Head of Engineering (Financial Services)

The Head of Engineering is responsible for providing technical leadership and people leadership across a large, complex engineering organisation within the Financial Services Industry (FSI). This role drives the engineering strategy, architecture, delivery excellence, and talent development required to build secure, scalable, and high‑performing digital platforms.

You will lead multiple engineering teams delivering full‑stack solutions in a Java‑centric environment, partnering closely with Technology, Product, Architecture, Risk, Compliance, and Business stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

Technical & Engineering Leadership

• Own and evolve the engineering strategy aligned with business objectives and regulatory requirements.
• Provide architectural and technical leadership across large‑scale, distributed systems, ensuring scalability, resilience, performance, and security.
• Set and enforce engineering standards (coding, testing, CI/CD, code quality, security, observability).
• Guide system design and technology choices in a Java / JVM‑based full‑stack environment (e.g. microservices, APIs, cloud‑native architectures).
• Drive modern engineering practices including DevOps, automation, test-driven development, and site reliability principles.
• Ensure engineering solutions comply with FSI regulatory, risk, and security standards.

Delivery & Execution

• Oversee delivery across multiple teams and programmes, managing dependencies in complex enterprise landscapes.
• Partner with Product and Business leaders to balance time‑to‑market, quality, risk, and cost.
• Drive continuous improvement in engineering productivity, reliability, and operational excellence.
• Manage third‑party vendors and strategic partners where applicable.

People Management & Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and develop senior engineering leaders, managers, and technical experts.
• Build high‑performing, diverse engineering teams with a strong culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous learning.
• Own workforce planning, succession planning, hiring, and talent development strategies.
• Provide regular coaching, performance management, and career development guidance.

Stakeholder & Executive Engagement

• Act as a trusted technology advisor to senior executives and business leaders.
• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to non‑technical stakeholders.
• Collaborate closely with Risk, Compliance, Security, and Architecture functions.

Skillsets

Technical Experience

• 12+ years of engineering experience, with significant time in senior leadership roles.
• Proven leadership in large‑scale, complex FSI environments (banking, insurance, asset or wealth management).
• Strong expertise in Java‑based full‑stack development (backend services, APIs, frontend frameworks).
• Experience with microservices architectures, cloud platforms, CI/CD pipelines, and modern DevOps practices.
• Deep understanding of non‑functional requirements: security, performance, resilience, availability, and data integrity.

Leadership & Management

• Demonstrated success leading large, multi‑team engineering organisations.
• Strong people‑management capability, with experience developing senior engineering talent.
• Experience operating within highly regulated, risk‑aware environments.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.

Advantage / Preferred Experience

• Wealth Management / Private Banking platforms and digital channels.
• Bancassurance systems and integrations between banking and insurance ecosystems.
• Advisory platforms (financial advisory, portfolio management, client onboarding, KYC).
• Experience modernising or transforming legacy FSI systems at scale.

Argyll Scott Singapore Pte Ltd
EA License No. 16S8105
Koh Ching Wen (Xu Jingwen)
EA Reg No: R1108631