The internal move you are ignoring
Everyone scans job portals. Fewer people scan their own org chart, where the odds are far better.
Large banks and insurers fill a surprising share of their best roles internally - not out of loyalty, but because internal candidates are known quantities with institutional context that takes years to rebuild. The internal market is less visible, less competitive and faster than anything on a portal.
Work it like an external search
- Map the two or three teams you would move to, and who actually decides their hiring
- Build a relationship with the hiring manager before the role opens - internal postings are often written with someone in mind
- Tell your manager at the right time: too early and you are marked as leaving; too late and you look sneaky. When you have an interview scheduled is usually right
The politics are real
Some managers block internal moves. Most institutions have a formal protection - minimum tenure, mandatory release periods - but the informal reality matters more. The safest sequence: get the new team's genuine enthusiasm first, then let their seniority do the unblocking.
When internal cannot work
If the move you want does not exist in your institution - a different product, a different market, a different risk appetite - staying loyal to the org chart is just staying stuck. Then the external search is the search. But check inside first: the same title jump that takes eighteen months externally often takes six within.