Head of Product Governance

Location: Holborn Office, Central London

Ref #: 24330, Closing Date 13-Feb-2025

What You Will Do

• Act as the senior business subject-matter expert on product related regulatory requirements including the Consumer Duty, ensuring products deliver good outcomes across the four outcomes: Products and Services; Price and Value; Consumer Understanding; Consumer Support.
• Ensure product governance policy requirements including robust target market definitions, fair value assessments, and outcome testing are embedded across the product lifecycle.
• Oversee the governance for new product development, post-implementation reviews, product changes including pricing, product closures and regular product reviews, ensuring products remain fit for purpose, provide fair value, and meet evolving customer needs.
• Provide guidance and coaching to the Product Manager community in the completion of robust, comprehensive product governance processes.
• Contribute and support the preparation of quarterly and annual Board updates and attestations regarding Consumer Duty.
• Chair or contribute to product approval and governance forums, ensuring appropriate challenge and sign-off.
• Ensure product risks are clearly identified, assessed, mitigated, and documented at each stage of the lifecycle.
• Drive consistent standards for product documentation, disclosures, and customer communications ensuring these are delivered in line with agreed deadlines.
• Partner closely with cross-functional stakeholders including First Line Risk, Second Line Risk including Compliance and Operational Risk; Legal, and Distribution to ensure proportionate and effective governance.
• Act as the Business SME, working closely with First Line Risk, Second Line Risk including Compliance and Operational Risk; and Legal to provide thought leadership and enhancements to the Product Governance Framework for retail banking products in line with FCA expectations including Consumer Duty.
• Support regulatory engagement including submissions, updates and requests for information; internal assurance and audits, acting as a key point of contact for product governance matters.
• Monitor regulatory developments and proactively assess impacts including requirements on existing and future products. Attend external events and bodies as applicable.
• Define and oversee Management Information (MI) and outcome metrics to evidence good customer outcomes.
• Define and drive the usage of data, complaints insights, customer feedback, customer research and behavioural analysis to identify emerging risks or poor outcomes.
• Act as business oversight for remediation activity where products or customer journeys fall short of Consumer Duty or other regulatory/legal standards.
• Act as a visible champion for customer-centricity and ethical product decision-making.
• Provide clear, concise reporting to Executive Committees and Boards on product governance and Consumer Duty compliance.

This role has no direct line management responsibilities – instead relying on a virtual team of internal and external stakeholders to deliver to business requirements.

What You Will Need

• Significant experience in product governance, product risk, or conduct risk within UK banking or financial services, retail banking would be beneficial.
• SME knowledge on UK regulations and laws applicable to products, particularly retail banking.
• Proven experience overseeing banking products such as savings, current accounts and overdrafts.
• Experience leading governance forums and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Strong analytical skills with experience using MI to assess customer outcomes and product performance.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to provide clear regulatory challenge while enabling commercial objectives.
• Background in both first-line product roles and second-line risk/compliance environments.
• Strong, practical knowledge of FCA Consumer Duty and product governance requirements.

Our promise to you…

We will make sure that you are well-rewarded by providing you with a competitive salary, discretionary annual bonus, and a wide range of benefits, including generous holiday allowance, attractive pension scheme, healthcare, life assurance, and a number of colleague discounts!

We will give you the training to ensure you succeed in your role and plenty of internal opportunities to progress your career (around 40% of our recruitment comes from internal promotions!).

Important Footnote

Diverse teams really are the best teams. We know that candidates (especially women, research tells us) may be put off applying for a job unless they can tick every box. We also know that ‘normal’ office hours aren’t always doable, and while we can’t accommodate every flexible working request we are happy to be asked. So if you are excited about working with us and think you can do much of what we are looking for but aren’t sure if you are 100% there yet… why not give it a whirl?

Please note that sometimes we may close a job earlier for applications if we are inundated with amazing candidates. Good luck!