Job Description Head of Data Platforms - Financial Services Melbourne | Hybrid Working We’re seeking a Head of Digital Platform Engineering —a senior leadership role within the Platform Engineering function of our Financial Services client. You’ll be accountable for delivering world-class digital platforms, integration services, and scalable solutions, ensuring seamless service delivery across the organisation. This includes shaping the operating model, defining strategy, and driving best-practice engineering outcomes. As a proven digital leader, you’ll oversee a large and diverse Product Engineering team (100 FTE), spanning platform development, integration, operations, and support. You’ll play a pivotal role in guiding architecture, contributing to the technology roadmap, and embedding innovation across the organisation. Key Responsibilities Leadership & Strategy Define and execute the enterprise data platform, analytics, and AI strategy aligned to organisational priorities. Own and evolve the data platform roadmap, including real-time data, self-service analytics, advanced reporting, and data science enablement. Champion data as a product, ensuring platforms and pipelines are designed for quality, usability, and business impact. Partner with senior technology and business leaders to prioritise initiatives and investment. Monitor and adopt emerging data and analytics trends (e.g. lakehouse architectures, streaming platforms, AI-driven analytics). Represent the organisation in strategic vendor and technology partner engagements. Platform Engineering & Delivery Provide end-to-end accountability for the design, build, and operation of enterprise data platforms. Lead modern, cloud-native data architectures (data lakes, warehouses, lakehouses). Ensure reliable batch, real-time, and streaming data pipelines. Embed DataOps, DevSecOps, and MLOps practices including CI/CD, observability, and automated quality controls. Enable scalable BI, self-service analytics, and advanced data science use cases. Balance delivery velocity with platform stability, scalability, and cost efficiency. Financial Management Own the financial management of the data platform portfolio, including budgeting, forecasting, and cost optimisation. Ensure data platform investments deliver clear ROI aligned with business priorities. Manage Opex and Capex, balancing short-term delivery with long-term sustainability. Negotiate and manage commercial arrangements with cloud providers and technology vendors. Drive transparency and accountability across platform-related spend. Experience & Capability Required Extensive experience leading enterprise-scale data platforms or data engineering functions in complex, large organisations. Strong background in cloud data platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and modern data architectures (data lakes, warehouses, lakehouses). Proven experience designing and operating batch, real-time, and streaming data pipelines. Demonstrated success delivering large-scale platform modernisation programs. Experience embedding DataOps, DevSecOps, and MLOps practices in enterprise environments. Strong understanding of data governance, privacy, security, and regulatory requirements. Proven track record managing large teams, building leadership capability, and developing high-performing technical functions. Experience managing significant technology budgets, including vendor, cloud, and platform cost optimisation. Strong executive stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence at CIO/CTO and business leadership level. Commercial mindset with experience balancing innovation, risk, and financial sustainability. Typically 10 years’ experience in senior data, platform, or technology leadership roles. Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, IT, Engineering, Data Science, or related discipline. Postgraduate qualifications (Master’s or MBA) highly regarded. Relevant certifications (Cloud, Data Engineering, Analytics, BI) advantageous. Benefits & Package Salary: $240,000~$260,000 superannuation performance bonus Hybrid working model Melbourne-based role Senior leadership position with enterprise-wide impact Opportunity to shape and modernise large-scale data platforms Supportive, progressive technology environment
