HBOS looks for group IT strategy head

Financial services giant HBOS is creating a new position to head up its IT strategy, as it seeks greater strength of leadership and resources for technology.

The new head of IT strategy and governance at HBOS, the financial services group that was created following the April 2001 merger of Halifax and the Bank of Scotland, will be based in Scotland and report to the director of group functions, Ian Kerr.

They will provide umbrella advice and strategy on IT matters across the HBOS business.

A spokesman from HBOS told vnunet.com: "We want to increase the strength of leadership and resources for technology. Following the merger, and as we've integrated two IT functions into one, we need a senior IT role explicitly for strategy."

The spokesman said the role would not result in duplication of effort within the company.

"There are already a number of IT positions that had strategic management roles and this won't take away from them, but it will make strategy a primary concern. It's complementary to the roles of the divisions and easily bolted on."

Interviews for the role are already underway, although the company refused to say what stage the recruitment process had reached or when the appointment is likely to be made.

Bryan Macdonald, principal search consultant in the chief information officer (CIO) practice at recruitment firm Harvey Nash, said the new role indicated that IT was moving up the corporate agenda and was increasingly seen as strategic to the business.

"A chief executive or director of that level needs a strategic earpiece to give him a flavour of what's happening in IT, someone who will work with the lines of business to make sure they have a synergistic approach to technology.

"CIOs in the divisions have loyalty to their business units but don't necessarily have the group's best interests at heart."

But Macdonald warned that the challenges of the job were not to be underestimated. "They will need a thinker who is bright and an influencer, but also someone who engenders trust," he said.

"They are hard to find; traditional technologists have only just started to understand what a CIO does and this is all about stratetgy."