Senior Director Engineering, Financial Services Australia

Company description

Publicis Sapient is a global digital transformation partner that for more than 30 years has guided some of the world's largest organizations toward a digitally enabled future, both in the way they work and the way they serve their customers. We help unlock value through a start-up mindset and modern methods, fusing strategy, consulting and customer experience with agile engineering and problem-solving creativity. United by our core values and purpose of helping people thrive in the brave pursuit of Next.

Our 20,000+ professionals in 56 offices worldwide combine experience across technology, data sciences, consulting, and customer obsession to accelerate our clients’ businesses through designing the products and services their customers truly value.

Overview

At Publicis Sapient, we enable our clients to drive large-scale digital transformations. As Senior Director of Engineering – Financial Services, you will lead the design and delivery of large-scale digital transformation programmes for Tier-1 banks and financial institutions. You will be responsible for shaping and executing engineering strategies that modernise legacy banking platforms, enable coreless architecture, and drive the adoption of cloud-native, API-first solutions.

This role requires a visionary leader who can guide geographically distributed engineering squads, collaborate with C-level stakeholders, and deliver high-impact outcomes across core banking, payments, digital channels, and enterprise platforms. You will also play a critical role in building high-performing teams and enabling sales through technical leadership and client engagement.

• Lead multi-disciplinary engineering teams delivering transformation programmes across core banking, payments, and digital channels.
• Champion modern engineering practices including microservices, event-driven architecture, and DevSecOps.
• Architect and deliver next-gen banking platforms using technologies like Thought Machine Vault, Mambu, and Finxact.
• Drive legacy remediation through dual-run strategies, co-existence adapters, and modular platform design.
• Enable composable architecture and domain-based design to support scalable, secure, and future-proof banking systems.
• Oversee front-end modernisation initiatives including GenAI-assisted reverse and forward engineering legacy systems to integrate with modern design systems and technologies, ensuring alignment with strategic target-state architecture.
• Shape and execute multi-year transformation roadmaps, operating models, and agile delivery frameworks.
• Institutionalise AI-enabled digital factories to accelerate legacy modernisation and hypothesis-driven development.
• Lead programmes focused on vulnerability remediation, monolith breakdown, and architectural streamlining to enhance security posture and operational resilience.
• Build and scale high-performing engineering teams with the right mix of skills, experience, and mindset to deliver complex transformation programmes.
• Mentor and coach senior technologists, architects, and engineering leads to grow technical leadership across the organisation.
• Act as a technical advisor in pre-sales engagements, helping shape client proposals, solution architecture, and delivery models.
• Collaborate with Client Partners and Industry Leads to identify opportunities, define value propositions, and support deal closure.
• Represent engineering in client workshops, discovery sessions, and strategic planning forums.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading engineering delivery for financial services clients, ideally within banking transformation programmes.
• Deep understanding of cloud-native architecture, core banking platforms, and integration strategies.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with experience engaging C-level executives and cross-functional teams.
• Expertise in agile delivery, scaled engineering models, and DevOps practices.
• Demonstrated success in building teams and enabling sales through technical leadership.
• Prior experience in a consulting or services environment, managing complex client relationships and driving digital engineering projects to completion.

Additional information

• An inclusive workplace that promotes diversity and collaboration.
• Access to ongoing learning and development opportunities.
• Competitive compensation and benefits package.
• Flexibility to support work-life balance.
• Comprehensive health benefits for you and your family.
• Generous paid leave and holidays.
• Wellness program and employee assistance.