Head of IT

Role Overview:

• Act as a senior IT leader and extension of the CIO in Portugal.
• Provide leadership across two IT-related functions.
• Serve as the key link between the Porto operation and the CIO and head office in France.

Core Profile:

• Senior IT management experience, ideally with a strong background in banking, financial services, or insurance.
• Experience working within a Shared Service Centre or Global Business Services environment.
• Progressed beyond being a technical IT specialist into strategic leadership and management.
• Strong understanding of IT strategy, business strategy, and organizational transformation.
• Ability to understand IT from a 360-degree business perspective rather than focusing on a specific technology or programming language.
• Comfortable managing and advising teams of approximately 30 people across Porto and other locations.
• Sufficient seniority and maturity to engage directly with the CEO, CIO, and executive leadership.
• Ability to act as the senior IT figure in Porto, where the wider executive team is primarily based in Lisbon.
• Ability to serve as a trusted partner to the CIO rather than simply executing instructions.

Strategic Capability:

• Ability to challenge and advise the business.
• Assess if IT activity is strategically viable in Portugal.
• Determine if a function should remain in Portugal or move to another country.
• Evaluate which operating model makes the most sense.
• Define how local IT functions should interact with the wider IT organization.
• Assess what is feasible from a Portuguese regulatory, operational, and talent perspective.
• Determine how the local IT organization should adapt to ongoing group-level restructuring.
• Possession of commercial and business judgment alongside IT expertise.

Industry and Environment:

• Preferred experience in banking, insurance, financial services, or large multinational and shared-service environments.
• Experience in an organization with complex international IT structures, multiple business units, and centralized group IT functions is particularly valuable.

Language Requirements:

• French is a strong advantage but not an absolute requirement.
• Ability to reduce communication friction with French stakeholders who do not speak fluent English.
• Willingness to learn French and engage with French culture is a positive.

Candidate Profile:

• Not a deep technical specialist or someone focused on particular programming languages or frameworks.
• Someone who started in IT, developed strong technical understanding, and moved into senior management and strategic leadership.

Ideal Candidate Summary:

• A senior IT leader from banking, insurance, or financial services, ideally with Shared Services or Global Business Services experience, who combines strong IT knowledge with business strategy, organizational leadership, and executive presence, and can act as the CIO's trusted extension in Porto while challenging and advising the business on IT strategy.

Location: Porto, Portugal

Skills required for this job:

• Banking operations
• Financial services
• IT management
• Information technology
• Insurance
• Management
• Strategic management
• Technology leadership