Regional Head, Application Developer, Global Financial Markets

DBS Bank Limited; Singapore; On-site; SGD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial institution in Singapore is seeking a seasoned technology leader to drive large-scale transformation initiatives. The successful candidate will spearhead strategic direction, manage application development teams, and oversee the implementation of cutting-edge technologies. With over 15 years in the financial services sector, the ideal applicant will possess strong leadership skills and hands-on experience in diverse tech environments. This position emphasizes innovation and effective stakeholder management, facilitating transformative business practices across the organization.

Qualifications

• Over 15 years of extensive experience in leading diverse technology teams.
• Proven experience in managing applications in Financial Services.
• Hands-on expertise with modern tech stacks and software development lifecycle.

Responsibilities

• Spearhead technology transformation initiatives focusing on modernization.
• Drive the strategic direction and execution of technology roadmaps.
• Build and lead application development and engineering teams.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Agile methodologies

Data analytics

Application development

Tools

OpenShift

Cloud technologies

Java

Python

Job description

Key Responsibilities

• Spearhead large-scale technology transformation initiatives, including the modernization of platforms, data solutions, and the conceptualization and development of strategic systems.
• Define and drive the strategic direction, development, and future growth of technology.
• Formulate and execute technology roadmaps, providing clear prioritization for engineering teams and stakeholders.
• Identify high-impact use cases for emerging technologies such as Generative AI and Agentic AI, and drive their implementation to accelerate innovation, improve automation, and deliver transformative business value.
• Collaborate closely with business stakeholders, Quants, Product Control, Market Risk, and Regulatory Reporting to architect end-to-end solutions supporting various financial product lifecycles.
• Conduct research and case studies on leading-edge technologies, making determinations on their probability of implementation.

Delivery & Engineering Excellence

• Drive end-to-end delivery of technology application services, with a focus on sales and distribution, and end-to-end customer/employee journeys.
• Direct delivery of critical regulatory programs to ensure ongoing compliance and operational resiliency.
• Manage technology budgets, ensuring efficient allocation of resources and maximizing business impact.
• Oversee the development, maintenance, and support of critical financial platforms, covering areas such as risk management systems, post‑trade processing, focusing on equities structured products, and equities derivatives lifecycle management.
• Ensure engineering excellence by remaining hands‑on with coding and architecture reviews, regularly contributing to technical design sessions and code reviews.
• Develop cross‑platform services to reduce duplication and eliminate legacy systems.
• Drive innovation as part of delivery with AI and other advanced technologies.

People & Organizational Leadership

• Build, hire, and lead top‑tier application development and engineering teams, fostering a high‑performing, agile, and accountable culture.
• Provide leadership to sub‑department heads, supporting the company's culture, mission, and values.
• Mentor talent and facilitate successful career progressions within the team.
• Define and optimize delivery operating models, including metrics, processes, methods, tools, and resource allocation across various locations, including offshore teams.
• Improve workforce productivity through the application of appropriate development and delivery processes, standards, and common frameworks.
• Build strategic partnerships with internal technology teams, business units, and external vendors.

Requirements

Experience

• Over 15 years of extensive experience in leading diverse technology teams and managing applications in the Financial Services and Financial Markets sector
• Proven experience across technology infrastructure, support, and application development, with significant hands‑on development experience.
• Demonstrated experience in managing or leading development engagements in outsourced and distributed environments.
• Track record of successfully leading implementation of high‑impact regulatory projects.
• Familiarity with financial products, covering vanilla and derivatives asset classes such as FX, IR, EQD, commodities, crypto, and carbon.

Technical Skills

• Sound knowledge of end‑to‑end software development lifecycle (SDLC), with expertise in both waterfall and agile methodologies (e.g., Agile, CICD, Test Driven Development, Continuous Integration).
• Strong understanding of application architecture and design, DevOps, and testing processes.
• Hands‑on experience with at least 2-3 of the following tech stacks/concepts:
  • OpenShift, Cloud adoption, Microservices
  • Data (e.g., Data Visualization & Analytics, NoSQL like Elastic & Mongo, SQL like Sybase & MSSQL)
  • Low latency application development
  • Data analytics/Machine Learning
  • Ecosystems, APIs connectivity
  • Server‑side languages (e.g., Java, C#, Python)
  • UI technologies (e.g., React, JavaScript)
  • Generative AI (e.g., Copilot) and Agentic AI (e.g., Devin) technologies
• Domain expertise in risk management systems, post‑trade systems, structured products manufacturing, derivatives lifecycle management, equity derivatives, and regulatory reporting.

Leadership & Soft Skills

• Proven leadership and people management skills, with the ability to lead, mentor, and motivate geographically dispersed teams.
• Excellent relationship and strong stakeholder management skills, capable of communicating effectively at all levels, both internally and externally, with a concise and precise communication style.
• Analytical, solution‑oriented, and able to propose and follow through on both transformational and incremental changes.
• Versatile, able to think out‑of‑the‑box, and comfortable with ambiguity.
• A hands‑on team player with a "can‑do" attitude and the ability to see the big picture.
• Demonstrates willingness to learn new technologies and a strong drive to rapidly develop working software.