Global Insurance Domain Technology Leader

Global Insurance Domain Technology Leader

Country: Spain

IT STARTS HERE

Santander (www.santander.com) is evolving from a global, high-impact brand into a technology-driven organization, and our people are at the heart of this journey. Together, we are driving a customer-centric transformation that values bold thinking, innovation, and the courage to challenge what’s possible.

This is more than a strategic shift. It’s a chance for driven professionals to grow, learn, and make a real difference.

Our mission is to contribute to help more people and businesses prosper. We embrace a strong risk culture and all our professionals at all levels are expected to take a proactive and responsible approach toward risk management.

The Wealth Management & Insurance division covers three businesses in all Santander Group countries: Insurance, Asset Management and Private Banking. We work to provide the best solutions to our clients in these three businesses in the 10 countries where we are present.

THE DIFFERENCE YOU MAKE

Santander Insurance is looking for a Global Insurance Domain Technology Leader based out of Madrid.

The Global Insurance Domain Technology Leader sets the vision and drives execution of global Insurance business opportunities, aligning technology strategy with organizational objectives and delivering a consistent, high-performance omnichannel experience across markets.

This role requires deep knowledge of the Insurance industry (Life, Protection, P&C, Savings & Investment products) and proven experience operating in bancassurance models, including partnerships and joint ventures between banking and insurance entities.

A core mandate is to scout the best internal and external solutions and weave them into a single, reusable capability stack through a clearly articulated convergence roadmap, maximizing value creation across the bancassurance ecosystem.

You will own the technology strategy end to end—from target architecture through sustained operations—championing modern engineering practices while meeting regulatory, risk, security, and insurance distribution requirements in every jurisdiction

We’re shaping the way we work through innovation, cutting-edge technology, collaboration and the freedom to explore new ideas. To succeed in this role, you will be responsible for:

Strategic Architecture & Road mapping

• Define a multi-year target architecture that unifies the entire insurance customer lifecycle (prospecting, underwriting, issuance, servicing, claims, retention) on a single service mesh across key segments (wealth, private banking, affluent, mass, SMEs) and channels.
• Design platforms that support both manufacturing and distribution models typical of bancassurance, including partner integration and product factory capabilities.
• Align platform milestones with domain OKRs, budget cycles, regulatory requirements and local market rollout plans.
• Ensure architecture supports both Life and Non-Life insurance products, including savings, protection and investment-linked solutions.

Platform Build & Integration

• Lead technical squads to develop and deploy platform components aligned with the agreed roadmap and bancassurance operating model.
• Develop, maintain and evolve a global omnichannel insurance platform integrating advanced technologies such as AI, data analytics and personalization engines.
• Enable seamless integration with core banking systems, policy administration systems, underwriting engines, claims platforms and partner insurance systems.
• Oversee global DevSecOps toolchains, ensuring CI/CD automation, blue-green deployments and zero-downtime releases.
• Ensure compliance with insurance regulatory frameworks (IDD, Solvency II impacts, local supervisory requirements, product governance).
• Manage IT budget and cost control in coordination with Finance, ensuring optimization of bancassurance joint cost structures.

Capability Benchmarking & Convergence

• Identify best-in-class insurance and bancassurance capabilities across the Group’s banks and relevant external benchmarks.
• Benchmark underwriting, pricing, distribution, and claims technology stacks across markets.
• Define, prioritize and socialize a convergence roadmap that maximizes reuse of technical components, accelerates time to market, reduces duplication and strengthens global insurance capabilities while respecting local regulatory constraints.
• Drive harmonization of insurance product catalogues and digital customer journeys where feasible.

Governance & Stakeholder Management

• Serve as single point of contact to the Group CIO, regional CTOs, Heads of Insurance, Compliance, Risk, Audit and JV insurance partners for all Insurance technology matters.
• Partner closely with Insurance CEOs / Heads of Bancassurance in each market to align technology with commercial objectives.
• Drive vendor selection and manage strategic partnerships (cloud providers, policy administration vendors, reg-tech providers, actuarial and claims platforms).
• Optimize total cost of ownership across the bancassurance ecosystem

Leadership & Talent Development

• Build and mentor a diverse organization of ~120 engineers and architects with expertise in insurance platforms, core banking integrations and digital distribution.
• Foster a culture of psychological safety, measurable productivity and engineering excellence.
• Promote inner-source contributions and shared component libraries to accelerate reuse across insurance and banking domains.
• Develop specialized insurance technology capabilities (underwriting automation, claims digitization, policy lifecycle management).

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

Our people are our greatest strength. Every individual contributes unique perspectives that make us stronger as a team and as an organization. We’re enabling teams to go beyond by valuing who they are and empowering what they bring.

The following requirements represent the knowledge, skills, and abilities essential for success in this role. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Professional Experience

• 12+ years of progressive software engineering leadership within a tier 1 global bank or fintech, with at least two end to end deliveries of global platforms (Required)
• Deep understanding of core banking systems, securities settlement, portfolio management and customer facing digital channels. (Required)
• Mastery of cloud native architectures (Kubernetes, Kafka, public/private cloud), API product management and data platform patterns. (Required)
• Demonstrated success navigating multi country regulatory landscapes and orchestrating large scale migrations without service disruption. (Required)
• Exceptional stakeholder influencing skills; able to translate technical vision into commercial outcomes for board level executives. (Required)

Education

• MBA or Master’s in Computer Science, Financial Engineering or related field. (Required)

Languages

• Spanish and English (Required)

Hard & Soft Skills

• Hands on exposure to AI powered personal finance advice, ESG investing or digital asset custody solutions.
• Thought leadership presence—speaking at industry forums or contributing to open source standards.

WE VALUE YOUR IMPACT

Your contribution matters, and it’s recognized. You can expect a fair, competitive reward package that reflects the impact you create and the value you deliver. But we know rewards go beyond numbers.

• We’re enable our teams to go beyond through global opportunities and broad career paths.
• Flexibility that works. Enjoy a hybrid working models—some days remote, some days onsite with your team—along with flexible hours.
• Learning for life. Access hundreds of courses on our platforms, including exclusive access to our global learning space: Santander Open Academy (www.santanderopenacademy.com)
• Competitive rewards. Receive a highly competitive salary with performance-based bonuses, motivating you to keep growing with us.
• Financial advantages. Benefit from preferential banking terms, special interest rates on loans, life insurance, and more.
• Your health is our priority. Through BeHealthy, our global wellness programme, we promote Holistic wellbeing.
• We know family is everything. That’s why we offer childcare support and family-friendly programmes tailored to each life stage.
• Always by your side. Get access to Santander Contigo, our program for employees and their families offering legal, emotional, and administrative advisory services.
• Extra benefits. Gym/WellHub membership, medical centers in some of our facilities, meal subsidy, parking, shuttle service from various points in Madrid, as well as exclusive discounts and offers for Santander employees. And that’s only the beginning—we’ll tell you more when you join!

We’re here to keep you motivated, help you reach your goals, and celebrate your progress, every step of the way.

LOCAL COMPLIANCE

Santander is proud of being an organization where there are equal opportunities regardless of age, gender, disability, civil status, race, religion or sexual orientation. We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible application process for all candidates.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

If this sounds like a role you are interested in, then please apply.
 

READY TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP IN YOUR JOURNEY?