SVP, Head of Security Operations, Risk and Controls

Temenos; London; Hybrid; GBP 100,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in banking technology seeks a strategically minded SVP, Head of Security Ops, Risk & Controls. This role is crucial for managing operational governance, security standards, and client assurance in their SaaS delivery. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in IT operations and a successful track record in risk management and cross-functional collaboration.

Benefits

Maternity leave

Family care leave

Study leave

Recharge days

Paid civil partnership leave

Qualifications

• Proven leadership experience in IT operations and operational risk within SaaS.
• Deep understanding of security operations and quality assurance.
• Demonstrated success in security standards implementation.

Responsibilities

• Lead operational security and risk assessments.
• Govern change management and oversight for SaaS platform.
• Own disaster recovery strategies and audit leadership.

Skills

Leadership

Security Operations

Audit Management

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Incident Response

Job description

ABOUT TEMENOS

Temenos powers a world of banking that creates opportunities for billions of people and businesses everywhere. We have been doing this for over 30 years through the pioneering spirit of our Temenosians who are passionate about making banking better, together.

We serve over 3000 clients from the largest to challengers and community banks in 150+ countries. We collaborate with clients to build new banking services and state-of-the-art customer experiences on our open banking platform, helping them operate more sustainably.

At Temenos, we have an open-minded and inclusive culture, where everyone has the power to create their own destiny and make a positive contribution to the world of banking and society.

THE ROLE

We are seeking a Client facing and strategically minded SVP, Head of Security Ops, Risk & Controls to lead the structured oversight, operational assurance, and continuous improvement of our SaaS platform. This role will sit at the heart of our operational governance model, working with both new and existing clients, owning key pillars such as security operations, release governance, quality assurance, disaster recovery, audit coordination, SLA conformance, and the definition of technical and operational security standards across the SaaS business.
Reporting to the CTO, SaaS, this role will partner closely with Group-wide functions including GRC, Legal, Finance, QA, and Engineering to ensure secure, resilient, and high-quality SaaS delivery.

OPPORTUNITIES

Operational Risk & Security Oversight

• Own the governance of operational security and threat readiness in partnership with the CISO.
  
• Define, maintain, and enforce security standards for the SaaS organisation, including technical standards, secure configuration baselines, and operational controls.
  
• Ensure these standards are consistently implemented across product, platform, DevOps, and client delivery teams.
  
• Lead the development of risk-informed operational controls aligned to regulatory and enterprise risk frameworks.
  

Release Management & Change Governance

• Govern the release and change management lifecycle to ensure structured risk reviews, approvals, traceability, and audit readiness.
  
• Partner with platform and engineering teams to embed control requirements into DevOps workflows and continuous delivery pipelines.
  
• Support critical delivery milestones such as UTP2 and client go-lives through structured oversight.
  

Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity

• Own the definition, implementation, and periodic testing of disaster recovery and business continuity strategies.
  
• Ensure operational readiness across all critical systems and maintain alignment with client and regulatory expectations.
  

Audit Leadership & Client Assurance

• Lead the coordination and response for internal, external, and client audits.
  
• Partner with GRC, Legal, and Finance to ensure evidence collection, tracking of findings, and timely remediation.
  
• Serve as a single point of operational assurance for client-facing control queries.
  

Quality Assurance & Platform Testing Strategy

• Own the QA governance model and testing strategy across the SaaS platform, aligned to product and engineering objectives.
  
• Drive quality outcomes tied to delivery milestones such as UTP2, client onboarding, and infrastructure transformation.
  
• Implement continuous improvement processes informed by testing outcomes and operational metrics.
  

SLA Management & Root Cause Analysis

• Monitor service performance against defined SLAs, ensuring proactive tracking and reporting to senior stakeholders.
  
• Lead structured Root Cause Analysis (RCA) processes following service incidents, and drive implementation of remediation actions and preventative controls.
  

Control Environment Ownership

• Continually review and strengthen the internal control environment across SaaS operations and client services.
  
• Identify control gaps, own remediation plans, and ensure alignment with industry standards (e.g. ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI-DSS).
  
• Ensure visibility and adherence to controls across all support functions.
  

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Strategic Reporting

• Collaborate across business, legal, compliance, and technology teams to align on priorities and unify the operational governance approach.
  
• Deliver structured, actionable reporting to senior leadership on security posture, control performance, audit status, platform quality, SLA outcomes, and risk mitigation.

SKILLS

• Proven leadership experience in IT operations, service governance, or operational risk within a regulated or SaaS business environment.
  
• Deep understanding of security operations, release governance, disaster recovery, QA, and audit management.
  
• Demonstrated success in defining and implementing security and technical standards in a SaaS or cloud-first environment.
  
• Experience managing internal, external, and client audits across technology and operational domains.
  
• Working knowledge of frameworks such as ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI-DSS, and relevant financial services regulations.
  
• Strong track record of SLA monitoring, incident response, and continuous service improvement.
  
• Excellent cross-functional collaboration and External stakeholder management skills.
  
• Executive-level reporting, communication, and presentation capabilities.
  
• Highly structured, outcome-driven mindset with a focus on resilience, quality, and risk reduction.

VALUES

• Careabout delivering secure, resilient, and high-quality SaaS solutions for our clients
• Committo upholding the highest standards of operational governance and security
• Collaboratewith cross-functional teams—engineering, legal, compliance, GRC, finance, and client delivery
• Challenge yourself and others to continuously improve our control environment, question assumptions, and push for higher levels of resilience, quality, and operational maturity

SOME OF OUR BENEFITS include:

• Maternity leave:Transition back with 3 days per week in the first month and 4 days per week in the second month
  
• Civil Partnership:1 week of paid leave if you're getting married. This covers marriages and civil partnerships, including same sex/civil partnership
  
• Family care:4 weeks of paid family care leave
  
• Recharge days:4 days per year to use when you need to physically or mentally needed to recharge
  
• Study leave:2 weeks of paid leave each year for study or personal development

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