ITSM Automation & Optimization Leader; ITIL Expert

Northern Trust is seeking a senior ITSM leader and ITIL expert to lead the automation, optimization, and maturation of IT Service Management function. This role is accountable for transforming how IT services are governed, executed, and continuously improved—shifting from manual, compliance-heavy processes to automated, data-driven, and resilient ITSM operations within a high-volume and time-critical environment.

This is a highly visible leadership role balancing “run-the-bank” stability with “change-the-bank” transformation, operating within a dynamic, high-velocity operating model that requires strong ITIL judgment, deep automation expertise, and the ability to influence in a matrixed environment across global technology teams.

• Interface with senior executives across the organization to drive strategic outcomes and day-to-day service delivery priorities, delivering operational excellence while enabling risk reduction in a deadline-sensitive delivery model.
• Serve as the enterprise authority on ITIL-based processes, ensuring they are scalable, risk-aligned, and fit-for-purpose within a complex, high-throughput operational environment.
• Lead continuous optimization of ITSM processes, reducing friction, manual effort, and cycle time while improving quality, compliance, and delivery at pace and scale.
• Define and enforce clear process guardrails, decision frameworks, and risk-based controls, balancing speed with strong governance and control adherence.
• Manage priorities across a multi-threaded, high-demand environment, ensuring effective execution amid competing priorities and tight timelines.
• Drive an automation-first strategy for ITSM practices, leveraging AI, orchestration, and workflow automation to:
• Reduce human dependency and error
• Increase standardization and predictability
• Enable safe, fast, and repeatable execution in a continuous delivery and improvement environment
• Partner with engineering, platform, and tooling teams to embed automation directly into ITSM workflows and deployment pipelines, supporting accelerated delivery cycles with appropriate governance controls.
• Identify and retire low-value manual controls, replacing them with preventative and detective automated controls aligned to high-volume change and release ecosystems.
• Define and operationalize KPIs, KRIs, and experience metrics that measure effectiveness, risk reduction, and business value in a delivery-focused organization.
• Sponsor dashboard creation and automated reporting to provide real-time visibility into performance, compliance, and operational trends.
• Use data-driven insights to continuously refine process design while supporting rapidly evolving priorities and delivery demands.
• Act as a trusted advisor to technology, risk, audit, and business stakeholders within a dynamic and evolving workload environment.
• Facilitate global forums, workshops, and working groups to drive alignment, adoption, and continuous improvement.
• Mentor and develop ITSM practitioners, elevating process maturity, automation capability, and execution discipline across the organization.

You are a leader with a passion for ITSM modernization and ITIL practitioner with a drive for process excellence, intelligent automation, and scalable governance. You bring strong judgment, a systems-thinking mindset, and the ability to translate ITIL principles into modern, execution-oriented operating models.

You thrive in high-performance, deadline-driven environments and are comfortable navigating rapidly shifting priorities and competing demands, maintaining quality and control in time-sensitive, high-volume operations, demonstrating agility in complex, evolving environments, and delivering measurable outcomes at pace and scale.

• 10+ years of IT Service Management experience, ideally within Banking or Financial Services.
• Deep, hands‑on expertise in ITIL/ITSM, including governance, risk-based decisioning, and continuous improvement.
• Proven experience leading automation and optimization initiatives within fast-moving ITSM and release cadences.
• Strong understanding of ITIL, COBIT, ISO/IEC 20000, and regulated operating environments.
• Demonstrated…