Portfolio Lead – Platforms, Engineering & AI Assurance

Job Title: Portfolio Lead – Platforms, Engineering & AI Assurance (Senior Audit Manager)

Location: Edinburgh (Hybrid: 2+ days/week in office)
Hours: Full-time

Rethinking Your Next Move in Engineering or AI?

What if you could take your deep knowledge of cloud platforms, AI/ML systems or DevOps—and use it to guide one of the UK’s largest banks through safer, smarter digital transformation?

This is a high-impact leadership opportunity for someone who’s lived and breathed platform engineering, agile delivery or AI implementation. Now, you’ll step into a role that leverages all of that experience to help shape how we govern and assure the tech that powers 26 million customer relationships.

Whether you’ve worked in start-ups, scaled digital platforms or embedded AI in production systems—this role invites you to “flip the lens”: to challenge how things are built, uncover hidden risk, and influence change from inside.

About the Opportunity

As Portfolio Lead – Platforms & Engineering, you’ll oversee a significant slice of our technology audit plan. Think: cloud migrations, AI/ML deployments, DevSecOps pipelines and modern software engineering practices.

But this isn’t about ticking audit boxes—it’s about ensuring robust, forward-looking controls are in place as the bank evolves.

You’ll lead a team of technical auditors, work closely with senior stakeholders across technology and risk, and help embed assurance earlier in the delivery lifecycle. You’ll also shape how we assess emerging technologies—from cloud-native services to generative AI.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Oversee delivery of a wide-ranging technology audit portfolio—focused on engineering platforms, agile change, and AI systems.
• Act as relationship lead with senior engineering and transformation stakeholders—ensuring risks are understood and addressed proactively.
• Guide and quality-check audit scoping, delivery, and reporting across multiple engagements.
• Stay hands-on with strategic and complex audits—especially where emerging tech or AI governance is in scope.
• Champion automation, data-driven testing and innovative assurance practices across your team.
• Use your AI/ML or cloud expertise to offer credible challenge, surface blind spots, and shape how risk is managed during transformation.
• Coach and grow talent—sharing technical insight and helping others develop a builder’s mindset in audit.
• Contribute to long-term audit planning, bringing an external perspective on tech trends and disruption.

What We’re Looking For

• Strong experience delivering, governing or assuring cloud platforms, AI/ML systems, or modern engineering pipelines.
• Understanding of AI risks in real-world settings—such as data drift, model explainability, or governance challenges.
• Background in DevOps, platform engineering, transformation delivery or technology risk.
• Ability to cut through complexity and provide clear, risk-aware insight.
• Excellent relationship skills—confident advising senior stakeholders and holding the line where needed.
• Previous audit or risk experience is helpful but not essential. We welcome people who bring real-world tech delivery experience and a passion for doing things better.

Bonus Points If You Also Bring:

• Formal certification in cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure) or AI/ML (e.g. Google ML certs).
• Experience with agile or scaled agile delivery models.
• Familiarity with controls-by-design, engineering governance, or responsible AI frameworks.
• Prior experience in Internal Audit, Risk, or regulated industries like banking or insurance.

Why Make the Move?

This role is a strategic seat at the table. You’ll help guide one of the UK’s most significant digital transformations—ensuring that innovation doesn’t come at the expense of resilience, trust or ethics.

We’re a bank investing billions in tech, data and AI—and we need experienced voices who can challenge, shape and support that journey from the inside.

Benefits You’ll Enjoy

• Up to 15% employer pension contribution
• Annual performance bonus
• Share schemes, including free shares
• 30+ days holiday (plus bank holidays)
• Flexible benefits including wellbeing, shopping, lifestyle and parental leave support

Ready for a Different Kind of Impact?

If you’ve ever thought, “We could be doing this better”—now’s your chance. Bring your engineering, cloud or AI expertise to a role where it shapes decisions at scale. Let’s talk.

Contact scott.maxwell@changerecruitmentgroup.com or 07974065745