CTO – Product and Engineering — Digital Bank

The mandate

The board has concluded that incremental adjustment will not resolve product engineering requiring a step-change in pace without compromising reliability within a listed regulated universal or specialist bank. The immediate arena is the digital bank during asset-quality pressure. For mandate 091, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The CTO – Product and Engineering operating perimeter covers approximately AED 85,000 million in loan and deposit book, with activity spanning several digital bank customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The CTO – Product and Engineering Banking remit carries direct influence over roughly 550 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a CTO – Product and Engineering who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the digital bank. The CTO – Product and Engineering Banking seat must resolve asset-quality pressure, while preserving the underlying strengths of the digital bank. For mandate 091, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The CTO – Product and Engineering’s first year on the digital bank is expected to end with release confidence, architecture health and engineering productivity. In mandate 091, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a newly created CTO – Product and Engineering — Digital Bank seat approved as part of the next operating model; it is not an incumbent replacement. The board is running a planned 4–6 month search so the appointee can join ahead of the next capital and talent cycle. Current leaders retain their existing accountabilities until the digital bank remit is formally activated. Confidentiality protects organisation design choices while the board compares external and adjacent-sector talent.

What you will own

• Set the CTO – Product and Engineering value-creation thesis for the digital bank, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately AED 85,000 million in loan and deposit book, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the CTO – Product and Engineering Banking organisation of about 550 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the digital bank economics and execution constraints created by asset-quality pressure, with CTO – Product and Engineering-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one CTO – Product and Engineering operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the digital bank; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have made consequential architecture and engineering trade-offs while scaling release throughput and reliability in mandate 091.
• Build the CTO – Product and Engineering’s three-year succession and capability plan for the digital bank, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Banking organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the digital bank baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to product engineering requiring a step-change in pace without compromising reliability, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal CTO – Product and Engineering portfolio and organisation choices for the digital bank, install the new operating cadence, fill critical leadership gaps and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity or customer value.
• Months 10–12: Demonstrate a repeatable digital bank trend against release confidence, architecture health and engineering productivity, lock the following year’s capital and talent plan, evidence control sustainability and present a credible three-year value case with downside actions.

What the board will measure

• Delivery of the CTO – Product and Engineering’s agreed first-year digital bank value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A CTO – Product and Engineering forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the digital bank’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the CTO – Product and Engineering mandate’s highest-priority digital bank risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical digital bank talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the CTO – Product and Engineering’s direct reports.
• A quantified CTO – Product and Engineering-owned improvement in the digital bank operating constraint behind asset-quality pressure, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 091: no unresolved high-severity escalation older than 30 days and no material surprise withheld from its agreed governance forum.

The person

You are currently a CTO, SVP Engineering or Product Technology Head in a listed Banking or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the digital bank, your CTO – Product and Engineering track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from financial services, payments, lending, insurance or regulated fintech will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this CTO – Product and Engineering brief.

As a CTO – Product and Engineering candidate, you bring 18–22 years of progressive Banking or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 18-22 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of AED 49,300 million and led an organisation of at least 500 people.

For mandate 091, the board wants two transitions: a difficult digital bank portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during asset-quality pressure. As the prospective CTO – Product and Engineering for this digital bank, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 091 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The CTO – Product and Engineering must be based in Dubai; international relocation is supported, but this Banking role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of CTO, SVP Engineering or Product Technology Head, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Banking governance forum.
• Proven CTO – Product and Engineering ownership of at least AED 49,300 million and leadership of no fewer than 500 employees in a comparable digital bank context.
• One completed Banking or adjacent-sector example of product engineering requiring a step-change in pace without compromising reliability with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from financial services, payments, lending, insurance or regulated fintech; experience that is purely functional and lacks CTO – Product and Engineering-level digital bank consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Dubai location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 091.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated CTO – Product and Engineering package is AED 1.9–2.7 million fixed + annual incentive and LTI, calibrated to the final digital bank scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 091 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The CTO – Product and Engineering appointment in Dubai, centred on the digital bank, offers regular exposure to the chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 091.

Confidentiality

The organisation will be identified only after reciprocal interest and a confidentiality undertaking for mandate 091. The market, scale and situation in this brief are intentionally composite and are not a coded description of a named enterprise for mandate 091.