Business Development Representative

People Moves: who's hiring who in banking QA? It has been a busy few months for senior technology appointments across banking, financial services and the software testing industry, but look beyond the job titles and a clearer pattern begins to emerge. Banks are not suddenly recruiting dozens of Heads of QA. Instead, they are giving senior engineering leaders broader responsibility for quality engineering, AI governance, platform resilience and software delivery, which clearly means quality engineering is steadily moving up the corporate ladder. Over the past few months, banks, insurers, fintechs and technology providers have reshaped their senior engineering teams, creating new leadership roles around AI, quality engineering, platform resilience and software delivery. Dedicated Head of QA appointments remain relatively rare at the world's largest financial institutions, but responsibility for testing, engineering quality and AI assurance is increasingly sitting alongside CTOs, CIOs and chief AI officers rather than within standalone testing functions, signalling that software quality is becoming an executive concern rather than simply a downstream testing function. Bank of America provides one of the clearest examples. The bank recently reshuffled senior technology leadership, appointing Kevin Milsom as Head of Platforms AI Transformation and moving Amy Avery and her Analytics, Modelling & Insights team into the Global Platforms organisation. On the face of it, those are simply executive appointments. Taken together, however, they show how AI is becoming part of mainstream engineering rather than a standalone innovation programme. As AI moves into production systems, responsibility for testing, governance and engineering discipline inevitably follows. HSBC has reached a similar conclusion by appointing David Rice as its first Chief AI Officer. The creation of a dedicated executive role reflects how quickly AI is becoming part of day-to-day banking operations, where governance and assurance matter just as much as innovation. Elsewhere, financial messaging giant Swift has turned to Michael Manos as its new Chief Information Officer to oversee its global technology platform and transformation programme. For an organisation underpinning international payments, software quality and operational resilience are inseparable from technology leadership. Meanwhile, digital challenger N26 also strengthened its executive team by appointing former ING executive Marcin Pakulnicki as Chief Technology Officer. Having helped scale ING's digital banking platform, Pakulnicki now takes responsibility for the resilience and continued development of N26's rapidly growing technology estate. Also worth mentioning, Citizens Financial Group expanded its engineering leadership recently with the appointment of Rajesh Mani as Managing Director of its India Global Capability Centre. QE gets a bigger voice. The strongest signal, however, comes from organisations putting quality engineering itself closer to the top of the business. Genesis Global has promoted Andrew Rendell to Chief Engineering Officer, giving him responsibility for application delivery, quality, reliability, DevOps, site reliability engineering and operational excellence. It may be hard to think of a clearer indication that quality engineering is increasingly viewed as a core engineering discipline rather than a separate testing activity. National Australia Bank has taken a similar approach with the appointment of Shane Hawke as Head of Quality Engineering Strategy. Rather than overseeing testing alone, Hawke's remit spans enterprise quality transformation, testing strategy and engineering enablement. EquiLend has also invested directly in quality leadership, appointing former Broadridge executive Saheem Kundapur as Head of Quality Engineering to build an enterprise-wide quality engineering capability centred on automation and platform resilience. Meanwhile, Aviva is recruiting a Head of Quality Engineering & Release, combining software testing, release governance, DevOps and engineering improvement under a single leadership role. The title alone illustrates how the boundaries between development, operations and quality continue to blur. Not every recent appointment carried 'quality' in the job title, but many do reflect the same priorities and are worth mentioning. Card issuing platform Marqeta has appointed Lukasz Strozek as Chief Technology Officer, while digital payment software firm Trustly has named Randy Kern as Group CTO. Swedish digital lender Froda has completed its own technology leadership transition by appointing Dan Hyyrynen as Chief Technology Officer following the departure of Roger Forsberg, while Australian financial software provider Iress promoted Darryl Campbell-Blackwell to Group CTO. Meanwhile, financial tech firm Thunes decided to combine product and engineering leadership under new Chief Technology and Product Officer Guy Duncan, while regtech specialist Kyckr signed up Ian Jones as Chief Technology Officer. The insurance sector has been just as active. Arch Insurance North America has appointed Imran Jalozie as Chief Information Officer, Encova Insurance named Ramu Lingala CIO, Goosehead Insurance has recruited Eben Hewitt as Chief Technology Officer, while One Inc, HIVE Underwriters and CopperPoint Insurance Companies all strengthened their executive technology teams with new leadership appointments. Vendors follow the same path. The trend extends well beyond banks. Microsoft has expanded Charlie Bell's responsibilities to include company-wide engineering quality, placing software quality and engineering standards under direct executive oversight. Although outside financial services, the move is likely to resonate with banks that rely heavily on Microsoft's technology platforms. Financial software provider Finastra has also established a dedicated AI Centre of Excellence under Senior Vice President and Group Head of AI Chris McClellen, reinforcing the growing importance of AI governance as intelligent capabilities become embedded within banking software. The software testing industry has also seen interesting people moves recently. Digital quality specialist Applause promoted former Chief Technology Officer Aatish Salvi to Chief Executive Officer, while AI testing vendor Functionize appointed Alan Naumann as Chairman. Tricentis, meanwhile, strengthened its leadership team with the appointments of Jason Bliss as Executive Vice President and President of Business Operations and Todd Horst as