The Role
Our client is an elite, globally recognised trading firm, widely regarded as one of the most successful in their space is undertaking a significant technology modernisation programme across trading, risk and corporate functions.
At the centre of this transformation is a newly created leadership role, Global Head of Cloud, Data & AI, reporting directly to the Group CIO.
This is a foundational hire, responsible for defining and delivering the firm’s cloud, data and AI strategy, and building the platforms, operating models and engineering capability that will underpin 10,000+ users and 1,000+ technologists globally.
The role brings together three critical domains. The cloud platform forms the foundation, enabling engineering at scale, while data and AI represent equally important pillars focused on unlocking business value across trading and risk. The expectation is to bring these together into a cohesive, integrated platform strategy.
The environment requires a technically credible leader who operates with a player-coach mindset, comfortable working at both strategic and architectural depth, making decisions quickly and driving execution across globally distributed teams.
What You’ll Do
Own and define the global strategy across cloud, data and AI, setting the technical direction and ensuring it scales with the business.
Establish and evolve a modern cloud platform that enables engineering teams to build, deploy and operate systems quickly, safely and reliably, with a strong focus on developer productivity.
Shape and drive the firm’s data platform strategy, ensuring the environment supports analytical workloads, scalable data pipelines and the broader needs of a modern data ecosystem.
Lead the evolution of AI capability across the organisation, focusing on practical adoption and enablement through platform design, including areas such as knowledge retrieval, automation and agentic development.
Evolve traditional application support into a modern SRE-led operating model, leveraging observability, automation and reliability engineering practices.
Define and implement an effective global operating model across cloud, data and AI, aligning teams across multiple regions and ensuring consistency in tooling, standards and delivery.
Create internal tooling and “golden paths” that abstract complexity and allow engineering teams to move quickly without compromising standards, security or cost control.
Engage closely with senior stakeholders across technology, trading and risk, translating technical decisions into clear outcomes and driving alignment across the business.
Own the cloud cost model and governance, ensuring spend remains controlled and predictable without slowing delivery.
Lead and develop high-performing engineering teams globally, creating an environment focused on execution, accountability and technical excellence.
What You Bring
Strong, production-level experience with AWS, including building and operating large-scale, business-critical platforms.
A background spanning cloud platform or infrastructure engineering, alongside strong exposure to data and/or AI capabilities within modern engineering environments.
A clear understanding of how cloud platforms underpin data ecosystems, including data pipelines, storage patterns and analytics workloads.
Experience working with or enabling AI-driven capabilities, particularly where platform design supports real-world adoption across engineering or business workflows.
Experience delivering transformation within complex environments, moving teams from legacy approaches to modern, cloud-enabled architectures.
The ability to operate at depth, making informed technical decisions quickly without reliance on external consultants or extended research cycles.
A player-coach mindset, combining leadership with the ability to stay close to the detail and challenge effectively.
Strong communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into business-relevant outcomes.
What Sets This Role Apart
The organisation is intentionally moving towards a more nimble, execution-focused engineering culture, with a strong emphasis on speed, accountability and technical ownership.
The role sits at the intersection of cloud, data and AI, with a genuine opportunity to shape how these capabilities come together to drive business value across trading, risk and the wider organisation.
There is strong executive sponsorship behind this hire, and the position is viewed internally as a critical enabler of the firm’s future technology strategy.