Director, Head of Technology Strategy and Operations

Your opportunity

Director, Head of Technology Strategy and Operations

At Schwab, you’re empowered to make an impact on your career. Here, innovative thought meets creative problem solving, helping us “challenge the status quo” and transform the finance industry together.

Schwab Asset Management (SAM) Technology is an organization within Schwab Technology Services aligned to support the technology needs of Schwab Asset Management (SAM), Wealth, Advice & Banking Solutions (WABT), and the Schwab Center for Financial Research (SCFR) and Third-Party platform teams. Sam Technology is an organization dedicated to supporting SAM’s Investment, Operational and Data platforms and teams that provide Production Support, Architecture, and Infrastructure needs. The Director of Technology Transformation & Operations reports to the Managing Director and Head of SAM Technology and is integral to the evolution and delivery of efficient, modern operational processes across the entire SAM portfolio. 

The role serves as a strategic partner and trusted advisor, responsible for driving the execution of the technology strategy and enabling a high-performing, globally integrated technology organization. This executive leader is accountable for establishing and continuously evolving the Technology Operating Model, accelerating Agile transformation, advancing organizational culture, driving enterprise-wide strategic initiatives, and ensuring disciplined execution of the technology investment portfolio. The role serves as the operational leader of the CIO Office, partnering with senior executives across Technology, Investments, Operations, Risk, and Corporate Functions to increase organizational agility, execution velocity, innovation, and business value delivery. The successful candidate will champion modern product and platform operating models, AI-enabled engineering practices, organizational effectiveness, and a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous learning, and operational excellence.

What you’ll do:

Key Functional Responsibilities:

Organization Leadership & Strategic Execution

• Serve as strategic advisor to the Head of SAM Technology, translating strategic priorities into measurable execution plans.
• Lead the Technology Business Management function and oversee the operational effectiveness of the SAM Tech organization.
• Drive enterprise strategic planning, annual operating plans, organizational priorities, and technology roadmaps.
• Develop Board, Executive Committee, and senior leadership communications, including strategic narratives, business reviews, and performance reporting.
• Ensure alignment between technology investments and enterprise business strategy.

Enterprise Agile Transformation & Global Technology Operating Model

• Support the maturity and enable the Product and Platform Operating Models across the technology organization.
• Optimize organizational design to improve speed, scalability, and business alignment.
• Lead Agile transformation and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Establish and lead the Agile Center of Excellence.
• Scale Agile, Lean, Product Management, DevSecOps, and engineering best practices across the organization.
• Drive adoption of value stream management and Lean Portfolio Management.
• Coach senior technology and business leaders on Agile leadership and organizational agility.
• Improve delivery predictability, planning discipline, release management, and execution excellence.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement through measurable Agile maturity and engineering excellence.

Organizational Culture & Leadership Development

• Champion the evolution of a high-performing, collaborative, and inclusive technology culture.
• Lead organizational culture transformation initiatives aligned with the CIO vision and leadership principles.
• Foster an environment of accountability, ownership, transparency, innovation, and continuous learning.
• Develop leadership capability frameworks and succession planning strategies.
• Partner with Human Resources to strengthen talent development, employee engagement, and leadership effectiveness.
• Drive workforce transformation, skills modernization, and future-ready technology capabilities.
• Promote cross-functional collaboration and break down organizational silos.
• Build a culture that embraces experimentation, adaptability, customer focus, and operational excellence.

Organizational Effectiveness & Workforce Strategy

• Lead initiatives that strengthen organizational capability and operational performance.
• Design scalable organizational structures supporting global growth.
• Develop workforce planning and global talent strategies.
• Build and optimize Global Capability Centers and distributed engineering organizations.
• Improve organizational health through performance metrics and workforce analytics.
• Drive organizational change management for strategic transformation programs.
• Strengthen collaboration across business, engineering, architecture, security, and operations.

Financial & Operational Management

• Provide operational leadership for the technology organization.
• Support technology budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning.
• Oversee vendor governance and strategic sourcing.
• Monitor operational performance, financial health, and investment outcomes.
• Drive operational efficiency, cost optimization, and resource planning.
• Establish operational KPIs and executive scorecards.

Governance, Risk & Operational Excellence

• Strengthening governance and execution discipline across the technology organization.
• Lead technology governance frameworks and executive operating cadence.
• Coordinate regulatory, audit, compliance, and operational resilience activities.
• Partner with Risk, Cybersecurity, and Enterprise Architecture to ensure alignment.
• Establish enterprise performance metrics and operational excellence standards.
• Promote data-driven decision making across technology leadership.

Success in this role will be measured by

• Increased organizational agility, execution velocity, and time-to-market.
• Successful implementation of a global Technology Operating Model.
• Higher Agile maturity and engineering excellence across technology teams.
• Improved employee engagement, leadership effectiveness, and organizational culture.
• Measurable improvements in collaboration, accountability, and cross-functional execution.
• Successful modernization of engineering through AI-enabled software delivery.
• Strong governance, portfolio transparency, and investment outcomes.
• Increased business satisfaction and technology value realization.
• Delivery of strategic transformation initiatives on time and within investment expectations.
• Development of a resilient, scalable, and future-ready global technology organization

What you have

Qualifications & Required Experience:

• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience within Technology, Digital, Engineering, or Enterprise Transformation, including significant experience in Financial Services, Asset Management, Banking, Wealth Management, or Capital Markets.
• Previous experience serving as a Chief of Staff, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Head of Technology Change Management or in a comparable executive leadership role supporting a Chief Information Offices or senior Technology executives.
• Proven experience serving as a strategic advisor to executive leadership, partnering with CIOs and senior business leaders to define and execute enterprise technology strategies.
• Demonstrated success leading large-scale technology transformation initiatives, including operating model redesign, organizational transformation, Agile transformation, and technology modernization.
• Extensive experience establishing and scaling Product and Platform Operating Models that improve organizational agility, engineering effectiveness, and business alignment.
• Deep expertise in enterprise portfolio management, technology governance, investment prioritization, strategic planning, and execution management.
• Experience designing and implementing global operating models, including Global Capability Centers (GCCs), distributed engineering organizations, and multi-location delivery teams.
• Proven track record leading organizational change, culture transformation, and workforce modernization across large, matrixed organizations.
• Strong understanding of modern software engineering practices, including Agile, DevSecOps, CI/CD, Platform Engineering, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), and Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) optimization.
• Experience leading enterprise-wide AI enablement initiatives, including AI-assisted software development, engineering productivity, automation, and responsible AI governance.
• Demonstrated financial acumen with experience supporting technology budgeting, investment planning, business case development, vendor management, and technology financial management.
• Exceptional executive communication, influencing, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills, with experience presenting to Executive Committees, Boards, and senior business leadership.
• Proven ability to build high-performing leadership teams, foster cross-functional collaboration, and influence organizational outcomes without direct authority.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience within Asset Management, Wealth Management, Banking, or Capital Markets technology.
• Strong knowledge of modern technology operating models, including Product Management, Platform Engineering, Agile, DevSecOps, and Cloud transformation.
• Familiarity with enterprise data platforms, AI-enabled software engineering, automation, and digital transformation initiatives.
• Experience establishing global operating models, Global Capability Centers (GCCs), and distributed engineering organizations.
• Knowledge of enterprise portfolio management, technology business management, and investment governance.
• Demonstrated success leading large-scale organizational transformation, culture change, and executive-level change management.
• MBA or Master's degree in Business, Technology, Engineering, or a related field; Agile, Cloud, or Project Management certifications are a plus.