Chief Technology Officer (9 months FTC)

Key responsibilities will include:

IS Strategy

• Maintain and communicate a vision of how IS will support future business direction, relationships and working practices, championing the use of innovation to support the Group’s growth ambitions.
• In conjunction with the senior management team, develop a coherent digitally enabled IT strategy for adoption by the Board, and manage the tactical implementation of this strategy whilst continually reviewing it with regard to business direction, economic conditions and significant IT developments and innovation.
• Be responsible for leading the digital transformation of the Group, having co-created the digitally enabled IS strategy.
• Influence the Executive Committee in the setting of priorities and direction for the effective use of IS resources and capabilities. This will include reviewing major IS initiatives and projects to:

1. ensure that the business cases fully cover the IS costs and potential benefits, and that resourcing implications are addressed;
2. ensure that proposals are consistent with the IS strategy, standards and policy;
3. adjust the IS roadmap as necessary as a result of any agreed changes in business prioritised projects and initiatives.

• Take responsibility for the management and changes to the application and infrastructure estate to meet the Group operational resilience needs, specifically relating to cyber security, business continuity and disaster recovery requirements. Ensure that mechanisms are in place to provide an acceptable level of service to users at an effective cost.
• Be responsible for IS operating policies and procedures to ensure that they are sufficiently robust to adequately safeguard the Group’s assets, and where weaknesses are identified ensure remedial action is taken in a timely manner. Ensure that Group policies and procedure are adhered to at all times.
• Be accountable for identifying, evaluating and managing all significant risk within the IS Department, and where appropriate to report on risk identified elsewhere in the Group.

Leadership & Management

• Communicate goals and objectives to staff and foster a culture of idea generation and innovation from employees to achieve strategic aims.
• Act as an ambassador for Hodge, increasing brand awareness in the wider community and increasing the group’s attractive as supplier, partner and place of employment.
• Lead, manage and motivate the Change, BI and IT staff to maximise individual and local team performance in the achievement of stated objectives.
• Be responsible for the overall resourcing and training needs of change, BI and IT, taking appropriate actions to ensure that sufficient and competent staff are in place to meet business objectives and to support existing business functions.
• Be responsible for developing and maintaining an Enterprise Architecture view across the organisation.
• Be responsible for developing and maintaining IT, BI and change budgets (Capital and Revenue) and establish efficient operating standards to ensure that all costs are controlled and monitored in accordance with approved budgets, highlighting variances as needed.

Portfolio, Programme and Project Management

• Define and maintain the change governance lifecycle, covering both business and technical elements
• Manage the ‘Strategy to Portfolio’ activities, including ensuring a portfolio of work is defined to realise the agreed strategy in an integrated and coherent way
• Ensure that program and project execution is delivered in terms of agreed time, cost and quality levels plus realises the agreed business benefits
• Ensure that change is delivered in a manner which is consistent with the agreed change governance model

General:

• Comply with all company policies and procedures and legislative and regulatory requirements, including, but not exhaustively, those related to GDPR, Money Laundering, Health & Safety, PRA/FCA regulations, employment and other legislative requirements (as applicable).
• Undertake any other reasonable tasks as and when requested by senior management.
• Develop and maintain an up-to-date knowledge of Compliance & Risk regulatory and legislative information related to products/services (e.g. PRA/FCA rules, Data Protection, Money Laundering, etc.), as advised by line management.
• Support the risk culture of the organisation by taking personal responsibility for identifying and managing risks.

Please be aware that should we pursue your application, all our Financial Services employees will be expected to complete background checks to assess suitability for employment, these include; a criminal record, identity, sanctions, adverse finance, fraud prevention and reference checks to comply with our regulatory requirements.

Hodge is an advocate of being an equal opportunities employer, We believe in promoting equality and diversity which is central to our lives today. We welcome applications from all sections of the community and recognises the value a diverse workforce brings to an organisation.

ESG and sustainability are at the heart of everything we do and serves as a reminder of the responsibility we have to our stakeholders, customers, colleagues and the communities we operate in to use our position wisely. We’re currently exploring different certifications available and have done an initial review of how we think we’d fare, as we see this as a real opportunity for Hodge given our social purpose.

Apply today to become part of Hodge’s mission to make life better for customers and society in the moments that matter.