Senior Commercial Product Lead

Senior Commercial Product Lead 

Salary of £65,200 - £81,500

Manchester / Home working

Want to change the world? A career that makes a difference

We’re not a bank that follows the crowd. Instead, we like to stand out for all the right reasons. Our bank is built on co-operative values that stand strong today. A lot has happened in 150 years, we don’t just help people with their money, but help people fight for justice and the causes they care about. Our unique customer-led Ethical Policy, has made us a natural leader in environmental and social issues today, and we’re market leaders in ESG as rated by leading ESG ratings agency Sustainalytics*. 

There has never been a more pressing time for our Bank to focus our efforts on causes that matter to our customers and colleagues. Why not see where you can make a change, and join the UK’s original ethical bank to continue our ambitions to lead the industry on environmental and social issues in 2024 and beyond.

This role has the expectation to work remotely and join our Manchester City Centre office days once per month.

What You Can Expect From Us:

*       Flexible and remote working

*       Car allowance £5.5k

*       Private medical

*       27 days holiday rising to 30 with service, plus opportunity to buy 5 extra days

• Competitive pension with up to 10% employer contribution
• Income protection / life assurance

*       Commitment from employers on continued learning & development

*       Wellbeing support ‘Help@Hand’ offers mental health support, physiotherapy, GP’s for both you and your family.

• 2 paid days for volunteering per year
• ‘MyReward’ corporate discount for over 800 retailers and Cycle to Work Scheme.  
• Family friendly policies and supportive working environment
• Colleague network groups committed to inclusion and diversity within our Bank.

The role:
With a focus on our 2024 commercial growth strategy, as our Senior Commercial Product Lead, you’ll be responsible for leading the product management and performance of the Bank’s full SME banking proposition – including current accounts, savings, loans, cards, overdrafts and other services. You’ll be responsible for defining the Bank’s strategy and overall proposition for small business and community banking customers. You will lead, sponsor and co-ordinate key initiatives to improve customer experience and expand and improve the SME product set and drive the commercial performance of the SME bank, all whilst ensuring robust and consistent application of the Bank’s Risk Management Framework across the SME product set.

You will be a senior leader within the Product teams and help your team to grow and develop individually and operate as a high performing product team. 

Key Accountabilities:

Customer

*        Lead the creation of the customer strategy for the Bank’s SME proposition and translate that vision into a roadmap and plan of continuous improvements to the SME product set.

*        Lead on or sponsor key initiatives to make improvements to customer journeys and customer experience for SME products.

*        Support the use of market intelligence, research and customer segmentation to define customer outcomes and use this to lead improvements to SME products.

*        Expand and improve the range of specialist services provided to our customers by selected third party providers, leading engagement with providers to put innovative new products in front of our customers to help them run their business and drive income for the Bank.

*        Explore and take opportunities to expand the SME product set, including expanding eligibility for existing products and designing new products to meet a wider range of customer needs.

Leadership

*        Champion a customer first culture which inspires and motivates all SME and Product colleagues to deliver success.

*        Lead, create and embed a high performance culture through role modelling strong leadership behaviours and encouraging a culture of continuous personal growth.

*        Support the cultural transformation of the SME Bank and embed positive application of the Bank’s Values in the work of the SME team.

*        Role model and champion target Bank Leadership behaviours.

*        Work collaboratively with the Pricing, Forecasting and Analytics Team and be an active part of a multi-skilled Product leadership team.

Change

*        Lead and sponsor cross-functional working groups to define and deliver improvements to the SME product set.

*        Monitor progress and provide reporting to executive leadership team on all change initiatives impacting the SME proposition.

*        Performance Management of the customer experience via effective oversight of delivery areas and collaboration across all SME teams. In particular oversight of MI, KPIs, change, risks and customer outcomes, including trend, model and promotional analysis.

Financial / Commercials

*        Own the day to day management of the SME P&L, including driving activity and managing product team resources to deliver positive commercial changes.

*        Identify opportunities to drive financial performance and lead plans and activity in place to realise these benefits.

*        Lead the development of product acquisition and marketing plans for SME products through collaboration with Digital and Marketing teams, and lead engagement with the SME Pricing, Forecasting and Analytics team to accurately forecast and track performance.

Risk and Control Environment

*        Identify and manage all regulatory, operational and conduct risks arising from the SME product set in accordance with the Bank’s risk appetite.

*        Lead the management of key issues and regulatory changes within the SME product set, taking a proactive approach to managing product risk.

*        Lead and champion the delivery and embedding of Consumer Duty across all SME products and services to ensure good outcomes for SME customers in line with Consumer Duty requirements.

*        Lead engagement with Credit Risk colleagues on the development and ongoing management of SME products. Ensure that SME products are designed to deliver good outcomes within the Bank’s credit risk appetite.

*        Maintain a good understanding of Conduct Risk requirements relevant to the role, ensuring compliance and that due regard is paid to the interests of customers and customers are treated fairly.

Technical Capabilities:

*       In depth knowledge of the UK Financial Services marketplace, including SME banking and UK banking regulation

*       Experience of managing the design and/or delivery of banking products

*       Track record in core product management skills including;

-          Customer needs identification

-          Product design

-          Problem solving

-          Risk management and risk based decision making

-          Leading cross-functional project teams

-          Development and implementation of product strategies and implementation plans

Knowledge, skills and experience required

*        Excellent communications / influencing skills, including proven experience of stakeholder management to an executive management level.

*        In depth knowledge of banking products

*        Excellent written and verbal communication skills

*        Skilled at working effectively with cross functional teams

*        Proficient user of MS Office

*        Confident decision making skills

*        Sensible judgement and attention to detail

*        Proven leadership capability, particularly within Banking.

*        Proven presentation skills, both written and verbal.

We can only consider candidates with the right to work in the UK at this time.

Our Bank is committed to continuing to create a diverse workforce and an inclusive environment where all colleagues can fulfil their potential. We welcome applications from talented individuals from all backgrounds and lifestyles who can work with us in maintaining a culture of belonging, where people are valued and respected.

If your application is selected for recruitment, we will ask if you require any reasonable adjustments in order to proceed to an interview with us. If you require more information or this document in a different format, please contact careers@co-operativebank.co.uk  

As a reputable employer regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, all offers of employment for this role are subject to a series of background checks, including criminal (DBS) and financial checks.

*Rated by Morningstar Sustainalytics in the Regional Banks sub-industry with a score of 8.5 as of 9 October 2023.