Head of Financial Crime & Fraud Technology | S5 | Technology & Operations | Business Solutions CIO | Milton Keynes | Internal Mobility

Head of Financial Crime & Fraud Technology | S5 | Technology & Operations | Business Solutions CIO | Milton Keynes | Internal Mobility Country: United Kingdom IT STARTS HERE Santander Technology & Operations is accountable for the run and change of technology platforms and systems across Santander UK. We believe in technology that is closely aligned with the needs of the business, creates value for customers and colleagues, and provides the environment for our people to innovate and grow. Business Solutions CIO sits at the centre of this, as a trusted technology business partner to the different areas of the Bank, running safely and securely the systems underpinning their operations and delivering new capabilities on a combination of local and global technology solutions, combining the right level of controls and domains technical leadership to enable the directorate to operate successfully in a constantly evolving industry and technology landscape. THE DIFFERENCE YOU MAKE Santander UK is looking for a Head of Financial Crime & Fraud Technology, based in Milton Keynes. This is a strategic senior leadership role within the Business Solutions CIO leadership team, with accountability for the technology capabilities that protect our customers and the Bank from financial crime and fraud, while enabling Santander UK to meet its regulatory, risk and control obligations. You will lead two highly connected and business-critical areas: • Financial Crime Technology, providing the capabilities that help Santander deter, detect and disrupt money laundering, terrorist financing, human trafficking and other forms of economic crime. • Fraud Technology, delivering capabilities that protect customers and the Bank through prevention, detection, decisioning, investigation and response across customer journeys and channels. Financial crime and fraud operate in a rapidly evolving threat environment. The technology estate must continually adapt to changing regulation, emerging typologies, increasingly sophisticated threat actors, new customer behaviours and advances in technology. You will provide clear end-to-end accountability for strategy, change delivery and service outcomes across both areas. You will be accountable for the run, change and strategic evolution of the technology estate within your remit. This includes service availability, embedding of operational resilience, cyber security, technology risk policies and controls, supplier performance, financial management and delivery of complex, enterprise-impacting and multi-year change portfolios. You will also be the Technology Lead for the AML/KYC Domain as well as the Fraud Domain and will define in collaboration with Global Technical Leads and Local Domain Leads an integrated technology strategy and roadmap that strengthens prevention and detection effectiveness, improves customer outcomes, supports regulatory compliance and enables more efficient and sustainable ways of working. We are shaping how we work through innovation, modern engineering, AI, automation, cloud technology and collaboration. You will create the environment in which multidisciplinary teams can simplify complex estates, modernise platforms and deliver secure, resilient and sustainable solutions. • Define in collaboration with Global Technical Lead and Local Domain Lead and execute an integrated technology strategy, target operating model and multi-year roadmap across Financial Crime and Fraud Technology, aligned to Business Solutions CIO, Santander UK and Group priorities. • Own the end-to-end performance of the technology estate within your remit, including change delivery, service quality, availability, operational resilience, cyber security, risk and control management, architecture health and technical obsolescence. • Lead the delivery of complex UK and Group programmes, ensuring regulatory commitments, strategic priorities and customer outcomes are delivered to the required quality, cost and timescale. • Evolve Santander's Financial Crime and Fraud technology capabilities in response to changing regulation, policy, customer behaviour, emerging typologies and increasingly sophisticated threats. • Strengthen the integration of Financial Crime and Fraud controls into customer journeys, improving prevention and detection while balancing customer experience, operational efficiency and regulatory obligations. • Drive the responsible adoption of AI, automation, cloud, modern data architectures, microservices, DevOps practices where they create clear, safe and sustainable value. • Create a coherent approach across Financial Crime and Fraud Technology while maintaining the specialist capability and executive focus required within each area. • Be accountable for technology investment and financial performance across the portfolio, working with business Domain Leads to establish priorities, develop business cases, secure funding and maximise return on investment. • Establish effective workforce and sourcing strategies that balance internal capability, Group services, strategic partners and specialist third-party expertise. • Own senior relationships with critical technology suppliers and service partners, ensuring roadmaps, commercial arrangements, service performance and delivery commitments support Santander UK requirements. • Work in close partnership with Financial Crime and Fraud business leaders and Domain Leads, the MLRO, risk and control functions, other technology, the CDO, CTO, Group T&O and relevant Group domains. • Represent the technology function in senior internal governance and, where required, regulatory, audit and risk discussions, providing clear evidence of control effectiveness, delivery confidence and sustainable remediation. • Identify cross-domain dependencies and establish integrated plans across customer channels, core banking, data, infrastructure, security, architecture and other technology teams. • Build and lead