&G is also proud to be a Disability Confident Leader , and we welcome applications from candidates with long-term health conditions, disabilities, or neuro-divergent conditions. Being a Disability Confident Leader means that candidates who meet the minimum criteria of a job, will be offered an interview if they 'opt in' to the scheme when applying.

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