Priya Sonawane
Financial Services - Technology
London,City of London
Summary
Programme Delivery Manager in HSBC with 18+ years of experience in Banking & Financial Services, specialising in digital transformation across Credit & Lending, Regulatory Compliance, and AI-driven banking solutions. Recognised for directing £30M+ global programmes across 15+ markets, establishing a new digital bank in Germany, and delivering AI-powered underwriting engines automating up to 90% of loan applications. Adept at stakeholder engagement, programme governance, and aligning multimillion-pound technology investments with strategic growth objectives.
Overview
20
20
years of professional experience
6
6
years of post-secondary education
6
6
Certification
Work history
Programme manager
HSBC
London
05.2024 - Current
- Directed end-to-end programme to establish new digital bank in Germany , spanning regulatory compliance, core technology, operations, and customer onboarding journeys.
- Led global cross-functional teams of 100+ across business, technology, and operations, delivering transformation initiatives aligned with strategic growth objectives.
- Designed and baselined integrated roadmap and planning framework , securing C-suite sponsorship and aligning regulatory, technology, and operational workstreams with global standards.
- Established governance and reporting frameworks with KPIs, risk controls, and escalation paths, strengthening oversight and enhancing stakeholder trust.
- Introduced structured sequencing methodology , enabling cross-border teams to manage dependencies and deliver critical milestones on time.
- Scaled Agile delivery practices (SAFe / Programme Increments) across vendors and internal teams, boosting transparency, collaboration, and delivery velocity.
- Mentored and developed delivery leads , enhancing capability maturity and building sustainable leadership pipeline.
Digital Transformation Lead
HSBC UK
London
04.2022 - 04.2024
- Spearheaded the £30M+ global digital transformation of Credit & Lending workflows in Commercial & Institutional Banking, piloted in Hong Kong and successfully rolled out to 15 markets.
- Championed a Cloud-First strategy , deploying Google Cloud Platform (GCP) with a robust CI/CD pipeline that accelerated delivery and enhanced resilience.
- Delivered core data and integration layers to power AI-enabled, real-time underwriting engine, automating decisioning for up to 90% of loan applications.
- Redesigned global credit underwriting processes , embedding optimisation, dynamic rule-setting, and risk modelling to ensure scalable, continuous improvement.
- Transformed credit-risk decisioning using Provenir (AI/ML platform) , improving loan approval speed and reducing non-performing loans across multiple markets.
- Secured C-suite approval for £18M investment case , aligning technology change with strategic growth ambitions and unlocking funding for global expansion.
- Recognised as Digital Transformation Lead for exceptional delivery, innovation, and cross-market execution excellence.
Principal consultant/ Senior Manager
Synechron Technologies
London
11.2016 - 03.2022
- Led global cross-functional teams to deliver large-scale digital transformation initiatives across Onboarding, KYC, and customer data domains, driving process optimisation and regulatory compliance across 15+ markets.
- Conducted global market readiness assessments , executing gap analyses across 15 markets to prioritise remediation in top five jurisdictions, ensuring scalable, compliant onboarding processes.
- Delivered AI-based workflow and dynamic rules engine , reducing onboarding clicks, enhancing customer experience, and enabling scalability of solutions across multiple countries.
- Achieved successful multi-market activation by transforming onboarding product processes, improving time-to-market and regulatory adherence.
- Championed Agile adoption across dispersed teams through a “Follow the Sun” model, enhancing delivery velocity, transparency, and cross-border collaboration.
- Directed vendor strategy and resource planning , including RFP issuance, vendor selection, and management to ensure timely, cost-effective programme delivery.
- Initiated optimisation of customer data systems within Legal & General's Group Customer Data function, streamlining workflows through automation (RPA) and reducing manual reconciliation effort.
- Facilitated stakeholder workshops to map end-to-end workflows, resulting in clear visibility of system interactions and improved collaboration using Confluence and JIRA.
