Digital transformation backbone for a major European banking group
Santander Digital Services is the technology and operations engine for one of Europe's largest banks, running infrastructure and financial platforms across 8 countries with 9,200+ people. The stack reveals a hybrid-legacy-to-cloud migration in motion: SAP, COBOL, and ABAP anchor core banking systems, while Java, Python, Angular, and cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP) power newer services. Active replacement of LDAP and NTLM with FIDO2 signals hardening of identity infrastructure — a natural priority given banking's security posture. Engineering-heavy hiring (56 of 111 active roles) concentrated at senior/mid level, plus a 30-person security cohort, reflects both technical debt reduction and cyber maturity.
Notable leadership hires: Infrastructure Lead
Santander Digital Services is the global Technology and Operations division of Santander, one of the largest banking groups in Europe and the Americas. The unit develops and operates financial solutions across identity, cloud infrastructure, data platforms, cybersecurity, and core banking systems. It spans 9,200+ employees across 8 countries, with a presence in Spain, Mexico, Portugal, and Canada. The organization is tasked with advancing Santander's digital banking capabilities while maintaining the stability and security required of a systemically important financial institution. Technology decisions span legacy enterprise platforms (SAP, COBOL) and modern cloud-native services (Kubernetes-adjacent containerization, Apache Airflow data pipelines, multi-cloud deployment across AWS, Azure, and GCP).
Santander Digital Services is the Technology & Operations division for Santander banking group, with 9,200+ employees across 8 countries building and running digital banking platforms, core systems, and infrastructure.
Stack includes SAP, Java, Python, COBOL, ABAP for core systems; Azure, AWS, GCP for cloud; Apache Airflow, SQL for data; Angular, React for frontend; SailPoint IdentityIQ, Azure AD for identity; ServiceNow for ITSM; and Blockchain, plus security tools (Fortify SAST/DAST, Netskope).
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