Delivery Velocity & Execution Discipline

Own the end-to-end delivery pipeline for all technology products and platforms, from idea to production, across multiple business domains simultaneously: Retail, Corporate, SME, Risk, Support functions and Subsidiaries. Drive predictable, time-boxed delivery using a structured stage-gate framework, with clear prioritization methodology based on business value, cost of delay and risk-adjusted return. Establish and track engineering performance metrics (deployment frequency, lead time, change failure rate, mean time to recovery) across all teams, providing full visibility to the CTO and business stakeholders. Ensure all regulatory delivery commitments, including DORA compliance, PCI DSS, ISO 20022, are met on schedule, treating compliance as an embedded design constraint, not an obstacle.

Engineering Culture & Developer Experience

Define and drive the engineering culture strategy for a large engineering division, shifting the organizational identity from support function to genuine technology partner. Champion AI-assisted and, progressively, AI-native development adoption across the full software development lifecycle - not as a talking point, but as a measurable improvement in delivery capacity. Drive engineering excellence standards: CI/CD maturity, automated testing, technical debt management, code review practices and internal developer platform development. Foster a culture of continuous improvement through blameless post-mortems, value stream mapping and engineering guilds.

Organizational Design & Talent Development

Lead the cultural and operational integration of the engineering division, ensuring team cohesion and a unified identity. Design optimal team topologies aligned to business domains and technical solutions. Build a talent strategy that makes the organization a genuine employer of choice for engineers in Romania - through clarity of mission, engineering standards and growth opportunity.

Strategic Partnership & Stakeholder Management

Act as the primary technology delivery interface to all business lines, translating business needs into delivery roadmaps with clear timelines. Present delivery performance, risk and investment cases to board-level and executive committees, operating credibly at both strategic and sprint-level altitude. Collaborate with Enterprise Architecture, IT Operations and Data Management on target-state blueprints, shift-left initiatives and AI/ML model operationalization.

Vendor Management & Accountability

Own vendor delivery accountability - third parties augment capacity, but outcomes remain with this role Negotiate and manage vendor contracts with focus on quality, SLA compliance, and cost efficiency Drive vendor consolidation strategy and build/buy/partner frameworks Ensure vendor teams operate within Bank’s SDLC, security, and quality standards

 

Ideal Profile

10+ years in technology leadership, with at least 5 years managing large-scale engineering organizations, with direct ownership of engineering output, not just project coordination. Proven track record of improving delivery velocity measurably in complex, regulated environments such as banking, fintech, telecom or comparable industries. Experience leading organizational design at scale: team topologies, career frameworks, post-merger integration and talent development programs. Strong understanding of modern SDLC practices: CI/CD, trunk-based development, automated testing, infrastructure as code. Hands-on experience integrating AI tools into the development lifecycle, such as code assistants, automated testing, AI-powered code review, as a genuine productivity multiplier. Builder mindset: designs delivery organizations from the ground up, creates structure where none exists, and drives measurable outcomes without waiting for permission. Operates effectively at multiple altitudes, from board-level strategic conversation to team-level execution decisions. Direct, transparent communication style. Concrete over abstract. Results over activity, with proven ability to attract and retain top engineering talent in competitive markets Resilience and composure under regulatory and cyber-security pressure Comfort with ambiguity - ability to create structures where none exists Fluent in English. Based in Romania, with a high degree of availability for hybrid, multi-location work. Frequent on-site presence across team locations is expected, particularly during the integration phase.