Job Introduction
The Head of Digital is a key member of Handelsbanken’s Digital Leadership team, responsible for leading our digital product practice and overseeing the design, development and ongoing management of our digital channels, CRM, onboarding, credit and modern workplace platforms. The role also provides line leadership to our Digital Product Owner community.
Working in close partnership with Technology and the wider Business, the Head of Digital will play a central role in modernising the Bank—reducing legacy risk, creating scalable processes and enhancing customer experience—while remaining true to Handelsbanken’s values and relationship-driven culture.
The successful candidate will lead teams focused on creating intuitive digital products that elevate customer satisfaction, and tools that support colleagues to spend more time with their customers. This work will generate operational efficiencies across branches and functions, contributing to sustainable growth.
This role requires strong end-to-end leadership; using data and customer insight to shape and prioritise new tools and capabilities, mapping out future state customer journeys, and aligning delivery with the Bank’s strategy and IT architectural roadmap. Building trusted, influential relationships across the organisation will be essential to driving a coordinated, cost-efficient and long-term approach to a customer centric digital modernisation.
Main Responsibilities
- Work closely with key internal stakeholders to translate the Bank’s growth ambitions and IT architectural roadmap into a clear product vision and a well-prioritised roadmap of digital change.
- Lead the delivery workstreams for CRM, Onboarding, Web & Apps, Credit and Modern Workplace, ensuring roadmaps are aligned to business strategy, deliver measurable value, and enhance customer and colleague experiences.
- Champion and lead the Digital Product Community of Practice, advocating for agile build approaches with senior stakeholders, demonstrating value through measurable outcomes, and promoting best practice, training and knowledge-sharing to uplift digital product capability across the Bank.
- Embed agile ways of working across product teams to increase speed, collaboration and adaptability, ensuring continuous improvement becomes part of day-to-day delivery.
- Use the Bank’s established change, reporting and governance frameworks to effectively manage dependencies, risks and challenges, ensuring issues are addressed early and progress is clearly communicated to relevant committees and stakeholders.
- Build strong relationships with business leaders, risk, compliance and technology teams, translating complex technical concepts into business outcomes to secure alignment, buy-in and investment.
- Work in close partnership with the Technology Leadership Team, holding a “Dual Key” responsibility with your Technology counterpart to lead teams in delivering secure, scalable and compliant digital solutions.
- Lead, coach and develop the Digital Product team, supporting their growth, fostering alignment with the Bank’s culture and values, and ensuring we build the capability and succession needed to deliver our modernisation objectives.
- Establish an effective relationship with Group colleagues in Sweden and across other markets, sharing digital best practice and supporting coordinated, cross-geographic ways of working.
- Actively promote and ensure adherence to the Bank’s Risk Management Framework (including sub-frameworks) and relevant risk and compliance policies and procedures, ensuring timely and appropriate escalation of concerns to relevant senior stakeholders.
Ideal Candidate
Research (by Harvard University) shows that women are particularly likely to second guess themselves and not apply - so if you are worried you don't meet all the criteria, get in touch anyhow and let us do the worrying…
- Strong ability to interpret the Bank's strategy, vision, and technology roadmap, translating these into clear, outcome-focused product decisions and cutting through complexity to maintain focus on high-level objectives and continuous improvement.
- A balanced approach to prioritisation, combining business need, user insight, and delivery implications to maximise the value of growth-supporting change.
- Demonstrable experience in delivering large-scale transformation across technology and business functions, with clear evidence of improving commercial outcomes.
- Significant hands-on experience applying Agile delivery methodologies and change management practices within a regulated environment.
- Proven leadership of a Product community, including running a Community of Practice and supporting meaningful career progression for Digital Product Owners at all levels.
- Experience establishing and implementing governance for high-profile initiatives, ensuring effective oversight and timely decision-making.
- Strong organisational capability, with a history of delivering large and complex programmes at pace.
- Effective use of a broad range of influencing strategies, with confidence engaging senior stakeholders and securing alignment.
- Comfortable both challenging and being challenged, always in support of achieving the right outcome for customers and the Bank.
- Proven ability to build and sustain strong professional relationships, working effectively with internal stakeholders at all levels and representing Handelsbanken externally with credibility.
- Resilience and the ability to perform well under pressure while maintaining a calm, constructive and solution-focused approach.
Company Information
Handelsbanken is a relationship bank with a decentralised way of working, a strong local presence thanks to a nationwide network of branches, and a long-term approach to customer relations. Each Handelsbanken branch operates as a local business enabling it to make decisions at a local level and provide a bespoke service. The focus is always on the need of the individual customer and not on the sale of specific products.
The Bank is deeply committed to embedding good equality and diversity practice into all of our activities. This is so that we are an inclusive, welcoming and inspiring place to work that encourages everyone to apply, regardless of socio-economic background, age, disability, pregnancy and/or parental status, race (including colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origin), veteran status, marital and civil partnership status, religion or belief, sex, gender reassignment or sexual orientation.
Check our
Handelsbanken website for further information
At Handelsbanken, we deeply value our unique culture and values including trust in and respect for each individual. We take pride in nurturing a work environment where people flourish, and where they are empowered to take decisions in their areas of expertise. We take a long term perspective in everything we do and want each employee who joins us to build a long terms successful career with the Bank.
What is in it for you?
- We have a wide range of learning and development available, empowering and enabling our colleagues to take ownership of their own development.
- Competitive Salary and an extensive range of benefits is provided, including private medical insurance, income protection and life assurance
- A market-leading pension contribution of 15% paid by the bank, which can be invested in a wide range of funds (including ESG and Shariah funds)
Application next steps
Your journey with us begins once you have submitted your application. One of our Handelsbanken recruiters will be reviewing your details and will later organise a phone conversation if you match the role requirements. If there is a mutual fit, we will extend an invitation for you to participate in an interview.
How can we support you to be your best self? Our Talent Acquisition team will be happy to provide support e.g. if you need additional time to prepare for an interview or you have any requirements for any part of the interview/hiring process – just let us know by email uk_talent@careers.handelsbanken.co.uk .
This advert will be live for a minimum of two weeks. However, please note that after the two weeks, the closing date could change at any time depending on the number of responses received.
