Senior Lead

The New Core Centre of Excellence Lead will be responsible for managing the strategic, governance, and technical aspects of the New Core (i.e., Temenos) and its ecosystem within the Bank. This role will manage the end-to-end delivery, optimization, integration, and ongoing evolution of the Temenos platform with the bank, ensuring alignment with technology standards and with business requirements, regulatory requirements, and best practices.

The role will also be responsible for controlling and coordinating changes/upgrades on Temenos and its ecosystem, and will work closely with the GCITO, Heads of IT, new core project team, and other stakeholders to support the wider technology strategy and support the respective needs of the business and support functions.

The job holder will assist in setting up and developing the New Core Centre of Excellence team to enable the Bank to implement a collaborative Temenos management program involving business and IT staff. Additionally, the role will manage the relationship with Temenos and the third-party vendor responsible for the platform's cloud infrastructure and changes, ensuring optimal use of the vendor resources and compliance with SLAs.

Responsibilities, Accountabilities and Deliverables of Role:

• Strategic Oversight
  • Lead the strategic planning and execution for the Temenos ecosystem, ensuring alignment with ABC's overall technology and business strategy.
  • Collaborate with Heads of IT and senior stakeholders to ensure the Temenos functionalities meet evolving business requirements and integrate smoothly with a dynamic IT ecosystem.
  • Develop an annual strategic plan to maintain the Temenos platform and its ecosystem, including mandatory vendor upgrades and new implementations.
• Governance and Compliance
  • Develop and maintain a framework to maintain the Temenos platform and its ecosystem, to ensure best practices in system usage, configuration, and customization.
  • Ensure the Temenos platform complies with all applicable IT Architecture Standards and Security standards (including cybersecurity regulations).
• Technical Leadership
  • Oversee the architecture, development, and integration of the Temenos platform, including management of configuration and customization activities.
  • Guide and support teams in troubleshooting, system enhancements, and resolving complex incidents.
  • Ensure Temenos Data Hub is accurately integrated across various systems, platforms, and environments.
  • Ensure vendor hours are optimized for significant platform changes, with the CoE team handling minor to moderate configuration changes.
  • Act as the primary point of contact for the third-party vendor managing the Temenos platform, ensuring effective collaboration.
  • Monitor SLAs and KPIs to ensure the vendor meets performance and service standards.
  • Manage vendor hours, ensuring changes and customizations are efficiently handled within the contracted hours.
  • Coordinate the Vendor's Steering Committee, ensuring regular review of SLAs, incidents, pending changes, and costs.
• Collaboration and Stakeholder Management
  • Work closely with Data Protection Officers to ensure data privacy and compliance with relevant regulations (e.g., GDPR, Bahrain Data Protection law, etc.).
  • Work closely with Cyber & Information Security officers and SMEs to enforce security controls to protect the platform and its ecosystem.
  • Work with IT Architecture to establish standard architecture best practices, and apply such standards to operating teams and other IT functions.
  • Partner with other technology teams to support data-driven initiatives and integration requirements.
  • Work with IT Delivery & PMO and IT Service Management, and other relevant teams to plan and schedule changes, upgrades, and new implementations well in advance, ensuring minimal disruptions to live operations.
• Leadership and People Management
  • Foster customer-centricity, manage a responsive IT team, focusing on operations and end-user satisfaction.
  • Provide strategic leadership and direction to the CoE team; setting clear objectives, priorities, and performance expectations to drive accountability and excellence.
  • Coach, mentor, and develop team members, fostering a supportive and collaborative work environment where individuals can grow and succeed.
  • Develop meaningful dashboards/presentations to present what's happening in the CoE.
  • Measure, monitor, and maintain team's ability to meet agreed SLAs and OLAs.
  • Promote a culture of diversity, equality, and inclusion within the CoE team, championing diversity initiatives and fostering a sense of belonging and respect for all team members.
  • Collaborate with GIT Management and HR to recruit and onboard top talent, ensuring the CoE team has the skills, capabilities, and resources needed to achieve its goals and objectives.

Job Requirements:

• Proven track records of leading large-scale system implementations, upgrades, and migrations in the banking industry.
• Extensive experience in managing Temenos core banking platforms, with a strong understanding of T24, Infinity, and TDH (mandatory).
• Strong expertise in banking operations, including wholesale, retail, treasury, digital, and how technology supports these functions.
• Solid understanding of cloud infrastructure management, including working with third-party vendors for cloud-hosted solutions and overseeing outsourced environments.
• Proficiency in vendor management, including monitoring SLAs, managing contractual obligations, controlling vendor hours for change management, and leading vendor steering committees.
• Strong background in application support services, with a focus on ensuring service continuity, minimizing downtime, and resolving complex technical issues.
• Experience with IT Service Management (ITSM) frameworks and tools, such as ITIL, for incident, problem, and change management in an enterprise environment.
• Familiarity with DevOps and DevSecOps practices, including code management, system monitoring, and the deployment of customizations with core banking and related applications.
• Knowledge of banking regulations and compliance requirements, particularly as they relate to technology, security, and data management.
• Experience with data integration and ensuring seamless interaction between core banking platforms and other banking systems (payments, channels, CRM, etc.).
• Strong leadership skills with experience in managing cross-functional teams.
• Ability to plan/execute strategic system upgrades and implementations, coordinating with project teams and others to minimize disruption.
• Proven capability in disaster recovery planning and management, ensuring systems and data remain secure and available in the event of disruption.
• A broad understanding of emerging technologies in the banking sector, with the ability to assess their impact on core banking and application support services.
• Knowledge of data privacy regulations and compliance requirements.
• Experience in enforcing security policies and regulatory requirements.
• Bachelor's degree or advanced degree in Information Technology or related field.
• Professional Temenos certifications will be highly desirable.
• Project management or service management certifications will be desirable.
• 14+ years of technology or digital experience.
• At least 10+ years in Temenos roles.
• At least 5 years in a managerial and leadership role.
• Proven leadership skills.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Results-oriented and proactive mindset.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work independently and under pressure.