SW Engineering Excellence Director

Location: Boadilla del Monte

Time Type: Full time

Job Description

Role Overview

You will lead the activation and scaling of engineering excellence across Santander by building a vibrant, community-driven ecosystem of software engineering practices.

Rather than focusing solely on defining standards, your role is to ensure their adoption, evolution, and continuous improvement through a federated “inner source” model, inspired by leading open-source communities.

You will orchestrate a global network of engineers, champions, and communities of practice to co-create and evolve “The Santander Way” of building software—embedding modern SDLC practices, developer experience, and AI-enabled engineering into the daily work of teams.

In close collaboration with Domains, and Platforms, you will turn engineering excellence into a living system—community-led, data-informed, and continuously improving—where best practices are shared, reused, and scaled organically across the Group.

Key Responsibilities

• Adoption & Scaling of Engineering Practices
  Drive the adoption of SDLC standards, quality, DevSecOps, and AI-assisted development through community mechanisms (champions, COE, showcases), rather than top-down enforcement.
  Ensure practices are embedded in day-to-day engineering workflows.

• Community-Driven Standards Evolution
  Partner with Domains, Platforms to evolve standards into living assets, continuously improved by the community based on real usage, feedback, and data

• Engineering Insights  Establish a "Data-Driven Agentic Engineering" framework. You will build and oversee the analytics platforms that track DORA metrics, Cycle Time, and Deployment Frequency to provide leadership with visibility into the health of the SDLC.

• Developer Experience & Enablement
  Enable a frictionless developer experience by promoting reusable platforms, inner source assets, and self-service capabilities.
  Act as a catalyst for adoption of developer tools through community engagement and feedback loops.

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

Our people are our greatest strength. Every individual contributes unique perspectives that make us stronger as a team and as an organization. We’re enabling teams to go beyond by valuing who they are and empowering what they bring.

The following requirements represent the knowledge, skills, and abilities essential for success in this role. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Key Skills & Experience

• Strong background in software engineering, with experience in large-scale, distributed systems.

• The Data Edge: Proven experience in software development analytics—using data to tell the story of how software is built and where it can be improved.

• Technical Leadership: A strong foundation in software engineering, with the ability to speak the language of both a developer and a business

• Change Management: Experience leading organizational shifts in complex, regulated environments (like Tier 1 Banking).

• Collaborative Mindset: A history of breaking down silos between "The Business" and "The Engineers."

Leadership & Culture

• Acts as an enabler and coach rather than a directive authority.

• Promotes a culture of continuous improvement, learning, and experimentation.

• Encourages autonomy, accountability, and cross-functional collaboration.

• Builds trust across Domains, Platforms, and leadership teams.

• Champions engineering craftsmanship and Agile mindset at all levels.

Reporting Line

Reports to: Head of Engineering Excellence & Enablement

WE VALUE YOUR IMPACT

Your contribution matters, and it’s recognized. You can expect a fair, competitive reward package that reflects the impact you create and the value you deliver. But we know rewards go beyond numbers.

• We’re enable our teams to go beyond through global opportunities and broad career paths.

• Flexibility that works. Enjoy a hybrid working models—some days remote, some days onsite with your team—along with flexible hours.

• Learning for life. Access hundreds of courses on our platforms, including exclusive access to our global learning space: Santander Open Academy (www.santanderopenacademy.com)

• Competitive rewards. Receive a highly competitive salary with performance-based bonuses, motivating you to keep growing with us.

• Financial advantages. Benefit from preferential banking terms, special interest rates on loans, life insurance, and more.

• Your health is our priority. Through BeHealthy, our global wellness programme, we promote Holistic wellbeing.

• We know family is everything. That’s why we offer childcare support and family-friendly programmes tailored to each life stage.

• Always by your side. Get access to Santander Contigo, our program for employees and their families offering legal, emotional, and administrative advisory services.

• Extra benefits. Gym/WellHub membership, medical centers in some of our facilities, meal subsidy, parking, shuttle service from various points in Madrid, as well as exclusive discounts and offers for Santander employees. And that’s only the beginning—we’ll tell you more when you join!

We’re here to keep you motivated, help you reach your goals, and celebrate your progress, every step of the way.D

LOCAL COMPLIANCE

Santander is proud of being an organization where there are equal opportunities regardless of age, gender, disability, civil status, race, religion or sexual orientation. We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible application process for all candidates.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

If this sounds like a role you are interested in, then please apply.
 

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