Strategic Change Manager and Product Owner

hackajob is collaborating with Barclays to connect them with exceptional professionals for this role. Join us as a Strategic Change Manager and Product Owner within Wholesale Lending, where you will play an important role in supporting the development of end-to-end ownership of lending processes and solutions across Barclays. You will focus on improving clarity and accountability across complex client journeys, helping ensure products and processes are joined up, effective and deliver the right outcomes for clients and the wider business.

You will operate across a complex and sometimes evolving ownership landscape, working with Coverage, Product, Operations and Technology to support the establishment of clearer accountability for end-to-end journeys rather than individual product components. Partnering with senior stakeholders, you will help bring structure to developing ownership models, contribute to key change projects, and support the delivery of solutions with a focus on client experience, efficiency and control. This role requires sound judgement, curiosity and the confidence to engage with stakeholders while managing competing priorities and organisational complexity.

To Be Successful In This Role You Will Have:

• Experience contributing to complex change or transformation projects within financial services
• Clear and confident communication skills, with the ability to engage stakeholders across multiple business areas and build alignment
• Experience operating as a Process Improvement Manager, Product Owner, Transformation Analyst/Lead or similar role, supporting end-to-end journeys, processes or solutions
• The ability to translate strategic objectives into structured plans and support their delivery
• Comfort working within ambiguity, helping bring clarity, structure and forward momentum
• A good understanding of process design, optimisation and ownership, with a focus on client outcomes and operational effectiveness
• A collaborative and practical approach, with experience working across cross-functional teams

Desirable Skills Include:

• Experience within Wholesale Lending, Risk or Corporate Banking environments
• Exposure to product ownership approaches within complex, multi-stakeholder organisations
• Understanding of regulatory requirements and controls within lending processes
• Experience working in agile or hybrid delivery environments
• Exposure to behavioural or cultural change projects, particularly around ownership and accountability
• The ability to use data and insight to support decision-making and process improvement
• Experience working within a change, strategy or transformation function

You may be assessed on the key critical skills relevant for success in role, such as risk and controls, business acumen, strategic thinking, stakeholder engagement, change and transformation, and communication, as well as job-specific technical expertise. This role is based in London.

Purpose of the role: To support the organisation, achieve its strategic objectives by the identification of business requirements and solutions that address business problems and opportunities.

Accountabilities:

• Identification and analysis of business problems and client requirements that require change within the organisation.
• Development of business requirements that will address business problems and opportunities.
• Collaboration with stakeholders to ensure that proposed solutions meet their needs and expectations.
• Support the creation of business cases that justify investment in proposed solutions.
• Conduct feasibility studies to determine the viability of proposed solutions.
• Support the creation of reports on project progress to ensure proposed solutions are delivered on time and within budget.
• Creation of operational design and process design to ensure that proposed solutions are delivered within the agreed scope.
• Support to change management activities, including development of a traceability matrix to ensure proposed solutions are successfully implemented and embedded in the organisation.

Assistant Vice President Expectations:

• To advise and influence decision making, contribute to policy development and take responsibility for operational effectiveness.
• Collaborate closely with other functions/business divisions.
• Lead a team performing complex tasks, using well developed professional knowledge and skills to deliver on work that impacts the whole business function.
• Set objectives and coach employees in pursuit of those objectives, appraisal of performance relative to objectives and determination of reward outcomes.
• If the position has leadership responsibilities, People Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard.
• The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others.
• For an individual contributor, they will lead collaborative assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identifying the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments.
• They will identify new directions for assignments and/or projects, identifying a combination of cross functional methodologies or practices to meet required outcomes.
• Consult on complex issues; providing advice to People Leaders to support the resolution of escalated issues.
• Identify ways to mitigate risk and developing new policies/procedures in support of the control and governance agenda.
• Take ownership for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work done.
• Perform work that is closely related to that of other areas, which requires understanding of how areas coordinate and contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the organisation sub-function.
• Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategy.
• Engage in complex analysis of data from multiple sources of information, internal and external sources such as procedures and practises (in other areas, teams, companies, etc.) to solve problems creatively and effectively.
• Communicate complex information.
• Influence or convince stakeholders to achieve outcomes.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.