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Leiden area, Netherlands, Netherlands
Hybrid
ABOUT US
We’re the world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services, headquartered in Belgium. We are the way the world moves value – across borders, through cities and overseas. No other organisation can address the scale, precision, pace and trust that this demands, and we’re proud to support the global economy.
We’re unique too. We were established to find a better way for the global financial community to move value – a reliable, safe and secure approach that the community can trust, completely. We’re always striving to be better and are constantly evolving in an ever-changing landscape, without undermining that trust. Five decades on, our vibrant community reflects the complexity and diversity of the financial ecosystem. We innovate diligently, test exhaustively, then implement fast. In a connected and exciting era, our mission has never been more relevant. Swift now has a presence in 200+ countries and legal territories to serve a community of more than 12,000 banks and financial institutions.
About the Role
Initial 12 month FTC with a view to going permanent.
As our use of AI, analytics, and automation accelerates, teams across the organization are developing different technical solutions for similar challenges. This diversity of approaches reflects healthy experimentation, but it also creates a need for shared technical direction, scalable foundations, and solutions that can move beyond isolated implementations.
This role exists to help shape those foundations. As a senior technical lead, you will focus on the design, introduction, and early implementation of platforms and environments that enable others to work effectively with AI, analytics, and automation. You will combine strategic foresight with practical execution, ensuring that early technical decisions set the stage for long-term success – balancing innovation with reliability, governance, and long-term maintainability – so that teams can confidently build on what is introduced.
You will work across teams and domains to coordinate initiatives, align priorities, and drive work from early exploration through adoption. You will collaborate with architectural, security, and governance stakeholders to shape direction and turn ideas into usable, scalable capabilities.
You will remain hands-on where it matters – evaluating technologies, shaping architectures, contributing to early implementations, and building technical solutions – while keeping a clear focus on enabling others, leading early-stage design and implementation before transitioning ownership to operational teams. Strong technical expertise is a prerequisite, but your impact will come from sound technical judgment, informed decision-making, and the ability to help teams move forward with confidence.
Mission
As a Senior Technical Lead on the AI, Automation & Analytics Environments Strategy Team, your mission is to define, stand up, and enable the environments that power Swift’s next generation of AI, automation, and analytics capabilities. This role sits at the intersection of strategy and execution—shaping what environments we need, why they matter, and how they are delivered in a way that balances innovation, risk, and scalability.
You will translate emerging technologies and cross-team requirements into a clear environments strategy, while ensuring those environments are operationally ready for real use. This includes standing up initial tooling and access ahead of broad adoption, navigating required due diligence and risk processes, and defining operating models that transition ownership to the right long-term teams.
Beyond strategy and setup, your mission is hands-on enablement. You will guide teams on when and how to use approved tools and environments, support early onboarding and access, and act as a trusted escalation and advisory partner during early adoption. Success in this role is measured by how quickly teams can move from interest to impact—using the right environments, in the right way, with confidence.
Responsibilities
Design and Implement Foundations: Lead the design and initial implementation of secure, scalable environments for AI, analytics, and automation across the organization.
Technology Evaluation: Assess emerging technologies and platforms, providing recommendations and technical guardrails for adoption.
Architecture Collaboration: Work closely with enterprise architects, governance, and security teams to define architecture standards and ensure alignment; contribute hands-on during early implementation.
Cross-Team Coordination: Align priorities, document requirements, and coordinate initiatives across multiple teams and domains to ensure consistency and interoperability.
Scalability and Reliability: Introduce frameworks and practices that ensure solutions are robust, maintainable, and ready for enterprise-scale adoption.
Enablement and Transition: Provide guidance and onboarding support, drive early adoption, and ensure smooth handover of solutions to operational teams for long-term ownership.
Continuous Improvement: Monitor industry trends and internal feedback to refine strategies and maintain future-ready environments.
Operational Readiness: Ensure operational readiness by completing risk assessments, compliance checks, and defining operating models
Key Attributes
Strategic Planner: You can look at a complex technical landscape and define a clear, structured path forward. You anticipate change rather than just reacting to it.
The Bridge: You connect the dots between innovation and deep engineering context. You ensure technology isn't just a shiny toy, but actually solves the specific pain points of our stakeholders.
High-Energy Change Agent: You are energized by the fast pace of AI. You can light a spark in technical teams, turning hesitation into enthusiasm.
Tech-Savvy Communicator: You translate complex technical concepts into clear strategies for leadership, while earning credibility with engineers through depth and clarity.
Outcome Oriented: You focus on measurable gains (such as improved velocity and quality) rather than just tool deployment.
Production-Ready Visionary: You consistently keep enterprise-grade requirements in mind, designing solutions that are secure, scalable, and future-proof. You anticipate operational challenges and ensure environments can evolve without compromising reliability or compliance.
Skills & Experience
Technical Expertise: Strong background in AI/ML platforms, data science, cloud, automation technologies, and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift).
Cloud & Engineering Environments: Experience with cloud platforms, automation, and modern engineering environments at highly secure enterprises.
Hands-On Implementation: Ability to lead initial builds, prototypes, and technical integrations for complex solutions.
Collaboration and Change Leadership: Proven ability to align technical teams, influence adoption of new platforms, and manage change across architecture, security, and data domains.
Analytical and Problem-Solving: Ability to analyze complex technical landscapes, identify inefficiencies, and design effective, scalable solutions.
Standards & Governance Awareness: Ability and willingness to follow and apply architecture, security, and governance standards.
Experience Level: 5+ years in technical roles with exposure to enterprise-scale environments and cross-functional initiatives.
Education: University degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
What we offer
We give you the freedom to be yourself. We are creating an environment of unique individuals – like you – with different perspectives on the financial industry and the world. A diverse and inclusive environment in which everyone’s voice counts and where you can reach your full potential.
We are committed to an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation related to accessibility during your application or interview, please contact accessibility-Sysgroup@swift.com or indicate this in your application.
Please note that this mailbox is not monitored for general recruitment enquiries and should only be used for accessibility or accommodation-related requests (for example related to vision, hearing or neurodiversity).
All requests are confidential and will not affect your candidacy.
Don’t meet every single requirement? At Swift, we are dedicated to building a workplace where people can bring their full selves and ideas to the team, so if you are excited about this role, we encourage you to apply even if you do not meet every single qualification.