- Led regulatory programmes (MiFID II, FinfraG) , designing integrated cross-asset solutions to meet RTS23/24 reporting obligations and establishing robust validation frameworks for data integrity.
- Prevented ~$1M in potential penalties by initiating a parallel RTS23 reporting run during downtime, ensuring uninterrupted compliance with reporting obligations.
- Raised organisation-wide regulatory awareness by leading FinfraG compliance workshops, embedding stronger risk culture across business entities.
- Instituted programme-wide functional testing frameworks , creating integrated business scenarios that aligned disparate workflows for MiFID II delivery.
Senior associate project lead
Cognizant Technology Solutions
London
11.2005 - 07.2013
- Built and led high-performing team of 20 , while serving as primary client contact — transitioning from delivery contributor to leadership role within one year.
- Delivered next-gen Payments platform for Hong Kong–based financial institution, scaling processing capacity and improving transaction speed and reliability.
- Automated trade workflows via Instrument STP (iSTP) for US-based institution, cutting manual intervention and achieving faster, more accurate settlements.
- Customised and deployed Misys TI Plus for UK-based institution, optimising trade finance operations and limits management while reducing turnaround times for client servicing.
- Spearheaded delivery of Risk Control Unit tracker for UK-based institution, enabling post-sanction MI and strengthening regulatory risk oversight.
- Engineered Strategic Exposure & Limits Management (SELM) system for US-based institution, enhancing visibility and control of global credit exposures.
- Implemented Jupiter Typhon Resiliency (TLM) platform for US-based institution, bolstering operational resilience and enabling real-time monitoring of trade lifecycle events.
- Developed and launched online IT examination portal for Maharashtra State Education Board (India), digitising assessments and expanding access to thousands of students.
Education
Master of Business Administration - International Business
Royal Holloway, University of London
Egham June 2014 - 12.2015
Master of Science - Computer Science
Pune University
Pune, India July 2003 - 06.2005
Bachelor of Science - Computer Science
Pune University
Pune, India July 2000 - 06.2003
Skills
- Programme Governance & Delivery (SAFe/Agile, PRINCE2, Project Lifecycle Management)
- Digital Transformation & AI Strategy
- Stakeholder & Executive Management
- Risk, Issue & Dependency Management
- Change & Transformation Leadership
- Financial Oversight (Budgeting, Cost Forecasting, Funding Allocation)
- Resource & Team Leadership (Resourcing, Recruitment, Capability Development)
- Regulatory & Compliance Delivery (where relevant for banking roles)
Certification
AI Business Innovation (2025)
Certified SAFe® Product Owner / Product Manager (2019)
SAFe Certified Scrum Master (2020)
PRINCE2 Practitioner (2015)
PRINCE2 Foundation (2015)
Oracle Certified Associate, JAVA (2006)
Languages
English
Fluent
Hindi
Fluent
Marathi
Fluent
Career Highlights
- Directed £30M+ global Credit & Lending transformation , piloted in Hong Kong, scaled to 15 markets.
- Established a new digital bank in Germany , leading 100+ cross-functional resources to regulatory launch.
- Delivered AI-powered real-time underwriting engine , automating 70–90% of loan decisions via Provenir and GCP.
- Secured C-suite sponsorship for £18M investment case , unlocking funding for global expansion.
- Prevented ~$1M in MiFID II penalties through innovative RTS23 reporting solution.
Timeline
Programme manager
HSBC
05.2024 - Current
Digital Transformation Lead
HSBC UK
04.2022 - 04.2024
Principal consultant/ Senior Manager
Synechron Technologies
11.2016 - 03.2022
Senior associate project lead
Cognizant Technology Solutions
11.2005 - 07.2013
Master of Business Administration - International Business
Royal Holloway, University of London
June 2014 - 12.2015
Master of Science - Computer Science
Pune University
July 2003 - 06.2005
Bachelor of Science - Computer Science
Pune University
July 2000 - 06.2003