Program Director

About Albany Beck

Albany Beck is a leading financial services consultancy specialising in delivering high-impact transformation and change programmes across the banking, financial services and insurance sectors. We partner with some of the world’s leading financial institutions, providing expert consulting capability across Technology, Change & Transformation, Risk & Compliance, Data and Operations.

Client Deployment Role Description

Albany Beck is seeking an experienced Programme Director to support a major private banking and wealth management transformation programme.

The successful candidate will play a key leadership role in the next phase of a large-scale banking platform replacement and client migration programme. The programme will involve the continued delivery of Banking and Credit capabilities alongside the development and migration of Investment, Custody, Cash Management and Order Management solutions.

This is a senior, business-led change role requiring someone who has successfully led significant platform and client migrations within Banking, Private Banking or Wealth Management. The Programme Director will work closely with senior business, operations, technology and change stakeholders, providing clear programme direction, migration leadership, governance and executive-level communication.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead a major banking platform and client migration programme, ensuring business readiness and successful delivery across multiple workstreams.
• Lead the assessment of current-state and future-state options across Cash Management, Investments and Custody.
• Develop clear recommendations covering benefits, costs, risks, dependencies and delivery timelines.
• Lead client migration planning, readiness and execution, including migration strategy, cutover planning and associated business change.
• Lead data mapping and legacy platform exit activity across the programme.
• Drive business integration and support the development of an effective target operating model.
• Work with senior stakeholders to define strategic objectives, key programme outcomes and success measures.
• Provide day-to-day leadership across cross-functional and matrix delivery teams.
• Manage dependencies between Business, Operations, Technology and external vendors.
• Develop high-quality SteerCo, executive and programme governance packs, providing clear visibility of programme status, risks, decisions and migration readiness.
• Build strong relationships with senior sponsors and stakeholders and drive consensus around programme direction and key decisions.
• Identify and proactively manage programme risks, issues, dependencies and obstacles to successful delivery.
• Ensure appropriate programme governance, controls and reporting are maintained throughout delivery.
• Manage relationships with strategic software and SaaS vendors where required.
• Ensure clear and consistent communication between senior stakeholders and delivery teams.
• Support programme delivery against agreed timelines, budgets and expected business outcomes.

Key Skills & Experience

• Significant experience operating at Programme Director / Senior Programme Manager level within Financial Services.
• Proven experience leading a large-scale platform migration or replacement programme.
• Strong experience managing large client migrations, including migration readiness, cutover and business transition.
• Experience within Private Banking, Wealth Management or Banking.
• Strong business change and transformation experience rather than solely technical programme delivery.
• Experience delivering programmes involving banking, investment, custody, cash management or order management capabilities.
• Demonstrable experience leading complex programmes involving multiple business and technology workstreams.
• Strong experience producing and presenting executive-level programme reporting, governance packs and decision papers.
• Excellent senior stakeholder management with the ability to engage effectively with C-suite, executive sponsors and senior functional leaders.
• Strong understanding of programme governance, RAID management, dependencies and delivery controls.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams within complex matrix organisations.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate complex programme activity into clear messages for senior stakeholders and delivery teams.

Desirable Experience

• Previous experience with Avaloq or a comparable private banking / wealth management platform.
• Experience delivering a major core banking transformation.
• Experience managing or facing off to major SaaS or software vendors.
• Experience with large-scale or concentrated client migration / cutover events.
• Understanding of Investment, Custody and Order Management processes within Private Banking or Wealth Management.
• Experience delivering target operating model and business integration initiatives.

Personal Attributes

• Confident and credible operating with executive-level stakeholders.
• Strong leadership presence with the ability to provide direction across large, complex programmes.
• Highly organised with excellent programme governance and communication skills.
• Comfortable challenging senior stakeholders and driving decisions where required.
• Able to operate effectively across Business, Operations and Technology functions.
• Pragmatic and delivery-focused with the ability to navigate complex organisational environments.
• Strong judgement and the ability to anticipate programme risks and resolve issues before they impact delivery.