SVP - Technology Assurance

ABOUT US
At OakNorth, we're on a mission to empower ambitious businesses and the communities they serve. Since 2015, we've lent over $21 billion across the UK and US, helped create more than 58,000 new homes and 36,000 new jobs, and supported hundreds of thousands of personal savers — all while driving economic growth in the markets we serve.

ABOUT THE TEAM
The Assurance Centre of Excellence (CoE) delivers high-quality assurance across OakNorth’s key risk domains, including Financial Crime, Finance, Credit, Operations, Technology and Regulatory Reporting. The CoE is a lean, technically rigorous team that partners closely with Risk, Compliance and business functions to provide risk-based assurance and actionable insights.

Within the CoE, the Technology Assurance team delivers risk-based assurance across OakNorth’s technology landscape, including core banking infrastructure, digital products, data platforms, cloud, cybersecurity and technology resilience.

ABOUT THE ROLE
The SVP, Technology Assurance is a critical role: you will both lead the delivery of the technology assurance plan and personally execute assurance engagements. Reporting to the Assurance COE Lead, you will define the scope and direction of technology assurance coverage, manage a team, and hold the bar for quality and timeliness across all engagements. This role is central to OakNorth's ability to maintain a well-controlled, trusted technology environment as the business scales.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Own the strategic direction and forward-looking plan for Technology Assurance, translating OakNorth’s technology strategy, risk profile, regulatory obligations and growth plans into risk-based coverage across cyber security, cloud, engineering, resilience, data, AI and technology change.

• Personally lead and execute complex and high-risk technology reviews end-to-end, from scoping and technical assessment through to stakeholder challenge, reporting and remediation, applying strong judgement to significant technology risks and control issues.

• Develop and drive the assurance approach for cloud and modern technology architecture, including cloud security and governance, identity and access, infrastructure resilience, DevSecOps, configuration management, data protection and third-party/cloud concentration risks.

• Build Technology Assurance capability for OakNorth’s US operations and expansion, ensuring appropriate coverage of applicable US technology and cyber requirements, including the New York Department of Financial Services Cybersecurity Regulation (23 NYCRR Part 500), and incorporating evolving regulatory expectations into the assurance plan.

• Shape the Assurance approach to AI and emerging technology risk, including generative and agentic AI, with particular focus on governance, autonomous actions and decision-making, human oversight, access and permissions, data security, third-party/model dependencies and ongoing monitoring.

• Act as a senior assurance partner and constructive challenger to the CTO, Engineering and Technology leadership, identifying cross-cutting and systemic technology risks and providing insight on emerging themes, root causes, major transformation initiatives and the scalability of the technology control environment.

• Drive a continuous assurance approach across Technology, integrating risk insights, automated control testing and monitoring to provide timely visibility of emerging risks.

• Provide technical leadership and build capability across the wider Assurance team, coaching colleagues, sharing specialist knowledge and raising the quality and consistency of technology risk assessment across both technology and business reviews.

• Drive innovation in how Assurance is delivered, leveraging AI, automation and advanced analytics — including agentic approaches where appropriate — to increase coverage, strengthen risk identification and improve the efficiency and quality of assurance delivery.

YOU'LL BE A GREAT FIT IF YOU HAVE…

• 15+ years of Technology Audit/Assurance experience within regulated financial services, with a track record of leading complex reviews and shaping risk-based assurance plans.

• Deep expertise across technology risks, including cybersecurity, infrastructure, IAM, data, resilience, DevSecOps and technology change, with the ability to independently challenge complex environments.

• Strong experience in cloud assurance, including modern cloud architectures, security and governance, third-party dependencies and risks arising from increasing cloud adoption.

• Experience with US technology and cyber regulatory requirements, ideally including NYDFS Cybersecurity Regulation (23 NYCRR Part 500), and translating regulatory expectations into practical assurance.

• Proven leadership and stakeholder management, including building Technology Assurance capability and constructively challenging CTO-level and senior Engineering leaders; relevant certification such as CISA, CISSP, CIA or equivalent.

Nice to Have

• Exposure to second line risk frameworks (e.g. RCSA, control testing) in addition to third line reviews

• Experience in a high-growth or scale-up bank environment

WHAT WE OFFER

• Health & Protection: Medical cover for you, your family & parents; life and accidental cover at a multiple of your salary

• Wellbeing: Annual health check-ups, online doctor consultations, pharmacy discounts, nutritionist support, and an Employee Assistance Programme — all sponsored

• Time Off: Earned, casual/sick leave, public holidays, maternity & paternity leave

• Life Milestones: Financial gesture of support at marriage, childbirth, and bereavement

• Flexible Benefits: Tax-efficient allowances for internet, fuel, meals, leave & travel, and NPS

• Growth: Professional certifications support, learning and development opportunities, childcare benefits, and paid volunteering days

• Our Workplace: Modern central offices, weekly business updates, team events, and great coffee — we work hard to build a culture worth showing up for