Chief Technology Officer — Risk And Controls Estate

The mandate

Customer and operating evidence now point to a technology architecture decision that will determine the next growth phase within a privately held regulated universal or specialist bank. The immediate arena is the risk and controls estate during a deposit-growth challenge. For mandate 068, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Chief Technology Officer operating perimeter covers approximately ₹51,700 crore in loan and deposit book, with activity spanning several risk and controls estate customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Chief Technology Officer Banking remit carries direct influence over roughly 875 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The group board and the relevant risk and people committees want a Chief Technology Officer who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the risk and controls estate. The Chief Technology Officer Banking seat must resolve a deposit-growth challenge, while preserving the underlying strengths of the risk and controls estate. For mandate 068, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Chief Technology Officer’s first year on the risk and controls estate is expected to end with engineering velocity, reliability and a funded target architecture. In mandate 068, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a planned replacement for the Chief Technology Officer — Risk And Controls Estate seat. The incumbent continues to lead the risk and controls estate through an agreed succession period and will support a structured handover. The board has allowed 4–6 months to assess candidates, complete diligence and protect continuity while a deposit-growth challenge is addressed. The search is confidential so the transition can be communicated to employees, customers and partners in a controlled sequence.

What you will own

• Set the Chief Technology Officer value-creation thesis for the risk and controls estate, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately ₹51,700 crore in loan and deposit book, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Chief Technology Officer Banking organisation of about 875 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the risk and controls estate economics and execution constraints created by a deposit-growth challenge, with Chief Technology Officer-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Chief Technology Officer operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the risk and controls estate; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have made consequential architecture and engineering trade-offs while scaling release throughput and reliability in mandate 068.
• Build the Chief Technology Officer’s three-year succession and capability plan for the risk and controls estate, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Banking organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the risk and controls estate baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to a technology architecture decision that will determine the next growth phase, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Chief Technology Officer portfolio and organisation choices for the risk and controls estate, 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 risk and controls estate trend against engineering velocity, reliability and a funded target architecture, 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 Chief Technology Officer’s agreed first-year risk and controls estate value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A Chief Technology Officer forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the risk and controls estate’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Chief Technology Officer mandate’s highest-priority risk and controls estate risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical risk and controls estate talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the Chief Technology Officer’s direct reports.
• A quantified Chief Technology Officer-owned improvement in the risk and controls estate operating constraint behind a deposit-growth challenge, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 068: 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, VP Engineering or Chief Architect in a privately held Banking or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the risk and controls estate, your Chief Technology Officer 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 Chief Technology Officer brief.

As a Chief Technology Officer candidate, you bring 22–28 years of progressive Banking or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 22-28 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of ₹30,000 crore and led an organisation of at least 625 people.

For mandate 068, the board wants two transitions: a difficult risk and controls estate portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a deposit-growth challenge. As the prospective Chief Technology Officer for this risk and controls estate, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 068 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Chief Technology Officer role in Banking is based in Chennai; relocation is expected, although a structured weekly commute may be considered during the first quarter.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of CTO, VP Engineering or Chief Architect, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Banking governance forum.
• Proven Chief Technology Officer ownership of at least ₹30,000 crore and leadership of no fewer than 625 employees in a comparable risk and controls estate context.
• One completed Banking or adjacent-sector example of a technology architecture decision that will determine the next growth phase 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 Chief Technology Officer-level risk and controls estate consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Chennai location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 068.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Chief Technology Officer package is ₹3.2–4.6 crore fixed + performance variable and LTI, calibrated to the final risk and controls estate scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 068 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Chief Technology Officer appointment in Chennai, centred on the risk and controls estate, offers regular exposure to the group board and the relevant risk and people committees. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 068.

Confidentiality

This search is being conducted without naming the client for mandate 068. Identifying information will follow only when both sides elect to proceed under confidentiality; nothing in the published mandate should be treated as a clue to ownership or brand for mandate 068.