Developer Experience & Governance Director
Citi Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Overview
Developer Enablement is a key part of the CTO organisation. Our mission is to make it fast, safe, and satisfying for 40,000 engineers across the bank to write code and ship it to production. We focus on enabling modern ways of working by codifying controls, upgrading the developer toolchain, reducing toil, and embedding compliance invisibly into the development lifecycle — without slowing anyone down. We believe that governance and productivity can, and must, go hand-in-hand. We work across global regions, engineering disciplines, and risk functions to define the future of how software is built, governed, and released at scale.
The Role
We are looking for a Director of Developer Experience and Governance – a strategic and technical leader who can set the direction for our SDLC policies, engage with senior stakeholders across first and second lines of defence, and represent the needs of thousands of developers across the firm. This role requires balancing engineering velocity and regulatory control. You will lead the creation of intelligent, automated guardrails that developers love because they make compliance seamless and improve how they work. You will work with engineers, auditors, risk partners and regulators to ensure that our controls are strong, evidence-backed, and invisible where possible. If you are excited by enterprise-scale impact, and want to shape how one of the world’s largest banks builds software, this role offers that opportunity. We are at the forefront of modern software development and have introduced new AI developer tooling at a scale unmatched in our industry.
Responsibilities
* Lead the strategy and execution for global SDLC policy and standards across 40,000+ developers
* Drive a governance approach rooted in automation, developer empathy, and continuous delivery principles
* Codify controls into the development toolchain – policies as code, automated quality gates, and self-service approval workflows
* Act as the point person for Technology governance engagements with risk, audit, and regulators globally
* Collaborate with engineering squads, platform teams, and DevSecOps to make security and compliance a built-in experience
* Champion the developer voice in forums, steering groups and transformation initiatives – ensure policies and tooling help, not hinder
* Define and track KPIs across compliance, risk posture, and developer productivity – and drive improvement based on data
* Stay ahead of regulatory expectations, engineering trends, and emerging technologies that affect the SDLC
* Represent the firm in internal and external forums, including regulatory meetings, control design reviews, and engineering councils
Characteristics
* Technically grounded, with the ability to go deep when needed – especially around modern SDLC, CI/CD, and DevSecOps
* Strategic in thinking, pragmatic in delivery – knows how to drive change in a large, regulated environment
* Empathetic to developers and passionate about improving how they build and release software
* A natural influencer who can align diverse stakeholders toward shared outcomes
* Comfortable navigating ambiguity and owning complex, multi-year transformations
* Constantly curious – about AI-assisted development, automated compliance, or platform engineering trends
Experience
* Proven track record in a senior technology leadership role, ideally Director level or above, in a large engineering or financial organisation
* Hands-on experience with modern SDLC practices, CI/CD tooling, secure software delivery, and inner loop productivity
* Deep understanding of development risk, audit, and regulatory expectations – ideally with prior engagement in audits, regulator meetings, or enterprise compliance programmes
* Strong collaboration track record across engineering, compliance, risk, and legal functions
* Broad technical background – understanding of backend/frontend engineering, infrastructure, cloud, and security tooling
* Degree in Computer Science or related field preferred, but practical expertise and influence matter more
What We’ll Provide You
By joining Citi Belfast, you will be part of a business casual workplace with a hybrid working model (up to 2 days working at home per week), and receive a competitive base salary (annually reviewed), along with a range of benefits:
* 27 days annual leave (plus bank holidays)
* A discretionary annual performance-related bonus
* Private Medical Care & Life Insurance
* Employee Assistance Program
* Pension Plan
* Paid Parental Leave
* Special discounts for employees, family, and friends
* Access to learning and development resources
Visit our Global Benefits page to learn more. Citi is an equal opportunity employer and we are committed to an inclusive workplace. See Citi’s EEO Policy Statement and the Know Your Rights poster.
Job Details
Job Family Group: Technology
Job Family: Technology Management
Time Type: Full time
Seniority level: Not Applicable
Employment type: Full-time
Industry: Banking, Financial Services, and Investment Banking
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
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