Turkey Infrastructure Lead/Country CTO – Turkey

General Information

Location

Istanbul, Türkiye

Working Schedule

Full-Time

Work Arrangement

Hybrid

Relocation Assistance Available

No

Posted Date

21-Jul-2026

Job ID

18961

Description and Requirements

The Opportunity

The Country Head of Infrastructure is responsible for leading and governing all technology activities across Turkey, ensuring the delivery of a secure, resilient, compliant, and high-performing technology environment. As part of the EMEA CTO organization within a global enterprise, this role holds full accountability for local technology strategy, governance, infrastructure operations, regulatory compliance, and operational excellence across Turkey.

Guided by our purpose – Always with you, building a more confident future – and our New Frontier strategy focused on stronger growth, attractive returns, and all-weather performance, this is an exciting opportunity to shape the future of technology leadership in Turkey. The successful candidate will play a critical role in driving technology transformation, ensuring the stability and modernization of local infrastructure, and leading the operation of business-critical Data Center facilities. This position offers the opportunity to influence regional technology discussions while delivering tangible impact for customers, employees, and business partners across Turkey.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development and execution of Turkey’s technology strategy, ensuring alignment with EMEA and global technology objectives while supporting local business priorities, growth initiatives, and digital transformation programs.
• Lead the Turkey technology organization, providing strategic direction, coaching, and leadership to build high-performing teams and foster a culture of accountability, operational excellence, and continuous improvement.
• Create and maintain a robust technology governance framework that ensures adherence to global architecture, security, operational, and risk management standards while meeting local business and regulatory requirements.
• Create strong partnerships with business leaders and key stakeholders to ensure technology capabilities effectively support business objectives, customer needs, and organizational transformation initiatives.
• Oversee the end-to-end operation, stability, resilience, performance, and modernization of Data Center facilities and technology infrastructure located in Turkey.
• Oversee infrastructure lifecycle management, capacity planning, technology investments, and modernization initiatives to ensure scalable and future-ready technology services.
• Oversee disaster recovery, business continuity, and high-availability strategies to ensure uninterrupted operation of critical business services and locally hosted platforms.
• Manage technology risk, cybersecurity controls, regulatory compliance, and data protection requirements in accordance with Turkish regulations and global security standards.
• Manage relationships with regulators, auditors, vendors, partners, and service providers, serving as the primary technology representative for Turkey during regulatory reviews and technology audits.
• Develop policies, controls, and operational procedures that strengthen security, resilience, governance, and risk mitigation across all local technology operations.
• Develop talent pipelines, succession plans, and capability-building programs that ensure the long-term strength and effectiveness of the Turkey technology organization.
• Coordinate with EMEA and global infrastructure, cloud, cybersecurity, architecture, and engineering teams to ensure alignment with enterprise technology strategies and standards.
• Coordinate major incident management, crisis response activities, and post-incident reviews, ensuring timely resolution and continuous improvement of operational practices.
• Monitor technology KPIs, SLAs, operational performance metrics, and risk indicators, providing transparent reporting and actionable insights to local and regional leadership.
• Own the Turkey technology budget, driving financial discipline, cost optimization, investment planning, and efficient management of Data Center and infrastructure operating expenses.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field, with the ability to lead large-scale technology operations, infrastructure governance, and strategic technology initiatives.
• Strong experience with Data Center operations, infrastructure management, cybersecurity frameworks, and technology governance to ensure secure, resilient, and compliant technology environments.
• Demonstrated expertise in regulatory compliance, risk management, operational resilience, and technology controls within a highly regulated environment.
• Proven leadership capabilities with the ability to influence executive stakeholders, lead cross-functional teams, manage complex vendor relationships, and drive organizational performance.

Preferred Qualifications

• 12+ years of progressive experience in IT and technology leadership roles, including responsibility for infrastructure, operations, governance, and enterprise technology strategy.
• Experience working within global or matrix organizations and partnering with regional and global technology teams to deliver enterprise-wide initiatives.
• Strong financial and budget management experience, including technology investment planning, cost optimization, and infrastructure lifecycle management.
• Exceptional strategic thinking, stakeholder management, crisis leadership, and team-building capabilities, combined with a passion for operational excellence and continuous improvement.

Benefits We Offer

Our benefits are designed to care for your holistic well-being with programs for physical and mental health, financial wellness, and support for families.

We offer private health insurance for you and your family, life insurance, employer pension plan, meal and transportation allowance, as well as a work from home allowance. We also provide a cultural Heritage Day off, and “back to school” and “school report day” leaves and much more!

About MetLife

Recognized on Fortune magazine’s list of the “World’s Most Admired Companies” and Fortune World’s 25 Best Workplaces™, MetLife, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is one of the world’s leading financial services companies; providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to individual and institutional customers. With operations in more than 40 markets, we hold leading positions in the United States, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Our purpose is simple – to help our colleagues, customers, communities, and the world at large create a more confident future. United by purpose and guided by our core values – Win Together, Do the Right Thing, Deliver Impact Over Activity, and Think Ahead – we’re inspired to transform the next century in financial services. At MetLife, it’s #AllTogetherPossible. Join us!

Read Full Description