Meet the man set to ‘transform’ Standard Chartered in Singapore

If you have experience leading digital transformation at a bank in Singapore right now, consider yourself in high demand. Large banks are pushing ahead with their transformation projects – such as the automation of trading and lending platforms – as digital usage surges during Covid-19.

“Digital transformation plans have accelerated because of the pandemic. Banks, insurtechs and fintechs have all stepped up on designing, developing and offering digital solutions,” says Daljit Sall, senior director of technology at Randstad.

Among the digital transformation professionals to have moved jobs recently is Max Boulat, who joined Standard Chartered in June as director, agile transformation, technology and innovation, according to his LinkedIn profile.

He has come on board during a busy time for the bank’s digital channels. There was a 30% year-on-year jump in the volume of digital transactions made in March, according to a recent statement from the bank. In April, Stan Chart’s online trading platform saw a 129% spike in client applications compared with the average monthly rate last year.

Boulat was previously a director and product owner for digital transformation at Bank of Singapore, where he led the “delivery of a portfolio of online communication and payments products”. He was only in his BoS role for a year, having joined from Westpac in Sydney. Boulat worked for the Australian bank for about four years, latterly as program director for fintechs, payments and digital.

His change of roles within 12 months of arriving in Singapore is testament to the strength of the local job market in digital transformation.

Stan Chart is a particularly active recruiter in the space because Singapore is home to most of the bank’s global business leadership, as well as its technology, operations, and innovation hubs. Last year, for example, it took on Christopher Williams (ex-Deloitte and UBS) as global head of strategy, governance and change for technology services. 

Banks are not the only firms hiring people with digital transformation experience. For example, Jonathan Lim, head of digital strategy for OCBC’s consumer lending business, joined lottery firm Singapore Pools in March. Globally, banks like Deutsche Bank and HSBC have lost ‘digital evangelists’ who had become frustrated with the slow pace of change in the banking sector.

Standard Chartered is also hiring more broadly in technology in Singapore. Just under half (48%) of Stan Chart’s Singapore vacancies are in tech and analytics, according to its careers site.

Since 2018 Stan Chart has increased its Singapore headcount by 2,000 to 10,000, of which more than 1,200 roles are in what the bank calls “future growth areas”, including digital banking, cyber security, data solutions, analytics, cloud, AI architecture, API, and DevOps.

Photo by Ricardo Rocha on Unsplash

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