Chief Growth Officer. Bigger picture. Viewed individually, many of these appointments are simply executive moves. Together, they tell a more interesting story. Traditional Heads of QA are still relatively uncommon at the largest financial institutions. Instead, quality engineering is being folded into broader engineering leadership, while AI governance, resilience, platform reliability and software delivery are increasingly sitting alongside CTOs, CIOs and chief AI officers. In other words, quality is moving upstream. That may prove to be the most significant people trend of the year. As banks embed AI more deeply into core systems, the conversation is shifting from testing software after it has been built to designing quality, resilience and governance into engineering organisations from the outset. The latest round of appointments suggests many institutions have already started making that transition. This september in london. Why not become a QA Financial subscriber? It's entirely FREE Regulation & Compliance. Looking for more news on regulations and compliance requirements driving developments in software quality engineering at financial firms? Visit its dedicated Regulation & Compliance page here. 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alrajhi capital selects EquiLend as its Securities Finance technology partner. Jun 11, 2026, 09:00 ET The partnership ensures that alrajhi capital is well positioned to establish and rapidly grow its securities lending business. NEW YORK, June 11, 2026 /CNW/ - EquiLend, a global leader in securities finance technology, today announced that alrajhi capital has selected EquiLend as its securities finance technology partner. EquiLend will provide alrajhi capital with a full end to end solution including EquiLend Spire (Books and Records), Post Trade, Data and Trading. Through this partnership, alrajhi capital expects to leverage EquiLend's product suite to support the build out of a more efficient and scalable securities finance business. "We are delighted that alrajhi capital has chosen to partner with EquiLend and join our global Securities Finance community," said Rich Grossi, CEO of EquiLend. "As one of the region's leading financial institutions, alrajhi capital's commitment to securities finance reflects the growing importance of these markets across the Middle East. We are proud to support their journey with best-in-class technology, deep industry expertise, and a platform designed to scale as market participation and activity continue to expand." "From the outset, alrajhi capital has been thoughtful and highly engaged in defining what it needs from a technology partner," said Dimitri Arlando, Director and Head of EMEA sales at EquiLend. "It is clear from the entire team at alrajhi that this is an exciting and important part of their roadmap and selecting the right provider to match their growth aspirations was a key factor in the decision-making process." Simon Heath, who recently joined EquiLend as Chief Strategy Officer, further stated that, "As the largest Islamic bank in the world by assets, alrajhi capital's decision to adopt EquiLend reflects the growing recognition that robust technology infrastructure is essential to realizing the Kingdom's securities lending potential. Saudi Arabia has moved with impressive speed - and the participation of institutions of alrajhi capital's stature will be critical in deepening liquidity in KSA securities lending. EquiLend is committed to being the technology backbone that supports that ambition. "Securities financing is a cornerstone of every mature capital market, and alrajhi capital is committed to leading the development of Shariah-compliant securities financing solutions in the Kingdom. As one of Saudi Arabia's leading investment institutions, we continue to invest in capabilities that enhance market depth, expand access, and support the long-term development of the Kingdom's capital markets in line with Vision 2030. Our partnership with EquiLend represents an important step in strengthening market infrastructure and delivering sustainable value to clients and market participants," said Hossam E. Al Basrawi, Chief Executive Officer at alrajhi capital. Mohammed Alkassem, Head of Securities Services at alrajhi capital, said, "Our priority has been to build a scalable and sustainable securities finance business that supports the evolving needs of institutional investors and market participants. Through our partnership with EquiLend, we are strengthening the infrastructure required to expand our securities lending capabilities, drive future growth, and reinforce alrajhi capital's position as one of the Kingdom's leading investment institutions. This milestone creates a strong foundation for continued expansion and innovation." "At alrajhi capital, our focus is on delivering a seamless, secure, and Shariah-compliant securities financing experience for our clients. This partnership enhances our operational capabilities, broadens market accessibility, and reflects our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of service excellence. By leveraging EquiLend's expertise, we aim to deliver greater value to our clients while contributing to the continued growth and sophistication of Saudi Arabia's securities finance market," said Abdullah Alghamedi, Director and Head of Custody & Securities Services at alrajhi capital. About EquiLend EquiLend is a global financial technology firm offering Trading, Workflow Automation, Data & Insights, and Digital Solutions for the securities finance industry. With offices in North America, EMEA and Asia-Pacific, EquiLend operates across various jurisdictions worldwide, adhering to the highest regulatory standards. The company is committed to excellence and innovation and is consistently recognized for its contributions to the industry. EquiLend is Great Place to Work Certified(TM) in the U.S., UK, Ireland and India and has been awarded Global Data Provider of the Year and Regulatory Solution of the Year in the Securities Finance Times Industry Excellence Awards 2025. About alrajhi capital alrajhi capital is a leading investment services company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, offering a comprehensive range of financial solutions including asset management, brokerage, investment banking, and advisory services. Licensed by the Capital Market Authority, alrajhi capital serves individual and institutional clients through innovative investment solutions and a strong commitment to excellence, transparency, and sustainable growth. SOURCE EquiLend