Business Operations & Automation Manager London

About us

At Lenkie, we’re on a mission to help small businesses turn their bold ambitions into reality. Our lending products make access to capital faster, fairer, and more flexible, enabling SMEs to grow with confidence. We’ve provided millions in funding to hundreds of UK businesses with our loan book growing 4x in 2025 and we’re just getting started. We are a friendly and collaborative team with a fast‑paced and high‑performing culture. We are headquartered in London but with team members across Nigeria, South Africa and London. We’re backed by top‑tier investors and have recently closed a £49M equity and debt Series A investment round to significantly scale the business across the UK in 2026.

About the job

We are seeking a strategic, tech‑savvy, and highly organized Business Operations & Automation Manager to both run and transform our business operations. This is a hybrid role split evenly between two critical mandates: overseeing and scaling our core lending operations, and automating and transforming business processes across the entire company. As a senior member of the operations team, you will act as the bridge between day‑to‑day execution and the future of our operational tech stack. You will be responsible for managing cross‑functional projects, ensuring our internal systems can handle our rapid growth, and championing automation to eliminate manual workflows across the business.

Key Responsibilities

• Operational Oversight: Oversee the day‑to‑day management of the lending book, ensuring full operational compliance and the seamless execution of fund disbursements and repayments.
• Data Integrity & Reporting: Supervise the data reconciliation process and take ultimate responsibility for the delivery of high‑stakes weekly and monthly operational data packs for investors.
• Cross‑Functional Management: Act as a key bridge between the Finance, Product, and Account Management teams to align core operations with broader business goals.
• Process Automation & Transformation: Identify, design, and implement automated workflows across the entire company to eliminate manual bottlenecks, maximizing speed and efficiency.
• Systems Architecture & Integration: Evaluate, implement, and integrate internal tools, low‑code/no‑code platforms, and software to drive company‑wide productivity and ensure data integrity.
• Continuous Improvement: Utilize operational data and insights to proactively uncover inefficiencies, transforming legacy manual processes into scalable, automated workflows.

Qualifications / Required Skills

• Minimum 5+ years of experience in operations, with at least 2 years in a management or lead role.
• Experience working within a financial services firm or a fintech startup is highly preferred.
• Tech‑savvy with experience using AI and automation tools to transform business processes.
• Strong proficiency in Excel and experience with data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, PowerBI, or Looker).
• Exceptional analytical and problem‑solving skills with a keen attention to detail.
• Proven ability to document processes and implement system improvements.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate operational data into clear insights for stakeholders.
• Experience working in a small, fast‑paced team and a willingness to take ownership of diverse tasks.
• A passion for the fintech space and helping small businesses succeed.

How we reward performance

• Competitive salary and employee stock options.
• Hybrid working environment, with 3 days per week in our London office.
• Opportunity to accelerate your career at a fast‑growing startup.
• Professional development support to enhance your skills and career growth.
• Regular team and company socials.
• Opportunity to make a big impact in the lives of small business owners globally.

We’re building a diverse, inclusive and supportive team where everyone can do their best work. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, experiences and perspectives, and we do not discriminate based on age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.