Vaiva Rakoviene

Director-level leader who turns high-stakes regulatory and technology agendas into governed, executable enterprise transformation across international banking. Brings 15+ years of progressive experience spanning Retail, Corporate and Investment Banking, with senior appointments across Barclays, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Danske Bank. Distinctive strength lies in connecting enterprise and business transformation, strategy execution, programme leadership, portfolio management and executive governance: shaping transformation roadmaps, mobilising complex portfolios, aligning business and technology leadership, and transitioning change into sustainable operating ownership.

Organisational psychology and Prosci ADKAR-informed change practice strengthen stakeholder alignment and organisational adoption.

Strategy Execution Manager at DANSKE BANK (2021-06 – 2026-03)

Accountable for mobilising enterprise transformation across technology strategy, cloud adoption, regulatory change, cyber and operational resilience, third-party risk and customer remediation. Connected executive priorities with programme governance across Technology, Operations, Architecture, Security, Procurement, Risk, Legal and Compliance.

• AWS Cloud Strategy & Migration Governance: Set the enterprise migration strategy and multi-year roadmap; defined cloud operating-model and governance requirements; steered architecture, security, infrastructure, procurement and AWS executive engagement. Scope remained strategic and programme-led rather than cloud engineering or administration.
• DORA, Third-Party Risk & Resilience: Shaped governance, operating-model and implementation-roadmap approaches across Technology, Procurement, Legal, Risk, Compliance, Cyber Security, Business Continuity and Operational Resilience; established executive programme governance and decision support.

Brexit Programme Director at BARCLAYS CORPORATE & INVESTMENT BANK (2017-10 – 2019-07)

Directed strategy execution and programme mobilisation for Barclays' enterprise Brexit response across Retail, Corporate and Wealth businesses. Independent contractor via ADMIS Consultancy Ltd.

• Enterprise Strategy & Portfolio Mobilisation: Established the execution strategy, transformation roadmap, portfolio structure and executive governance during significant regulatory uncertainty.
• Cross-Border Operating-Model Planning: Shaped impact assessment and strategic preparation across multiple European jurisdictions, supporting continuity of European operations and proposed post-Brexit operating-model change.
• Executive & Industry Alignment: Orchestrated senior stakeholder alignment across Business, Operations, Technology, Legal, Tax, Compliance and Risk and contributed to cross-industry coordination involving UK government and major financial institutions.

Programme Director — Global Regulatory Transformation at BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH (2015-09 – 2017-09)

Owned EMEA programme direction for FATCA, Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories requirements and regulatory-reporting modernisation. Contractor via Ajilon UK Ltd.

• FATCA & CDOT Transformation: Directed cross-jurisdiction delivery across Technology, Operations, Compliance, Tax and country leadership.
• Executive Governance: Established EMEA governance, programme reporting and risk and dependency management across international entities.
• Regulatory Reporting & Automation: Defined the future-state reporting operating model and automation roadmap, including documentation governance and regional training approaches.

Progressive appointments to Programme Manager at BARCLAYS (2009-09 – 2015-09)

Progressed from Service Desk Team Leader through Junior Project Manager and Project Manager appointments to Programme Manager in Retail Banking Transformation.

• Southern Europe Retail Exit: Directed multi-country planning across Spain, Portugal and France, aligning customer migration, operational decommissioning and organisational transition.
• European Payments Regulation & Target Operating Model: Shaped regulatory impact assessment, programme mobilisation, operating-model design and implementation planning across Product, Technology, Operations, Legal, Compliance and Risk.
• Digital Banking & International Progression: Built early delivery experience in mobile-banking technology, governance, testing and implementation before promotion from Lithuania to London.

BSc in Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy – UK Institute of Hypnosis (2023)

BSc in Business Psychology – Birkbeck, University of London (2014 – 2018)