Sollicitatieformulier

Mission context
About BNP Paribas Retail Banking
BNP Paribas is a leading bank in Europe with an international reach. Within the Retail Banking division, our technology landscape is undergoing a massive transformation to support digital-first customer experiences, cross-border collaboration, and data-driven operations.
The IT Strategy Office acts as the trusted advisor to the CIO. We shape the actionable decisions that define the future of our technology landscape, ensuring IT investments directly drive business value.

Function description
Role Purpose & Key responsibilities
We are seeking a senior person to join the IT Strategy Office, with a strong technical backbone and a proven track record of delivering solid recommendation in matrix organizations.
In this role, your primary mission is to deliver high-impact, actionable, synthetic recommendations to the CIO on critical technology directions (e.g., legacy modernization, application rationalization, preparation of cross-border collaboration projects), under fixed timelines.
Your success will not be measured by the length of your analysis, but by its clarity, its impact, pragmatism and its adoption.
You bridge the Gap Between Tech & Strategy: Leverage your background in IT architecture or systems analysis to deep-dive into technical issues quickly, extract the core strategic questions, and formulate the "so what?" for executive management.
You assemble and lead ad-hoc, cross-functional expert groups to solve strategic IT dilemmas, ensuring rapid alignment and concrete deliverable outcomes.

Language requirements
Dutch
Sound knowledge of English as well as (at least) one local language.
French
Sound knowledge of English as well as (at least) one local language.
English
Sound knowledge of English as well as (at least) one local language.

Required experience / knowledge
Technical experience mandatory
10+ years of experience with a strong IT background. You have done real IT: Enterprise / Solution Architecture, IT Analysis, Tech Lead, or similar.
Knowledge: Strong understanding of modern IT paradigms (Cloud computing, API-led connectivity, Core Banking modernization, agentic AI, Data architectures, DevSecOps, AI-driven cyber threats).
You have then moved to a strategic / transversal role: IT Strategy Consulting [Big 4, Strategy firm], internal Strategy Office, or Chief of Staff / Advisor role in a large IT organization.
Preferable
Experience in Banking / Financial Services, ideally Retail Banking, is a strong plus. You understand the reality of core banking systems, payments, channels, regulatory constraints, and legacy.

Soft skills
Skills & Mindset - This is crucial for us
Former Architect / Analyst Mindset, Current Strategist Mindset: You understand technology deeply enough to challenge architects, but you don't want to re-do their job.
Pragmatic Strategist: You understand delivery matters, and you know when to stop analyzing and start recommending. Delivering a *solid recommendation* in 2 weeks, not a *perfect analysis* in 3 months.
Influence Without Authority: You get things done, you build networks
Executive Communication: You can write and present for a CIO. Clear, structured, to-the-point. Excellent PowerPoint and memo-writing skills.
Comfortable with Ambiguity: You can start with a vague question from the CIO and come back with a structured answer. Comfortable with shifting priorities, and working in an environment with high autonomy and low formal structure.