an engaged, inclusive and high-performing organisation, developing the next generation of technology leaders and strengthening engineering, architecture, delivery and service-management capability. • Promote a robust risk and control culture in which security, resilience, regulatory compliance and customer protection are engineered into solutions from the outset. • Act as a visible role model for the Business Solutions CIO leadership team, demonstrating personal accountability, collaboration, sound judgement and the Santander behaviours. WHAT YOU'LL BRING Our people are our greatest strength. Every individual contributes unique perspectives that make us greater as a team and as an organisation. We enable teams to go beyond by valuing who they are and empowering what they bring. The following requirements represent the knowledge, skills and abilities essential for success in this role. Reasonable adjustments may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Professional experience • Deep senior leadership experience within Financial Crime, Fraud or another highly regulated and operationally critical technology environment. (Required) • Excellent understanding of Financial Crime and Fraud technology capabilities, data and controls, together with an appreciation of the complexity of the end-to-end economic crime landscape. (Required) • Proven experience of leading the run and change of large, complex and business-critical technology estates, including accountability for service, delivery, resilience, risk and controls. (Required) • A successful track record of delivering major technology transformation programmes under significant regulatory, audit, risk or executive scrutiny. (Required) • Excellent understanding of fraud prevention, detection, decisioning and response capabilities, and how these must evolve as threats and technology change. • Experience of modern application, integration and data architectures, including cloud-hosted platforms, microservices, AI and automation. (Required) • Commercial and financial acumen, with the ability to translate technology decisions into clear financial, customer, operational and risk outcomes. (Required) • Proven experience of developing technology strategies, target operating models, implementation roadmaps and investment cases. • Great service-management experience, including driving measurable improvements in availability, incident performance, recovery, resilience, technical health and obsolescence. • Demonstrable experience of building, leading and developing large multidisciplinary and geographically distributed teams. • Experience of developing effective workforce, sourcing and supplier-management strategies across internal teams, Group services and third-party partners. • A great track record of building trusted relationships and influencing senior business, technology, risk, compliance and regulatory stakeholders. Education • A relevant higher education or professional qualification in technology, engineering, financial services or a related discipline is preferred. Languages • English (required). • Spanish (preferred). WE VALUE YOUR IMPACT At Santander, your contribution matters. We recognise the difference you make every day, and we make sure you feel valued, supported and rewarded in return. Here, recognition goes beyond pay. It’s about the pride you feel in your work, the impact you have on customers and communities, and the opportunities you have to grow and thrive — personally and professionally. Salary Range: £108,800.00 - £163,200.00 per annum (depending on experience) This salary range represents the expected remuneration for the role. Annual salary is based on a standard 35-hour working week. Actual salary offered will depend on skills, experience, qualifications and location. Competitive rewards that reflect the real impact you make and the value you bring. Wellbeing that goes beyond work — we work with a range of wellbeing partners across our 4 pillars of wellbeing (physical, mental, social and financial) to give you access to a suite of apps, discounted gym and fitness access, weekly online classes, flexible healthcare and mental health support. Support for every life stage — from menopause and pregnancy to parenthood and beyond, with enhanced family leave, childcare options and tailored wellbeing support. Time to give back through volunteering opportunities that let you make a difference in the communities we serve. Global growth opportunities to shape your career, learn new skills and explore what’s possible across our international network. Ready to be recognised? It starts with you. LOCAL COMPLIANCE At Santander, we’re proud to be an inclusive organisation that provides equal opportunities for everyone — regardless of age, gender, disability, civil status, race, religion or sexual orientation. We’re committed to creating a recruitment experience that’s accessible, fair and welcoming for all candidates. We want our people to thrive — at work and at home — while delivering the best outcomes for our customers and supporting each other to grow. To make this possible, our roles are site-based with a hybrid working pattern , where colleagues are expected to attend the office at least 12 days per month (pro-rata for part-time roles). When applying, please consider the travel distance, time and cost to your chosen office location(s). We welcome applications on the understanding that, should you be offered this role, there may be no relocation package available. Santander will pay the employer mandatory government fees that are required to pay in connection with visa sponsorship. You may be liable for your own personal employee immigration and relocation costs. ( Only applicable for roles that are eligible for sponsorship) WHAT TO DO NEXT If this sounds like a role you are interested in, then please apply. For further Guidance please visit Internal Mobility - Candidate Guidance . If you want to know more about the opportunity: Please contact: Diana Ioana Ionescu Miron - diana.ionescumiron@santander.co.uk #LI-DNI