Principal, Change and Release Management Operations

About Northern Trust

As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world’s most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions.

Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure: Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide.

With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

Position : Principal, Change and Release Management Operations
Location : Bangalore

Role Overview

Northern Trust is seeking a senior Change and Release Management leader to own and continue to evolve the Management function, enabling safe, predictable, and efficient delivery of production changes across a complex, highly regulated technology environment.

This role is accountable for ensuring that change governance enables business outcomes, balancing velocity, stability, risk, and regulatory expectations at enterprise scale.

Key Responsibilities

Governance, CAB & Risk Decisioning

• Lead the end‑to‑end Change Management process, ensuring compliance with IT controls, regulatory standards, and enterprise risk frameworks
• Chair and actively participate in Change Advisory Board (CAB) forums, driving collaborative, well‑informed change decisions
• Partner closely with Business Units (BUs), Technology, and Operations leaders to ensure risk‑based, outcome‑focused decisioning on changes
• Promote and sustain a risk‑aware, decision‑driven change culture, with strong exception evaluation and mitigation strategies
• Partner with Risk & Control, Audit, and other Lines of Defense to evidence control monitoring and ongoing compliance
• Oversee internal and external change audits, ensuring timely execution, transparent issue management, and senior leadership visibility

Operational Excellence

• Design and operate lean, scalable, and resilient change processes suitable for high‑volume production environments
• Define, implement, and enforce SLAs across the full change lifecycle
• Produce executive‑ready month‑end change reporting, highlighting throughput, risk trends, systemic issues, and improvement opportunities
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives to improve production stability and operational maturity

Technology, Delivery & Tooling Enablement

• Partner with the Change Management Product Owner to enable tooling modernization and workflow automation, including requirements, testing, and enterprise adoption
• Leverage enterprise platforms such as ServiceNow, Azure DevOps, Clarity, and other PPM / ITSM tools
• Apply a strong understanding of application delivery models, release practices, and testing readiness when assessing change risk and deployment confidence
• Integrate cybersecurity considerations and control dependencies into CAB discussions and change approval decisions

Leadership & Stakeholder Partnership

• Lead, coach, and develop a high‑performing Change Management team
• Act as a trusted partner to Engineering, Application Development, Infrastructure, Operations, and Business stakeholders
• Communicate clearly and credibly with senior management, enabling informed and timely decision‑making

Experience & Qualifications

Required

• Minimum 20 years of experience in the IT industry, with senior leadership accountability
• Minimum 6 years of experience leading Change and/or Release Management functions within large, complex environments
• Strong prior‑career experience in software development or engineering, enabling deep understanding of application lifecycles, deployment risk, and delivery constraints
• Prior exposure to testing disciplines minimum 5 years (system, integration, or user acceptance testing) strongly preferred
• Minimum 8 years of experience working within development‑ or engineering‑led organizations
• Strong understanding of Custody, Trade, and Payments Operations within financial services environments
• Demonstrated experience in financial services or other highly regulated industries
• Proven expertise with ITSM controls, ITGCs, and audit frameworks
• Hands‑on experience working with SMO (Service Management Operations) platform and internally developed, proprietary application platforms
• Bachelor’s degree required

Certifications (Preferred, Not Mandatory)

• ITIL (Foundation or higher)
• SAFe Agilist / Agile Leadership certifications
• PMP or equivalent project / delivery certification

Working with Us

As a Northern Trust partner, you will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture, which has a strong history of financial strength and stability. Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to an inclusive workplace and assisting the communities we serve.

Philanthropy is deeply rooted in Northern Trust’s history and is an essential element of our culture. Employees around the world give their time and talent to work for the greater good of their communities.

Reasonable Accommodation

Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing adjustments to individuals with health conditions and disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at MyHRHelp@ntrs.com, or alternatively you can discuss your individual requirements with the recruiter you are working with.

About Our Bangalore Office

The Northern Trust Bangalore office, established in 2005, is home to over 5,600 employees.  In this stunning office space, we offer fantastic amenities which include our Arrival Hub - Jungle, the GameZone, and the Employee Experience Zone that appeal to both clients and employees. Learn more.