Technology Director of Commercial and Partnership Management

At M&G our purpose is to give everyone real confidence to put their money to work. As an international savings and investments business with roots stretching back more than 170 years, we offer a range of financial products and services through Asset Management, Life and Wealth. All three operating segments work together to deliver attractive financial outcomes for our clients, and superior shareholder returns.

Through our behaviours of telling it like it is, owning it now, and moving it forward together with care and integrity; we are creating an exceptional place to work for exceptional talent.

We will consider flexible working arrangements for any of our roles and also offer work place accommodations to ensure you have what you need to effectively deliver in your role.

The Director of Technology Commercial & Partnership Management is responsible for maximising the value and strategic impact of the company’s technology supplier and partner ecosystem. This leader will combine rigorous commercial management (covering contract management, cost optimisation, and asset/license management) with proactive strategic partnership development, ensuring that all technology relationships directly support the organisation’s growth, transformation, and innovation objectives.

They will operate at both a strategic and operational level - negotiating and managing high-value supplier agreements, building partnerships that accelerate innovation, and ensuring commercial discipline across the technology organisation.

This role works for the Technology Chief Operating Officer within the Technology Department, who has a focus on the management, efficiency, strategic planning and transformation of the Technology function as a whole.  The Technology COO organisation includes a number of central Technology functions, including this new role focused on governance and performance.  

Technology has approximately 700 staff currently distributed across sites in the UK and in India, with several strategic partners providing infrastructure and application support services.  The operating model reflects the business and is typical of a FTSE100 firm spanning the importance of operational stability and efficiency whilst providing waterfall and agile change delivery, and a progressive technology agenda.  The organisation has been on a significant transformation journey, which will continue for the foreseeable future, and is now dominated by consideration for digital transformation and the application of AI.

The role includes

• Ensure sourcing strategies are aligned with business and transformation goals and overseeing contract negotiation, renewal, and lifecycle management for Technology suppliers.
• Manage software licensing, asset management, and technology renewals, ensuring regulatory and internal policy compliance, cost-efficiency, and alignment to strategic needs.
• Implement commercial governance frameworks to monitor supplier performance, risk, and contract obligations.
• Optimise total cost of ownership through competitive sourcing, supplier consolidation, and commercial leverage.
• Define and execute a strategic partnership roadmap, identifying, developing, and managing relationships with key technology partners (including hyperscalers, fintechs, consultancies, and niche innovators).  This to ensure Technology has a deliberate, multi-year plan for identifying, cultivating and extracting value from the company’s most important technology partners and their ecosystems, and proactively shaping it.
• Work with internal teams to co-create innovation initiatives with partners, focusing on AI adoption, cloud modernisation, and digital capability uplift.
• Maintain executive-level relationships with key suppliers and partners, ensuring alignment on strategic objectives, joint business planning, and value delivery.  Proactively identify opportunities for co-investment, joint innovation, and strategic collaboration.
• Lead material and critical Technology supplier risk management, ensuring resilience and continuity for critical technology services, and adherence to policy and regulation.
• Implement vendor performance scorecards and regular business reviews, driving continuous improvement and accountability.  Ensure strong evidenced governance.
• Ensure adherence to procurement policy, regulatory requirements, and ethical sourcing standards.
• Partner with Finance, Legal, and Technology Strategy to ensure supplier spend aligns with long-term investment plans and TBM frameworks.
• Act as the single point of accountability for technology commercial and partnership matters across the organisation.
• Work closely with the Director of Strategy, Planning and Innovation to align partnerships with technology roadmaps and future-state architecture.
• Collaborate with Technology Leadership, transformation, PMO, and operational teams to ensure supplier and partner performance enables successful delivery of operational support and major initiatives.

Key Accountabilities

• To work as part of the senior leadership team of the Technology COO and to be an active member of the CITO broader leadership team.
• To work collaboratively with colleagues and take personal accountability to maintain and enhance controls that are the responsibility of this role.  To support improvement of the overall control environment, customers outcomes and a reduction in M&G’s operational risk.
• To ensure the Leadership Team of CITO have confidence in our operations and strategy and believe the direction being taken is appropriate and achievable.
• To ensure significant decisions required and approvals needed are signposted early and supported by clear and concise materials which enable management to be confident in the decision making.  In particular, where decisions are required about new partners or new commitments that the right level of information is provided to enable the decision making process to be effective.
• To operate within the financial and compliance controls of M&G and CITO to deliver the objectives of the role.
• To ensure all necessary management approvals are gained for commercial commitments.
• To get the best from any team members working on the objectives of the role.
• To be structured and logical in the approach to the role and to ensure that each application is supportive of the agenda.
• Deliver strong stakeholder management of the key user community and Technology leadership stakeholders

About you

• Experience of working within IT, ideally in financial services or a regulated environment.
• 5+ years in a technology procurement, commercial management, relationship management, or related IT leadership role.
• Experience managing a team of people and partnering with, and managing third parties.
• Strong knowledge of regulatory compliance, risk management, and technology performance frameworks.
• Proven ability to build and lead high-performing teams, driving cultural and organisational change.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

Key knowledge, skills and experience

• Excellent knowledge of the operation of a technology organisation, ideally within financial services.
• Proven track record of large-scale / high profile leadership.
• To be action-oriented and maintain a high momentum.
• Broad knowledge of the financial services industry and key regulatory requirements together with an understanding of business processes.
• Knowledge and understanding of business strategy / planning, financial analysis, marketing and operational processes.
• Excellent communication and team working skills, comfortable working with executive and board level management.
• Strong inter-personal skills, demonstrating a variety of influencing styles to enable effective completion of tasks both individually and within groups.  Builds sustainable relationships with colleagues and key individuals in the business.
• Shows a desire to take the initiative, moving issues forward with clarity.  Demonstrates an ability to think ‘outside the box’ while defining solutions in a workable form.
• Evaluates options efficiently and provides considered conclusions and direction.
• Demonstrates a strategic focus – ability to turn ideas / objectives into tangible deliverables and tasks.
• Ability to take complex, multi-faceted problems and work with them through to simple solutions recognising synergies and options

Recruiter : Martyn Jack
 

We have a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture at M&G plc, underpinned by our policies and our employee-led networks who provide networking opportunities, advice and support for the diverse communities our colleagues represent. Regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, nationality, disability or long term condition, we are looking to attract, promote and retain exceptional people. We also welcome those who take part in military service and those returning from career breaks.

M&G is also proud to be a Disability Confident Leader, and we welcome applications from candidates with long-term health conditions, disabilities, or neuro-divergent conditions.  Being a Disability Confident Leader means that candidates who meet the minimum criteria of a job, will be offered an interview if they 'opt in' to the scheme when applying. 

If you need assistance or an alternative means of applying for a role due to a disability or additional need, please let us know by contacting us at: careers@mandg.com