James Kerruish has been appointed chief information security officer and head of service at Atom Bank, where he will be responsible for cybersecurity, safe change implementation, incident management, and the service desk, which is the central hub for technical support.
Kerruish has worked at the bank for nearly nine years, most recently as delivery manager, and before that, he held roles at AXA and Aviva.
Atom Bank has created a new chief of staff role, which is being taken on by Leanne Judge.
She will focus on “improving the effectiveness and alignment of the entire technology organisation, overseeing the delivery coaching team”.
Judge has been with the firm for over a decade, and before that, she spent over seven years at Barclays.
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Atom Bank said the three senior technology positions would work on how things were done within delivery teams.
Rob Smith has been appointed head of engineering, with Rob Butcher taking on the role of head of architecture and Faizah Rafique becoming head of business analysis.
Smith has worked at Atom Bank for around five years, and before that, he held roles at Skills Development Scotland and Northumbrian Water Group.
Butcher has been with the firm for around three years and previously worked at AXA and Merlin Entertainment.
Rafique joined Atom Bank in 2020, and prior to that, she worked at IBM for almost five years.
Dr Russell Collingham and his newly formed artificial intelligence (AI) and data science team will continue their focus on “developing and deploying AI” across the bank, using it to improve decision-making, speed up analysis and provide direct support to customers.
Collingham has been at the firm for over three years and was most recently enterprise architect.
He previously spent 11 years at the University of Durham, where he gained a BSc in computer science and a PhD in AI before moving into research and lecturing.
Atom Bank said it was planning to launch a range of savings products, and it was creating a trio of new roles that are “directly accountable for product delivery”.
Ges Richmond has been appointed head of lending delivery, Orla Codyre will be head of savings delivery and Kath Langlands will take on the role of head of platform and enterprise delivery.
Richmond has been with the firm for around six years, while Codyre and Langlands have been with Atom Bank for around two years.
Andy Sturrock, chief technology officer (CTO) at Atom Bank, said: “I’m delighted to have such a strong and capable leadership team in place. Their collective expertise will be vital as we continue to increase our velocity and invest in our technology stack to better support the business. I’m confident that with this new structure, we are in a fantastic position to achieve our ambitious goals.
“Our mission at Atom Bank has always been to build a bank that can challenge the status quo, and a huge part of that is nurturing the incredible talent we have within our teams. It’s incredibly rewarding to see so many experienced colleagues, who have been with us for many years, grow and step into new leadership roles through internal promotions.
“This commitment to developing our people from within is fundamental to our strategy, ensuring we attract the brightest and best young talent, particularly as we move to our new HQ in Newcastle. We believe in providing a clear path for development, allowing our people to build long-term careers and truly shape the future of banking with us.”
Last month, the firm entered into an “enhanced partnership” with Fiducia Commercial Network.
