Senior Program Director

*The Candidate should be willing to move to Malaysia *Immediate joiners are preferred

Role Overview :

The

Senior Program Director

is responsible for leading and coordinating a portfolio of IT programs and projects within the financial services domain, ensuring alignment with business objectives, regulatory requirements, and technology strategy. This role oversees several

Program Managers and Project Managers , provides governance, drives delivery excellence, and ensures that all projects within the program meet scope, schedule, budget, and quality expectations.

The role will also function as the

Head of PMO , responsible for establishing and driving enterprise program governance, delivery standards, reporting frameworks, and portfolio oversight across multiple strategic initiatives.

The role also involves

managing large transformation initiatives involving Global System Integrators (GSIs), application modernization, and cloud migration programs . Deep domain knowledge in

General Insurance and Motor Insurance

is required to lead and oversee multiple concurrent projects and large-scale technology transformation initiatives within the insurance domain.

Key Responsibilities

Program Leadership & Governance Lead a multi-project program consisting of several concurrent IT projects within

insurance or financial technology domains . Provide direction, support, and performance management to assigned

Program Managers and Project Managers . Establish program governance frameworks, reporting structures, and delivery standards. Ensure compliance with financial services regulatory requirements (e.g., AML, PCI-DSS, MAS/BNM guidelines depending on region). Oversee

large-scale programs delivered through Global System Integrators (GSIs)

and ensure vendor delivery quality and accountability.

Planning & Delivery Management Develop and maintain integrated program plans covering timelines, dependencies, resources, risks, and budgets. Monitor project progress and drive corrective actions to address issues, delays, or deviations. Coordinate cross-functional delivery teams including business analysts, developers, QA, infrastructure, security, and vendor partners. Facilitate decision-making across stakeholders and escalate critical issues as needed. Oversee delivery of

large transformation programs related to application modernization and cloud migration .

Stakeholder Engagement Serve as the primary point of contact for

senior leadership, executive stakeholders, and business sponsors . Present program status, dashboards, financial updates, and risk assessments. Build strong relationships with business units, operations, compliance, technology leads,

Global System Integrators (GSIs) , and external vendors.

Risk, Compliance & Quality Assurance Identify, assess, and manage program-level risks, dependencies, and constraints. Ensure project deliverables adhere to internal policies, cybersecurity standards, and regulatory expectations. Conduct program reviews, retrospectives, and continuous improvement initiatives. Ensure transformation initiatives such as

application modernization and cloud migration comply with enterprise architecture and security standards .

Financial & Resource Management Own program budget planning, forecasting, and cost control. Optimize resource allocation across multiple projects and delivery partners. Support procurement and vendor management activities, including

GSI vendor engagement, contract negotiation, and performance evaluation .

Qualifications & Requirements

Education & Experience Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business, or related field; Master’s degree is a plus. 15+ years of experience in IT project/program management , with experience leading large enterprise programs. 5+ years in General and/or Motor Insurance domains , with at least

5 years managing Program Managers and Project Managers . Experience in the

financial services industry (banking, insurance, fintech, payments)

is required. Experience managing

programs delivered through Global System Integrators (GSIs) . Experience leading

application modernization or cloud migration initiatives

within large enterprise environments.

Technical & Domain Skills Strong understanding of SDLC methodologies (Agile, Scrum, Waterfall, Hybrid). Knowledge of financial systems such as

insurance core systems, digital platforms, risk management systems, or payment platforms . Familiarity with regulatory frameworks and cybersecurity standards in financial services. Understanding of

enterprise application modernization strategies and cloud migration approaches .

Certifications (Preferred) PMP, PgMP, or PRINCE2 Agile certifications (CSM, SAFe, PMI-ACP) ITIL Foundation Cloud certifications (AWS / Azure / GCP) – added advantage

Soft Skills Excellent leadership and people management skills. Strong communication and stakeholder engagement abilities. High level of analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capability. Ability to manage

large cross-functional teams and external delivery partners including GSIs . Ability to thrive in a demanding, fast-paced environment.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Program delivery on time, within budget, and aligned to scope. Stakeholder satisfaction and business value realization. Regulatory and audit compliance metrics. Team performance and engagement. Effective risk mitigation and issue resolution.

Added Advantage

Modern Architecture & Engineering Concepts Understanding of microservices architecture, APIs, and integration patterns. Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), including migration strategies (rehost, refactor, replatform). Knowledge of containerization & orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift). Awareness of DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code (IaC). Knowledge of application performance, scalability, and resilience concepts. Experience with modern programming frameworks and legacy stacks (Java, .NET, COBOL, mainframe, etc., depending on environment).

Legacy Systems & Transformation Challenges Understanding of monolithic architectures and technical debt. Experience with data migration, schema changes, and modernization of integration layers. Ability to work with SMEs to define modernization paths, carve-outs, and phased migrations.

Strategic Planning for Modernization Ability to define multi-year modernization roadmaps. Experience leading

large-scale application modernization or cloud migration programs

involving multiple application teams and parallel release streams. Skills in managing dependencies, sequencing workloads, and planning phased rollouts. Risk management around legacy instability, cutover planning, and downtime avoidance. Facilitate cross-squad coordination through Scrum-of-Scrums ceremonies, dependency mapping, and synchronized sprint planning across application, QA, DevOps, and architecture teams.